MORITAKA HAMONO

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gaetanocarpinelli

gaetanocarpinelli

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Hello everybody, I write this thread because I wanna know more about the Moritaka knives. I love their history and the blacksmith profile. Overall seems they produce minimal solid good knives but I never had the pleasure to use them. Has anybody worked with them or knows more about these knives? Especially the AS clad series.
Thanks!
 
For the price they are nice knives, especially if you re-handle the original cherrywood and plastic, or buy from a vendor that already propose them with a nicer one without adding tons on the price.

You'll pretty much get a same grind on any Moritaka - quite thick at the kurouchi line over the main bevel. Bought a 240mm A2 Gyuto because of the flat profile. My unit was sharp enough OOTB to be fun to use for a couple of preps. First project now is to thin it down.

For AS I kept my reserve and went into another direction... my take on Moritakas was to buy one as dirt cheap as could be - since they're basically all the same geometry on different types, and all pre-laminated blades I gather - and pray that the main bevel wouldn't be overgrinded. But if the price difference isn't too big, go Moritaka AS if you will. Where I bought mine the AS were roughly 30% more expensive. Not worth it to me.

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Hope this can help you. Cheers!
 
my take on Moritakas was to buy one as dirt cheap as could be - since they're basically all the same geometry on different types, and all pre-laminated blades I gather
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Actually one of the neat things, at least for the AS knives, is that moritaka still forge welds the steel and iron themselves. They don't use pre laminated bar stock. Many makers no longer do this due to the extra work required.

Also not everyday you find AS steel taken to such hardness. Besides TF I'm not actually sure where else you find such hard AS. The grinds can be a little wonky, but are easy enough to thin and correct. They tend to have flat profiles, and are not super tall at the heel.

My 210 kiritsuke has been with me for a while, and has been put to work in a pro kitchen. I like the knife a lot.
 

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Well, there is a history and culture of love/ hate with Moritaka. I have owned a few, rehandled and sharpened a bunch more. Comparatively, I find them to actually be rather pricey, in the realm of a kurouchi knife. Also, my number one complaint is the kurouchi finish itself is god awful; literally will wipe off over time with a wet towel. And what you are left with is highly corrosive iron. As far as overgrinds, you don't hear too much about that these days, but I think that maybe it's become more normal, as many value kurouchi style brands are available, and I have seen some atrocious grinds, personally.

There are value kurouchi brands out there that perform as well for far less. There are higher end kurouchi brands priced similarly that far exceed Moritaka, imho.
 
NO ChoP! said:
Well, there is a history and culture of love/ hate with Moritaka. I have owned a few, rehandled and sharpened a bunch more. Comparatively, I find them to actually be rather pricey, in the realm of a kurouchi knife. Also, my number one complaint is the kurouchi finish itself is god awful; literally will wipe off over time with a wet towel. And what you are left with is highly corrosive iron. As far as overgrinds, you don't hear too much about that these days, but I think that maybe it's become more normal, as many value kurouchi style brands are available, and I have seen some atrocious grinds, personally.

There are value kurouchi brands out there that perform as well for far less. There are higher end kurouchi brands priced similarly that far exceed Moritaka, imho.
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Could you name few of them?
 
My morita ka have even grind, doesn't like it...
 
parbaked said:
Takeo Murata
Zakuri
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You have to take into account where people are located, how it influences the price they pay, and what they might have available to source locally - a lot of sold out on many vendors, for example. When you know you want THAT knife, it's something you will wait on... when you're browsing for A knife that fits your demands, any one that does is a primary candidate when it is available. That being said, entirely agree for the kurouchi, hence why my thinning job yesterday ended up with me removing it all. To me the knife looks better that way, too, even if it's in fact a mess. Gives the knife a rustic worn out look that I kind of find sexy. Will miss the protection though, and can't believe I was able to scrub most off in one go with the back of a sponge.

@Runner_up Thanks for correcting me. I had read this about Moritaka that the blades were pre-laminated. Your assessment does seem to fit better with the circumstances we know of that are those of the Moritaka Hamono. Maybe it's just for the AS, but probably it's true for the A2 also.

Anybody knows anything better about this?
 
parbaked said:
Takeo Murata
Zakuri
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I have a little Murata funayuki that rocks. The steel is very good. Out of the box grind was a little wonky and thick behind the edge but they polish up well. This is my girlfriends knife, never has been chipped so you know it's tough, haha. Once every few months I polish and sharpen it since she doesn't take great care of it. It's actually the knife in my profile pic.


