Paring Knife........ Richmond Artifex or Tojiro DP ?

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jh225

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Need a cheap paring knife and looking at the Richmond Artifex 80mm and the Tojiro DP 90mm.

Never held a Richmond and wonder how thick the edge is compared to the Tojiro? I know the spine on the Tojiro is a bit thicker, but the edge looks thinner. I like thin edges.

Strictly home use.
 
Why not a Victorinox pairing knife? Cheap and expendable (and it has a very thin stamped blade)
 
bkultra said:
Why not a Victorinox pairing knife? Cheap and expendable (and it has a very thin stamped blade)
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We've actually had a couple of those uber cheap parer's and expendable is exactly what they are. Was hoping a little extra cash would buy me a better small parer. :biggrin:

What if I was to add a Gesshin to the mix?

Also, what exactly don't you folks like about the aforementioned knives? Is the quality really that bad?
 
The Shun Classic is a great suggestion. If you are looking to spend more money and wait, perhaps an Ealy.
 
Pensacola Tiger said:
The Richmond's F&F is abysmal. The Tojiro is okay, but nothing special. Have you looked at the Shun Classic Limited? It's priced way under the regular Shun Classics at $50. That's $2 more than the Richmond.

http://www.cutleryandmore.com/shun-classic/limited-edition-paring-knife-p134092
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Honestly, from the horror stories I have read about on Shun, it didn't get any look.


chiffonodd said:
The other one I'm eyeing right now is the Misono swedish 80mm for $55 on rakuten:

http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/plusys7022/item/8462/?s-id=borderless_recommend_item_en
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Thanks, I will look into it.
 
I (We) don't often recommend Shun, but the pairing knife is the exception. It is a very comfortable knife and is a good value @ $50.
 
It's (misono Parer) $56.70 at JCK right now too, I have the lefty version and don't care for the asymmetry in parers because I often cut off the board towards me, and the left handed grind doesn't work well in this case. I don't really care for carbon parers too much as I often use on foodstuffs that don't go well with carbon (fruits, etc.). Perhaps the molybdenum or 440 would be an option too; molybdenum is even less and ux10 is probably more
 
jh225 said:
Honestly, from the horror stories I have read about on Shun, it didn't get any look.
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Yeah, that's the problem with forums on the internet. You see people just repeating what they've read when they've never even held the knife, much less actually used one. Shun's chef's knives have Germanic profiles that don't suit the preferences of many on the forums, so they are seldom recommended. The paring knife, on the other hand, is acknowledged as having a great profile and is a very nice knife. Also, the fit and finish of a Shun is better than every knife in its price range.

Oh, yeah, there's that oft repeated meme about how Shuns are "chippy". I've owned several Shuns, and they are not, repeat not "chippy". Yes, they can and will chip, but that's because of technique, not because they are poor knives. Any knife harder than about 60-61 HRC will chip if you use poor technique or abuse the knife. Case in point is over at CKtG, where the Teruyasu Fujiwara line is being discontinued because people who didn't know what they were doing bought them and then complained when the edges chipped. They had so many returns that the decision was made to stop carrying them. So, will the Teruyasu Fujiwara knives called "chippy" and poor knives by the rest of us? I doubt it.

Okay, I'll climb down off my soapbox now.

Rick
 
Gesshin or Konosuke HD would be my two suggestions. Have both and are extremely impressed with the edge retention, overall sharpness and F/F
 
Yeah. the whole Shun chippy thing was a horror story I heard too that imo is very exaggerated. I have a 7 inch classic gyuto with a Japanese profile and it hasn't had any issues in a year in both home and professional use. I use it interchangeably with a Tojiro Vg-10 and I have yet to see any difference in term of chippiness and retention between them.

I think as much as people crap on Shun, it's mostly for its price point and the profile. The fit and finish is better than most knives i have from Japan under 200 dollars. I think they are great deals when you can get them at a discounted price that is competitive with the lower end Japanese knives.

Like PT said chippiness is hard to objectify, it depends almost entirely on use and how you sharpen and take care of you knives.

