ampersandcetera
Well-Known Member
LOCATION
Portland, OR - USA
KNIFE TYPE
What type of knife are you interested in: Gyuto or k-tip
Are you right or left handed? Left-handed
Are you interested in a Western handle or Japanese handle? Large-ish octagonal wa-handles are most comfortable for me, but this is not a deal breaker
What length of knife (blade) are you interested in (in inches or millimeters)? 200-225
Do you require a stainless knife? (Yes or no) - SS Clad, lower reactivity monosteel, or semi-stainless for work on the line
What is your absolute maximum budget for your knife? $400
KNIFE USE
Do you primarily intend to use this knife at home or a professional environment? Professional environment, on the line
What are the main tasks you primarily intend to use the knife for: on the fly veg prep, slicing fruit and tomatoes, slicing sandwich breads, portioning cooked proteins
What knife, if any, are you replacing? Filling a need in my knife roll for a middleweight, medium length user
Do you have a particular grip that you primarily use? Pinch, always
What cutting motions do you primarily use? Push cutter most of the time, sometimes draw cuts or quick chopping tasks
What improvements do you want from your current knife? Looking for something that keeps a toothy edge as it wears (because tomato skins, etc) and isn't nearly as reactive as my Mazaki in White#2
Aesthetics: don't care--expecting a fair amount of scratches and some staining to occur
Comfort: Middleweight, a little blade heavy, I can always replace a wa-handle if need be. I'm generally a fan of the feel in-hand of Sanjo style blades with lots of distal taper
Ease of Use: SS clad carbon or Semi-stainless for minimal babying on the line
Edge Retention: good to great - looking for something that wears down with some bite like an SKD or a Blue #2?
KNIFE MAINTENANCE
Do you use a bamboo, wood, rubber, or synthetic cutting board? Plastic boards at work, unfortunately
Do you sharpen your own knives? With stones 1k, 5k, 6k, and a leather strop--at least once or twice per week as needed, with daily touch-ups in the morning and quick honing mid-shift.
SPECIAL REQUESTS/COMMENTS
My current work roll is as follows:
-Yoshikane SKD tsuchime 240 gyuto - love this knife, wish it were 4+cm taller, cuts beautifully and keeps a lovely toothy edge all day, but it's too long for use during a busy service
-Mazaki White#2 kasumi 180 bunka - my hard use knife, wish it were a 210 k-tip, super reactive and kind of annoying to keep clean during service, loses its bite too soon during service if I'm having to do a ton of tomato slices, cutting bread or sandwiches, etc.
-Toyama Blue#2 ss clad 180 nakiri - love the way this knife cuts, feels super thin bte but I haven't had any chipping issues with it thus far, a real veg prep monster but no tip makes it less useful during service, probably too tall for a line knife
-Konosuku SLD GS+ 150 petty - tiny, light, ultra nimble, great for citrus prep, fine tasks, etc, but too short and delicate to leave on my board during service
-Misono swedish carbon 270 - impractically large for the line, lesser edge holding than anything else I have, but tough and pretty low maintenance for full carbon steel
So I've been tossing around a couple of ideas for what my kit is missing and here's what I've come up with so far...
-Watoyama ss clad 210 - too thin bte for hard use on the line? I'm concerned about micro-chipping, mostly.
-Yoshikane SKD 210 k-tip - I already have the 240, and variety is the spice of life or whatever.
-Konosuke HD2 - curious if the steel wears down round or toothy, also concerned about the robustness of the thin-ish blade
-Steelport - An outlier, but I'm really curious about the performance of these. I've only ever had a pocket knife in 52100, so I'm not sure about the edge retention and feel, but I know that it's less reactive than a typical iron clad. I also live in PDX where they're made. Should have picked up that user from @ftermath a few months ago... I love the blade shape and it felt great in the hand at Knife House.
-Pray to the knife gods for an affordable/beat up Shihan or Kippington to show up on B/S/T on a day that I can afford it- a man can dream.
I've been kicking myself for not snagging that Tsourkan practice knife all month. Seems like most of the cool stuff always shows up on B/S/T right when all of the bills are due.
The other folks on the line have more robust and practical knives for service--all 210s (an Ohishi and Tadafusa in SLD, and a Sukenari in SG2)--but I'm looking for something of a goldilocks knife: a high-performing steel with strong edge retention/teeth that can take a good amount of abuse during an average workday and won't be a pain to keep tomato-slicing sharp. I'm assuming that I've got a make a compromise somewhere, right?
TL;DR - 200-225 beater/user/work knife that's tough, lower maintenance, comfortable, and with a toothy edge that will survive a 12-hour line shift with just a dry towel and a ceramic hone.
