Sorry if I'm being ignorant here... I'm just super confused why Raquin knives are so popular both on his website and in the BST section. It seems he uses minimal effort possible to make his knives as they are all kurouchi and not even any fancy handle. Somehow he manages to sell it 600$+ and people are waiting in a long hype line just to get one. There are 1,496 other knifemakers that use fancier handles and polish their knives to mirror finish with (presumably) equally good grind and some are at the same price or even cheaper. Where/when did this hype train start that causes people to buy an ordinary-looking knife just for the sake of having one? I mean, he is not even a legendary ancient swordsmith like TF.
Raquin knives
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Corradobrit1
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soigne_west
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They look more nicely finished then some other knives that go for far more on here IMO.
His knives are really attractive, I really want one, it looks nice, Kasumi polished, nice steel and grinds. Don't know about the edge retention though. Then again, his knife is mostly Kitchen Tractor AKA Workhorse, and you know how enthusiast KKF people with workhorse right? A Hyped train maybe... but this is the Hyped that I'm willing to follow too. Hopefully, I will score one in the future.
IMO for $600 I would still buy his knife rather than typical Hyped up Japanese San-Mai Gyuto (unless it's River Jump) but that's just my personal opinion.
IMO for $600 I would still buy his knife rather than typical Hyped up Japanese San-Mai Gyuto (unless it's River Jump) but that's just my personal opinion.
There’s a lot more to a high end knife than a mirror polish and fancy handle.
Well yeah, of course. Grind, steel, and heat treatment are also important, but there are other less hyped makers with equally good grind, steel, and heat treatment, but with better finish and handle in addition too. Why is Raquin specifically so hyped?
I can not help but get the impression that you know very little what makes well made knife. I will leave it to others to help you out.
“Better” is quite subjective. I, for one, love the super simple and rustic style of the raquin. It has a lot more character for me. His knife as an overall package has very desirable performance for a certain type of person and those people are willing to pay for it. At the end of the day you can write out what is “better” about one knife or the other, but what it comes down to is how it feels on a board and on stones. When you find one or think one will do it for you people are ready to spend money on it.
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People can like things. For me, what's interesting is the steel.
Minimal effort (?). There is effort in making consistent grind, great HT, rare steel, straight blades, centered san-mai cores, distal taper.
TF has a kinda steel-related hype as well, but is quite different. TF puts significantly less effort into consistency, like in terms of bends and straightness. Though both makers make a variety of profiles and grinds for the same blade type.
Minimal effort (?). There is effort in making consistent grind, great HT, rare steel, straight blades, centered san-mai cores, distal taper.
TF has a kinda steel-related hype as well, but is quite different. TF puts significantly less effort into consistency, like in terms of bends and straightness. Though both makers make a variety of profiles and grinds for the same blade type.
Of course, it's a huge work to make a knife, but it's the same as other great knifemakers as well. The difference is Raquin doesn't have any variation, just the same ol' kurouchi. I'm certainly not trying to downplay the effort that goes into making a knife here.
Take Isasmedjan for example, his knife are also pretty popular as well, but he charges nowhere near Raquin does. They are both rustic, but well-finished and, from reviews, equally good steel/heat treatment. Am I missing something here? @Matus
You are
Would you be so kind to tell me, please? I really don't know, that's why I created this thread. It might be easier for me to understand to, say, compare Raquin with Isasmedjan, which are the two makers I think seem similar in style, except Isasmedjan has more variation.
bahamaroot
Idiot Savant
Name them.
Isasmedjan, for example.
bahamaroot
Idiot Savant
Have you used either?
Nope, that's why I created this thread.
nakneker
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Ok, I’ll admit that at one time I shared your opening sentiments. This would have been a couple years ago, someone had mentioned Raquin knives as desirable. So I took a look at his web page and was unimpressed. KU finish, burnt oak handle, what’s to love? After a couple years into the hobby I look back and feel like such a noob.
