Name your top three favourite smiths.
- Thread starter Loam
- Start date
Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums:
uh, you gonna lead with your list?
I’ll bite:
TFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTF AS
Y. Tanaka AS
Togashi B1/W1
Why? Board feel, stone feel/sharpenability (exceedingly hard/tactile/responsive), and end product catered toward high end fit and finish or at least in case of TF, a honyaki experience in a SS clad rustic body.
TFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTF AS
Y. Tanaka AS
Togashi B1/W1
Why? Board feel, stone feel/sharpenability (exceedingly hard/tactile/responsive), and end product catered toward high end fit and finish or at least in case of TF, a honyaki experience in a SS clad rustic body.
Fair enough.
My names are:
Shuji Toyama, for his heat treatment on Blue #2, and his gyuto profile.
Yoshikazu Tanaka. I love his Blue #1. Cannot say lot on profile, since it really depends on sharpener.
Kiyoshi Kato, because he's Kato.
1. Tf; tf gyutos once the wonkiness is gone may be my fav all arounders
2. Takeda; the thinness plus the height makes them awesome to us
3. Kurosaki; great cutters out of the box
2. Takeda; the thinness plus the height makes them awesome to us
3. Kurosaki; great cutters out of the box
Yu Kurosaki. His knives showed my how bad the FnF on TF knives acually is 
Great performers, fit my sweet spot on being on the lighter side. Lots of character and a unique stlye.
TF. Agree on the great allrounder point. Also, they're just so fun and a TF Nashiji Nakiri was the first J-Knife that showed my how sharp such a blade can actually be. Now that I graduated to the Denkas I also appreciate that they're not expensive looking to most people - they tend to be left alone.
Uhmm... Moritaka? Like the AS Super Nakiri a lot with its almost 90° tip and the iron cladding is just soooo rustic.
Great performers, fit my sweet spot on being on the lighter side. Lots of character and a unique stlye.TF. Agree on the great allrounder point. Also, they're just so fun and a TF Nashiji Nakiri was the first J-Knife that showed my how sharp such a blade can actually be. Now that I graduated to the Denkas I also appreciate that they're not expensive looking to most people - they tend to be left alone.
Uhmm... Moritaka? Like the AS Super Nakiri a lot with its almost 90° tip and the iron cladding is just soooo rustic.
M1k3
Senior Member
Shi.han-san from New Mexico prefecture.
Yu Kurosaki. His knives showed my how bad the FnF on TF knives acually is
TF. Agree on the great allrounder point. Also, they're just so fun and a TF Nashiji Nakiri was the first J-Knife that showed my how sharp such a blade can actually be. Now that I graduated to the Denkas I also appreciate that they're not expensive looking to most people - they tend to be left alone.
Uhmm... Moritaka? Like the AS Super Nakiri a lot with its almost 90° tip and the iron cladding is just soooo rustic.
Really loved my Y Kurosaki gyuto in AS. Still regret the heck out of selling it. I think for the price point both Kurosaki and Yoshikane are great deals.
If I had to pick one then Yoshikane since the convex grind will be easier to maintain long term than Kurosaki's hollow grind. But for looks I prefer Kurosaki.
For Western smiths so far I love my Birgersson. Not sure I've settled on a 3rd favorite yet.
DrD23
Well-Known Member
So far from those I own:
Y tanaka - great board and cutting feel
Kato - feels special, authoritative
Kipp- pure cutting performance
TF is still on the way, and my next western will be a shi.han, so well see how the list changes
Y tanaka - great board and cutting feel
Kato - feels special, authoritative
Kipp- pure cutting performance
TF is still on the way, and my next western will be a shi.han, so well see how the list changes
Shi.Han - Feel and blade geometry is always exquisite
Halcyon Forge - I've never had another knife make me smile with EVERY use
Kurosaki - Great all around cutting, feel, edge retention -- even nice on the wallet
** Honorable mention: TF - My god the cutting performance and feel is incredible (all wabisabi aside)
Halcyon Forge - I've never had another knife make me smile with EVERY use
Kurosaki - Great all around cutting, feel, edge retention -- even nice on the wallet
** Honorable mention: TF - My god the cutting performance and feel is incredible (all wabisabi aside)
myguidingmoonlight
Senior Member
Shuji Toyama, I love his Blue #2, I like the JNS kanji, and I really like the profile, too. His gyutos have a good amount of flat spots, cut really well, and the tip is robust and less prone to chipping.
Nakaya Heiji, I really like his semi-stainless, bitey, aggressive and gets sharp so easily. Fun vegetable prep knives.
Yoshikazu Tanaka makes very hard Blue #1, and I really like most of the sharpeners he collab with.
Edit: Slightly unrelated, but how aesthetic the Kanji or stamp factors in how much I like those makers too. I really like Takeda's, Takada's, Watanabe's and Ashi's.
Nakaya Heiji, I really like his semi-stainless, bitey, aggressive and gets sharp so easily. Fun vegetable prep knives.
Yoshikazu Tanaka makes very hard Blue #1, and I really like most of the sharpeners he collab with.
Edit: Slightly unrelated, but how aesthetic the Kanji or stamp factors in how much I like those makers too. I really like Takeda's, Takada's, Watanabe's and Ashi's.
