The handle on my old Mab was nice and large too, it was the nicely finished actually.
The gap is gone. Gentlemen dressed to kill
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply
I can’t decide if I should go wa or yo handle
Oh I hear you man. 98% of my knives are wa handled. For some reason I do like the look of the TF yo handled knives as well which is rare for me. I probably will end up going Wa though.
This is good to know. I made an inquiry and requested preferences for a blade but didn’t actually purchase a knife about a week ago and haven’t heard back from them. They might be on vacation for the new year though...
That sounds like it could work for me. Usually i’m not super picky with handles. I generally prefer wa but I have nothing against yo handles at all.
Thank you for creating these questions. Would it be possible for you to come back as you go through the process and update the forum? I am in the exact same boat and am curious if you get any response and what your final knife actually looks like in relationship to what you requested.
I would be happy to if everyone is cool with that. I’m a little nervous myself haha. First time ordering direct period, let alone with TF. Maybe I should of emailed first. We’ll see. I did not end up seeing a note section while ordering. I filled out my shipping info etc and then paid with paypal. There are 4 “steps” it seems in his ordering process. The third one being confirm. It seems like paypal was the second step. So I figured the third step would have the note section or whatever and then some kind of confirm button. Unfortunately after I paid with paypal it seemed like it went past step 3 and right to step 4 which is complete lol. So i’m a little nervous I was not able to leave a note with the order. However I filled out the inquiry section as well as emailed the email I found through my paypal invoice. Luckily, its a 180 mab gyuto and not a larger purchase. For most chefs, including myself, almost $300 for a 180 gyuto I feel is still a good amount of money. So i’m hoping when they come back from the holidays they will see my message with my preferences and exactly what I’m looking for before they just ship a knife. Fingers crossed! I’ve been wanting to try a TF for too long now. I figured a smaller knife would be a nice chance to test the process. I’ll keep you updated if you would like.
Did you choose Wa or Yo in the end? My first excursion into ordering TF direct (in fact my first ever Jknife's) were two 210 Wa Nashiji gyuto's. One with Machi and 46mm tall and the other a more laserish 50mm example without machi. One thing I regretted was not ordering them with upgraded octagonal Ho/horn handles. The basic freebie handles are trash.
I ended up going yo handled. All of my knives except one are wa handled. I kind of dig the yo handled TF look and I won’t mind the weight. I think if everything goes smooth and I like the knife I would grab a 240 with probably a wa handle. I saw the option for the standard Wa handle and then I think that ebony handle which seems beautiful but pricey. I think if there ever is a next time i’ll sit down on the computer and order rather than my cell phone. I know sometimes certain websites can vary when on a phone and I might of missed something. Does he contact you regardless about the name engraving service before he ships? I do not want my name engraved on the blade. I’m sure he will see my email before the knife ships. God forbid he doesn’t I figured if they contact me for the name engraving I can ask them if they saw it at that point.
Thank you for the reply. I’m sure they are on vacation for the new year until Monday so I’m expecting delays which is fine. This makes me feel better about the situation.
