New knife with many scratches

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adam92

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I got the knife from my girlfriend for my birthday gift. The knife is kurokumo sg2 gyuto 240mm by Shiro Kamo from James.

I really like the ebony handle & the marble buffalo horn from James! High tall heel should be very helpful with cutting tons of vegetables.

However, I notice the left side of the blade have quite many deep scratches on it. About 60mm long. Should I be concern about it ?
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If this is a brand new knife, I would return it for exchange.
Not acceptable at all for a new knife. Imagine what it would
look life if it were not damascus.
 
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If this is a brand new knife, I would return it for exchange.
Not acceptable at all for a new knife. Imagine what it would
look life if it were not damascus.
This is brand new knife, I just collect from local post shop few hours ago 🥲🥲, I think my knife was the last one, the website showing out of stock after I place the order. Not sure what option I have, this is my first time receive the knife with scratch, and this has tons of scratches… even worse than one scratch..😩😩😩
 
That sucks, those are pretty bad scratches. Sucks even worse that they’re now out of stock so you might not be able to do a straight swap. Sit tight and see what the vendor will do for you.
 
That sucks, those are pretty bad scratches. Sucks even worse that they’re now out of stock so you might not be able to do a straight swap. Sit tight and see what the vendor will do for you.
Yeah, if only one scratch I’ll just keep it, but those quite many & deep, I guess if I keep it I need to use sandpaper to polish the whole blade & etch again… let’s wait another week to see what james said.
 
I would definitely get it exchanged, although if out of stock and at this time of year it may take a bit of time for communication. Or seek a refund or alternative model.
I think I would seek for refund / exchange, As this is not minor blemishes. i fall in love with this particular model + tall heel. Maybe need to wait at least two week to James to reply my email as they’re close at the moment. But I do believe James will work out with me, not the first time purchase knife/tools from him.
 
Honestly I think the dama hides it well, and you will get plenty more scratches on the first sharpen
That's my feeling too, but how bad it is is subjective. It depends a lot on how the knife is to be used. If the knife is a safe queen and only used for special occasions and possibly never sharpened, then the scratches are bothersome. On the other hand if the knife is to be used and sharpened often then the scratches are nothing.

Obviously the OP is bothered enough to start the thread, so there's that. Whatever is decided in the end is right.
 
Honestly I think the dama hides it well, and you will get plenty more scratches on the first sharpen

I’ve been using the same knife for almost a year and the damascus portion has no scratches - the factory ku seems to be pretty tough. There’s a few minor scratches along the exposed core near the edge, but my 1-year old used example looks much closer to new than OP’s actual new knife. On the other hand it seems like my migaki knives get scratches when I sneeze.

Especially as a birthday gift, I think wanting something clean and unblemished is pretty reasonable and expected. If it was going into hard use in a professional setting I’d totally agree with you, though.
 
I’ve been using the same knife for almost a year and the damascus portion has no scratches - the factory ku seems to be pretty tough. There’s a few minor scratches along the exposed core near the edge, but my 1-year old used example looks much closer to new than OP’s actual new knife. On the other hand it seems like my migaki knives get scratches when I sneeze.

Especially as a birthday gift, I think wanting something clean and unblemished is pretty reasonable and expected. If it was going into hard use in a professional setting I’d totally agree with you, though.
weird, my SG2 kramer with a similar looking finish scratched super quickly
 
Honestly I think the dama hides it well, and you will get plenty more scratches on the first sharpen
Unless you gonna thinning the knife straight away, which is unlikely to happen for a new knife, otherwise not gonna scratch the blade road, this can repair by sandpaper & etch, but gonna take many hour to do so, losing the steel On one side & value on the knife.
As this is brand new knife, I think just wait James to come back from vacation. See what option I have.
 
The vendor took the time to put an upgraded handle on it and didn’t notice the scratches? I find that hard to believe.
Me either, if the scratch was there before shipping, I hope I know that before I place the order. Not when I open the box & realise there’s so many deep scratches on the blade road😩😩😩
 
Depending on the light and angle it's probably hard to tell. I can't really rell in the first circled pic unless I zoom in
If you hold the knife in hand, you can tell very easily, even my girlfriend can see easily. And she ask me how come there’s so many scratches in one area☹️ By the way, I forgot to tell the plastic cover for the knife was little bit broken, but I think that’s because of the edge was too sharp to broken the cover, I don’t think the cover can make so many scratches on the blade road.

Very strange to me is the box is perfectly fine. So I don’t think the scratches happen during shipping.

Shiping from Australia to New Zealand usually take maximum 1-2 weeks, this time take one month, I guess because of Christmas.
 
Not sure I'd call them deep...they look more like hairline than anything. Can't even tell in the last pic, it looks like they only pop up at a certain angle/lighting.

I'd recommend never buying anything mirror polished then, specially a honyaki. Scratches like that are very common even buying new unfortunately.

Regardless, if it upsets you, James will take care of you I'm sure. Kind of confused on the point of this post. You asked "should I be concerned about it"...but you are already clearly concerned.
 
Did it come in a saya? Wonder if the scratches are due to insertion/ removal from whatever was used to protect the blade during shipping.
No the knife didn’t come with saya, they said the knife is too tall to make the saya to fit in.😢😢
 
Not sure I'd call them deep...they look more like hairline than anything. Can't even tell in the last pic, it looks like they only pop up at a certain angle/lighting.

I'd recommend never buying anything mirror polished then, specially a honyaki. Scratches like that are very common even buying new unfortunately.

Regardless, if it upsets you, James will take care of you I'm sure. Kind of confused on the point of this post. You asked "should I be concerned about it"...but you are already clearly concerned.
The honyaki yanagiba I got have no scratches at all, make by yoshikazu ikeda, sharperner ino shinpei.
 
I was expecting some minor scratches when I clicked, this is pretty bad scratched up for a new knife... I wouldn't worry too much tho, all my transaction and communication with K&S has been great, they provide good customer service, hope your problem get resolved soon.
 
Hi guys, I got the email reply from aron(kns staff).

As my knife was the last one, therefore I can’t exchange the same knife anymore, but Aron give me 30% refund, quite a good deal for me. The customer service is very fast & nice ! I didn’t expect this option at all. I gonna keep it & use it.
Thanks everyone for the helpful advice, I’m really appreciate this forum!
 
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