Portland, OR - USA
KNIFE TYPE
What type of knife are you interested in: Gyuto or k-tip
Are you right or left handed? Left-handed
Are you interested in a Western handle or Japanese handle? Large-ish octagonal wa-handles are most comfortable for me, but this is not a deal breaker
What length of knife (blade) are you interested in (in inches or millimeters)? 200-225
Do you require a stainless knife? (Yes or no) - SS Clad, lower reactivity monosteel, or semi-stainless for work on the line
What is your absolute maximum budget for your knife? $400
KNIFE USE
Do you primarily intend to use this knife at home or a professional environment? Professional environment, on the line
What are the main tasks you primarily intend to use the knife for: on the fly veg prep, slicing fruit and tomatoes, slicing sandwich breads, portioning cooked proteins
What knife, if any, are you replacing? Filling a need in my knife roll for a middleweight, medium length user
Do you have a particular grip that you primarily use? Pinch, always
What cutting motions do you primarily use? Push cutter most of the time, sometimes draw cuts or quick chopping tasks
What improvements do you want from your current knife? Looking for something that keeps a toothy edge as it wears (because tomato skins, etc) and isn't nearly as reactive as my Mazaki in White#2
Aesthetics: don't care--expecting a fair amount of scratches and some staining to occur
Comfort: Middleweight, a little blade heavy, I can always replace a wa-handle if need be. I'm generally a fan of the feel in-hand of Sanjo style blades with lots of distal taper
Ease of Use: SS clad carbon or Semi-stainless for minimal babying on the line
Edge Retention: good to great - looking for something that wears down with some bite like an SKD or a Blue #2?
KNIFE MAINTENANCE
Do you use a bamboo, wood, rubber, or synthetic cutting board? Plastic boards at work, unfortunately
Do you sharpen your own knives? With stones 1k, 5k, 6k, and a leather strop--at least once or twice per week as needed, with daily touch-ups in the morning and quick honing mid-shift.
SPECIAL REQUESTS/COMMENTS
My current work roll is as follows:
-Yoshikane SKD tsuchime 240 gyuto - love this knife, wish it were 4+cm taller, cuts beautifully and keeps a lovely toothy edge all day, but it's too long for use during a busy service
-Mazaki White#2 kasumi 180 bunka - my hard use knife, wish it were a 210 k-tip, super reactive and kind of annoying to keep clean during service, loses its bite too soon during service if I'm having to do a ton of tomato slices, cutting bread or sandwiches, etc.
-Toyama Blue#2 ss clad 180 nakiri - love the way this knife cuts, feels super thin bte but I haven't had any chipping issues with it thus far, a real veg prep monster but no tip makes it less useful during service, probably too tall for a line knife
-Konosuku SLD GS+ 150 petty - tiny, light, ultra nimble, great for citrus prep, fine tasks, etc, but too short and delicate to leave on my board during service
-Misono swedish carbon 270 - impractically large for the line, lesser edge holding than anything else I have, but tough and pretty low maintenance for full carbon steel
So I've been tossing around a couple of ideas for what my kit is missing and here's what I've come up with so far...
-Watoyama ss clad 210 - too thin bte for hard use on the line? I'm concerned about micro-chipping, mostly.
-Yoshikane SKD 210 k-tip - I already have the 240, and variety is the spice of life or whatever.
-Konosuke HD2 - curious if the steel wears down round or toothy, also concerned about the robustness of the thin-ish blade
-Steelport - An outlier, but I'm really curious about the performance of these. I've only ever had a pocket knife in 52100, so I'm not sure about the edge retention and feel, but I know that it's less reactive than a typical iron clad. I also live in PDX where they're made. Should have picked up that user from @ftermath a few months ago... I love the blade shape and it felt great in the hand at Knife House.
-Pray to the knife gods for an affordable/beat up Shihan or Kippington to show up on B/S/T on a day that I can afford it- a man can dream.
I've been kicking myself for not snagging that Tsourkan practice knife all month. Seems like most of the cool stuff always shows up on B/S/T right when all of the bills are due.
The other folks on the line have more robust and practical knives for service--all 210s (an Ohishi and Tadafusa in SLD, and a Sukenari in SG2)--but I'm looking for something of a goldilocks knife: a high-performing steel with strong edge retention/teeth that can take a good amount of abuse during an average workday and won't be a pain to keep tomato-slicing sharp. I'm assuming that I've got a make a compromise somewhere, right?
TL;DR - 200-225 beater/user/work knife that's tough, lower maintenance, comfortable, and with a toothy edge that will survive a 12-hour line shift with just a dry towel and a ceramic hone.
Let us know what you choose!
