Please recommend a 90-105mm pairing/petty/ko-bunka

Japanese Knives - by Tokushu Knife
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someStuffThings

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Joined
Feb 13, 2021
Messages
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Location
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LOCATION
US

KNIFE TYPE
petty/pairing/ko-bunka knife - something to cut small fruits and veggies. I'm open to recommendations in the small size category
Japanese Handle
95-105mm (120mm is just too long and it seems like most petty knives I can find are 120mm above or pairing knives that are 75mm)
carbon core with stainless cladding
budget: $170

KNIFE USE
For home use cutting small fruits and veggies

What knife, if any, are you replacing?
Adding to shun pairing 4" size range

What cutting motions do you primarily use?
push-cut
slice

Care?
Whetstone

What improvements do you want from your current knife?
I have a TF Gyuto which I love and I just want a small knife with similar sharpness and edge retention. The Shun VG10/max edge retention is meh.
 
I've seen some Deba knives that are the right length but seem like it would be awkwardly tall for little fruits and veggies. I would love to see one in person but I doubt too many shops locally have ~90-105mm Deba knives
 
I’ve tried quite a few Petty’s, and Ko-Bunka’s, but none of them really worked for me. I’ve found the Japanese geometry really doesn’t work all that well for fruit, at least the way I approach it. I came to realize something more like a traditional European shape worked best for me. I also found that something less than 100mm wasn’t ideal for a variety of jobs, and something over 120mm was larger than I wanted for smaller work. So, I settled on a Yoshikane 105mm Petty.

It’s sort of a hybrid shape, not really Japanese, but not fully European, but pointier than the photos, which is perfect. It‘s large enough for lemons, but not too large for coring strawberries. I love the SKD steel - I wanted something that would stand up to lemons and limes (I found I really didn’t like full carbon for working with fruit). It’s one of my very best knife purchases, and is among a small few I’ll never trade off.

https://www.epicedge.com/shopexd.asp?id=87936&bc=no
 
After watching a few videos I don't think the tall deba/Ajikiri is really what I want.

That Yoshikane looks good I night end up getting that.
 
I don't really see why you'd want a carbon knife for fruitwork.
Or a tall paring knife for that matter.
Just because you could doesn't mean you should.

For board work you want something longer. For in-hand work something around 9 cm works great, but you don't want the height.
 
Jovidah said:
I don't really see why you'd want a carbon knife for fruitwork.
Or a tall paring knife for that matter.
Just because you could doesn't mean you should.

For board work you want something longer. For in-hand work something around 9 cm works great, but you don't want the height.
Click to expand...

Yeah I don't really want tall. I didn't realize how tall the small debas were until I watched some videos. Do you have a recommendation for a specific non-carbon knife that you think would be better? Or at least what kind of steel you recommend that won't rust/stain and has good edge retention?
 
Last edited:
That's a tough one... as already mentioned above there aren't a ton of Japanese knives in this format. And of those that exist a fair amount still have a tall profile. Ryusen had a 105 petty in SG2 that comes close but it's still on the long side (Ryusen Blazen Japans Officemes 11cm - Gratis gegraveerd is the only retailer I could find but it's in Europe; I think it's an outgoing model).

Most of the European manufacturers make these kind of knives in nice profiles but the steel is underwhelming.

Personally I'd just lean towards sacrificing the edge retention; knives that mostly get used in-hand don't degrade that much in my experience? Ironically the Shun you already have is one that actually gets a fair amount of recommendations for a paring knife.
 
The bevel on that Tamahagane doesn't exactly inspire a lot of confidence. :p
 
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