I'd say go for the Shun parer if it is the same price as Tojiro
 
Aside from technique, I'd bet a big part of the [(Shun / VG-10) = Chippy] equation is their accessibility and target market. Go to just about any kitchenware store and you'll see 'em, and they're at a price that the uninitiated home cook or foodie is willing to pay. On the absolute vs relative exposure scale I'd say they probably top both categories.

I don't think too many would spend $1k or so on a honyaki as their first knife; usually these people know why they're doing, although Tosho's post about the handle burn-in gone wrong makes me wonder.
 
The only problem I have with Shun is they market themselves as Japanese knives, but have a very German profile. I have never had a problem with their steel and certainly not with their F&F. The pairing knife does not suffer from a profile that is not to my taste. I have been into kitchen knives for over 10 years. I, like many here, started with Shun knives.
 
I also like the Shun parer. (Did I say that out loud?) I have a 3.5" and have used a 4" quite a bit. Good little knives and at 50 bucks a good value. In that same price range I also like the Suisin Western Inox available from Korin. That whole series are sweet, inexpensive, entry level knives with very good F/F. I've not used or seen in person a Gesshin Stainless parer but if Jon sells it....
 
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tjangula said:
Aside from technique, I'd bet a big part of the [(Shun / VG-10) = Chippy] equation is their accessibility and target market. Go to just about any kitchenware store and you'll see 'em, and they're at a price that the uninitiated home cook or foodie is willing to pay. On the absolute vs relative exposure scale I'd say they probably top both categories.

I don't think too many would spend $1k or so on a honyaki as their first knife; usually these people know why they're doing, although Tosho's post about the handle burn-in gone wrong makes me wonder.
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which post? sounds funny


As a guy in a kitchen I think my ealy parer is really a liabiltity and I found my messermeister petite m esser paring knife set to work great for everything from the jacques pepin shallot mince to tourne mushrooms so... take that for what it's worth. I think an investment in a petty is vastly better value for the money. I often have a hard time thinking of reasons to use my parer... maybe I don't do enough classical french cooking :O
 
spoiledbroth said:
which post? sounds funny


As a guy in a kitchen I think my ealy parer is really a liabiltity and I found my messermeister petite m esser paring knife set to work great for everything from the jacques pepin shallot mince to tourne mushrooms so... take that for what it's worth. I think an investment in a petty is vastly better value for the money. I often have a hard time thinking of reasons to use my parer... maybe I don't do enough classical french cooking :O
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I had given that some thought, but my petty is 150mm and I figured a 120mm would be too close in size, which is why I started looking at smaller paring knives in the 80-90mm range.

Maybe my reasoning is wrong, I don't know. I do know that it's not a huge investment, so why not give it a shot.
 
+1 for the Shun parer. Good deal for the 4" special edition classic parer right now.
 
In my view if I want to use a knife for paring I do not want a sharp poitny heel waiting for my thumb to make a wrong move. After long search I got a Blazen paring knife 110mm with narrow and thin SG2 blade from EpicEdge and could not be happier with its performance for in-hand cutting. Not cheap, but maybe it will pop up today discounted.
 
bkultra said:
The only problem I have with Shun is they market themselves as Japanese knives, but have a very German profile. I have never had a problem with their steel and certainly not with their F&F. The pairing knife does not suffer from a profile that is not to my taste. I have been into kitchen knives for over 10 years. I, like many here, started with Shun knives.
Click to expand...

I don't want to be pedantic or anything... But they are made in japan, therefore they are Japanese knives. Just cause they don't use a profile you like doesn't mean they aren't japanese. Just remember, gyutos are just an adaptation of a classic western profiles.
 
Though at the end of the day we're talking about a paring knife which in my mind has fairly limited number of uses and probably the least overall variation in terms of profile... even the referenced shun parer I think is just a sheepsfoot type thing.
 
spoiledbroth said:
Though at the end of the day we're talking about a paring knife which in my mind has fairly limited number of uses and probably the least overall variation in terms of profile... even the referenced shun parer I think is just a sheepsfoot type thing.
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Two quite different profiles.

Classic Paring:

5280.jpg


Sheepsfoot:

5910.jpg
 
JKI has 3 Geshins between $30 and $40. Worth a look
 
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