 
In Canada:

Moritaka AS 210mm : 230$ with Paul - « Supreme »
Masakage AS (Koichi I think) 210mm: 330$ with Eugene, 360$ at Knifewear.

It gives a ballpark. Also Paul has the Mori rehandled - no plastic ferrule. The option doesn’t exist when ordering directly. It’s mentionned in the possibilities. I think it went something like 60$ cad in the end + some 25$ shipping - and a custom order. It’s said that they have a hard time getting them handles. Order, pay 50$ less or so, and wait a long time. As I said, availability and circumstances. In Canada vendors that sell handles sell them for a steep price. And you still have the job to do.

Oh, Paul shipped mine A2 the very same day, and it arrived the day after. In the end it cost me the taxes more than direct ordering with rehandling.
 
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Only Moritaka I had was the KS clone; I liked it for the price but not enough to keep it, but I didn’t keep any KSes except the Kashima which is my go to laser. The steel was good and the kurouchi weak as mentioned above. I was thinking of trying out a kiritsuke gyuto for when I want a flat profile but not quite a nakiri or cleaver.

As for the others mentioned above: Murata is super tough (I’m saying this colloquially, not necessarily metallurgically) and I’m comfortable using a Murata petty around bones. But his gyutos top out at 210. Zakuri (and I think I’ve read that the same smith makes a few other brands but don’t quote me on that until I find a source) I think I can get sharper but I did chip that one up once. I like the petty and sujihiki profiles but the gyuto profile is not for me. I’d go with either of the other two for a size and shape they offer, but Moritaka does have a wider range of offerings. Shiro Kamo also makes a great knife, similarily impressive for the price to S. Tanaka imo but different, probably a better geometry than all the others.
 
i think you get the most durable kuro with an oil quench. that stuff seems to be very durable. but most japanese carbons are water quench steels that they probably quench in brine to lessen the risk of cracked blades. so most likely the kuro is just a "bluing" of some type. at least if it rubs off.

also if steel is repeatedly heated in coal/charcoal/coke i think you get a more durable kuro. (aka actual forging)

i have done some blades myself with propane and oil and that kuro seems almost indestructible. very hard to get rid of to be honest.
 
Here's mine with the Kurouchi off... If you ask me, it's so much more beautiful and impressive that way.

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The ingrained kurouchi/leftover pitting of it just adds character. Rough finish, and I would not see a point to more polish here - more pretentious than the knife can withstand. However... if they ever do "removed Kurouchi" professionally I may be a buyer... :p
 
I had the KS clone too. The most reactive knife ever. Not in a good way. Would rust sitting next to a lemon. Everything I tried couldn’t calm it either.
 
ModRQC said:
Here's mine with the Kurouchi off... If you ask me, it's so much more beautiful and impressive that way.

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The ingrained kurouchi/leftover pitting of it just adds character. Rough finish, and I would not see a point to more polish here - more pretentious than the knife can withstand. However... if they ever do "removed Kurouchi" professionally I may be a buyer... :p
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You’ve 75% convinced me to clean my nakiri.
 
BillHanna said:
You’ve 75% convinced me to clean my nakiri.
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Said at large as advice, and not just to answer @BillHanna (he may know everything I'm going to say already):

Mind you that, while I never found my Moritaka to be so reactive nor rusty, removing the kurouchi to expose the iron cladding underneath will also require of you to find a way to treat it as to stop that cladding to rust or taking on ugly shades. I have no perfect "home" solution to provide yet.

If you want to remove it simply, the back of a scrubbing sponge will do most of the job; but whatever the mean you take I advise to do it dry. A basic progression of sandpapers - still all dry - crossing each other will be needed to have it looking nicer and shinier. I used coarser grit, then coarse blending grit, and as long as I don't find a satisfying way to quiet the cladding, a simple damp rust eraser used diagonally then lengthwise does a quick job of a rough finishing polish - blow or otherwise sweep the rust eraser residue off the blade as you go, and wash and dry thoroughly immediately after your done with that. The natural lining of the cladding does a fair job of blending what would probably look an awful job on highly polished steel.

If you do not wish to go down that route, keep the kurouchi and don't use anything remotely abrasive to clean the blade, and avoid scrubbing motions with any cloth - a wool dishrag for example is abrasive enough to have it fade if not used lightly, and a good help in the removal process. Mine in particular was weak enough to fade off to a dark beige in some spots just cleaning it as I would do any other blade with a very standard dishrag.
 
I am enamored with the blues, purples, greys, and the like that patina brings. I want that over the entire blade.
 
How about brownish?

It is iron cladding, cheap iron cladding. It won’t exactly patina like a carbon steel does. If you go that route you need to understand that.
 
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