Knife vendors Australia
- Thread starter Alexec
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JustinP
Senior Member
Elliot
Senior Member
+1 on KnS. James, the guy who runs it, is a total gent.
Bcos17
Senior Member
I had a great experience buying a knife from KnivesandStones. I think Chef's Armoury is another Australian retailer, but I have never purchased anything from them, maybe someone else can give a review.
Michi
I dislike attempts to rewrite history
Chef’s Armoury are good to deal with. Very prompt and professional customer service, too.
Ditto re: Chefs Armoiry and KNS.
It depends what line of knives you’re interested in.
I’m yet to hear where someone would send a Japanese knife off for sharpening if they weren’t confident to DIY. We don’t have a Jon from JKI in Australia to fix our sharpening mistakes as far as I’m aware... although chefs armoury do have a sharpening service I’m yet to try it.
It depends what line of knives you’re interested in.
I’m yet to hear where someone would send a Japanese knife off for sharpening if they weren’t confident to DIY. We don’t have a Jon from JKI in Australia to fix our sharpening mistakes as far as I’m aware... although chefs armoury do have a sharpening service I’m yet to try it.
OldJoeClarke
Active Member
Chef knives pro I got a blade into the UK pretty fast from them, easy to deal with.
I’m in Canada and buy most of my knives from James at Knives n Stones. Service and prices are good
Michi
I dislike attempts to rewrite history
Big +1 for James at Knives and Stones! Not only range, price and knowledge - he's a gentleman and a great person to deal with.
A caution on knife sharpening... Although Leigh Hudson (owner) of Chef's Armoury is a very good sharpener, the same cannot be said of all his staff. I have read at least one horror story here about seriously poor sharpening results. I do not speak from experience - just recall KKF posts on the subject. Caveat emptor!
There’s also a bunch of custom makers, Goldeband, The_ 9 nine, Metal Monkey, Mert Tansu and DP Customs to name a few. Cheers!
Michi
I dislike attempts to rewrite history
Do you have anyone you would recommend?
I've heard of these guys, who seem to be pretty serious about what they are doing:
http://knifegrinders.com.au
Has anyone used them (or another good-quality sharpening service Down Under)?
I have also bought direct from Watanabe and Takeda with very good results. Japan is a lot closer to Australia than Canada so that would be a good alternative for you if you like their knives. I do.
Depends where in Canada and Au. For example, Vancouver is a little closer to Sanjo than Sydney is.
Also a shout out to Tristone (Chadd Smith) and Kippington.
I’m in Toronto. It’s 4,000km to Vancouver. Not sure how far from Van to Japan
The service at KnS has always been excellent. James gives straightforward knife nerd level advice, without spin. KnS is a forum vendor and they have some very nice knives to offer. I have bought lots of knives at KnS, for good reason.
I bought one knife from Chefs Armoury (the Melbourne shop, FWIW) fairly early in my knife nut career. It wasn't a bad customer experience although in retrospect, there was a fair bit of 'mystique of knives' marketing injected into the interaction. Maybe that's just because it was a bricks & mortar shop and the interaction was face to face.
There was shop called Saito Knives in northern NSW. Run by a Japanese guy who was a sushi chef IIRC. I have no experience with them though.
I bought one knife from Chefs Armoury (the Melbourne shop, FWIW) fairly early in my knife nut career. It wasn't a bad customer experience although in retrospect, there was a fair bit of 'mystique of knives' marketing injected into the interaction. Maybe that's just because it was a bricks & mortar shop and the interaction was face to face.
There was shop called Saito Knives in northern NSW. Run by a Japanese guy who was a sushi chef IIRC. I have no experience with them though.
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If you are willing to go across the pond I have purchased from
https://www.prochef.co.nz/ with no issues.
The currency exchange covers the shipping
https://www.prochef.co.nz/ with no issues.
The currency exchange covers the shipping
Michi
I dislike attempts to rewrite history
Same here. Jürgen is great to deal with.
Saito is cool - and an amazing sharpener/grinder. Also So Yamashita at Japan Tool has had some great stuff - and can arrange orders from Heiji. But I think he has slowed down a bit and may not be taking orders at the moment.
Not personally but I see other members are offering suggestions.
Highly recommend Knives and Stones.
I've had a few bad experiences with Chefsarmoury, even though I bought my first knives from them back when I just got into Japanese knife.
I've had a few bad experiences with Chefsarmoury, even though I bought my first knives from them back when I just got into Japanese knife.
I saw one sharpening job from them and it was over grind, possibly from his staff like you said.
Is there anyone in Australia who does decent sharpening or are we all self taught?
I’d love to learn.
I’d love to learn.
Mute-on
Senior Member
Self taught.
It’s much harder to really stuff it up than you think. Particularly if you are only using bench stones.
It’s much harder to really stuff it up than you think. Particularly if you are only using bench stones.
Chefs Armoury aren't too bad (apart from the hard sell), I bought some Kurosaki R2 knives there and they were well priced and good service. Also, Tanto knives Melboune (6 Portland Ln) offer an excellent sharpening service and have a small selection of nice knives.
Also, japan-tool.
Also, japan-tool.
Badgertooth
Senior Member
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K&S all day, every day. Watched in horror as some barely trained hack at Chefs Armoury brutalised a mate’s Shigefusa then get cute and deny it. It’s one thing to make a mistake but to be dishonest about it is another. Went dark when I confronted them about it and banned me on social media