I finally landed a Raquin gyuto. It’s performance on the board was eye opening to say the least. It just out performed most knives, including knives that cost 1k and over. My first Raquin was 225x50 kitchen tractor grind, I actually looked at the knife wondering how this mid to thick grind was ghosting ingredients as it did as I tried it out. But then...
I got a hold of a Raquin 165 Nakiri. I’m a square knife fan btw, oh man, this little Nakiri was amazing. Processing ingredients with ease and out performing, my KU Shig, my toyama. And a few others. Then I landed a 210 Nakiri and 185 Nakiri, wow! These blades literally blew the competition away. I’m not just writing BS, those Nakiris our performed every Nakiri I had tried and that’s a few.
So when I read your opening thread I chuckled, because at one time, a couple years back, I was saying the same thing. Not anymore. Bryan Raquin has it down. Your not buying an rustic burnt oak cutesy knife, your buying a blade on steroids in the performance dept. I would suggest getting your hands on one and pitting it against your favorite knife, you may walk away singing a different tune and may think a 600 dollars Raquin under valued.
One last comment. When these custom knife makers reach the point that their efforts become somewhat profitable then I say good for them. They have hours and hours invested in this and they do it because they love it, not because it’s profitable. If you broke down their time by the hour, a 600 dollar 210 Nakiri is a deal. The more we support them then the more options we will have. We are a spoiled lot, we have so many custom makers to choose from, Bryan Raquin is at the top of that heap. I’ve put his blades to the test, the man is a rock star.
When a Raquin comes up in the BSTs there is a reason they sell in 10 minutes. It comes down to performance, amazing blades.
I finally landed a Raquin gyuto. It’s performance on the board was eye opening to say the least. It just out performed most knives, including knives that cost 1k and over. My first Raquin was 225x50 kitchen tractor grind, I actually looked at the knife wondering how this mid to thick grind was ghosting ingredients as it did as I tried it out. But then...
I got a hold of a Raquin 165 Nakiri. I’m a square knife fan btw, oh man, this little Nakiri was amazing. Processing ingredients with ease and out performing, my KU Shig, my toyama. And a few others. Then I landed a 210 Nakiri and 185 Nakiri, wow! These blades literally blew the competition away. I’m not just writing BS, those Nakiris our performed every Nakiri I had tried and that’s a few.
So when I read your opening thread I chuckled, because at one time, a couple years back, I was saying the same thing. Not anymore. Bryan Raquin has it down. Your not buying an rustic burnt oak cutesy knife, your buying a blade on steroids in the performance dept. I would suggest getting your hands on one and pitting it against your favorite knife, you may walk away singing a different tune and may think a 600 dollars Raquin under valued.
One last comment. When these custom knife makers reach the point that their efforts become somewhat profitable then I say good for them. They have hours and hours invested in this and they do it because they love it, not because it’s profitable. If you broke down their time by the hour, a 600 dollar 210 Nakiri is a deal. The more we support them then the more options we will have. We are a spoiled lot, we have so many custom makers to choose from, Bryan Raquin is at the top of that heap. I’ve put his blades to the test, the man is a rock star.
When a Raquin comes up in the BSTs there is a reason they sell in 10 minutes. It comes down to performance, amazing blades.
Thanks for an honest and non-sarcastic comment. This is what I was looking to ask. And absolutely, we should support custom makers. Tansu knife is the first 'custom' knife I got (from BST section) and I was neither impressed by the heat treatment nor the grind. I guess I gotta buy a Raquin this year then.
bahamaroot
Idiot Savant
I didn't understand either until I used one that he offered in a pass around. Was not impressed when I pulled it out of the box but grinned like a perv on PornHub with every cut. They are truly amazing performers. Isasmedjan does make some great knives but Raquin is a step above.
Ok I’ll chime in. I get the hesitation over the rustic look. I was skeptical too. I’ve owned a few and handled a couple more and I’ve been beyond impressed. They have a subtle s-grind and are top notch performers in my books. I have a 295 KT and that one will never be sold. Ever.
Panamapeet
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Legendary ancient swordsmith
thanks for making my day!
Where did I say I judged? I just postulated the possibility of their similarity, seeing that they both are pretty well-respected knife makers.
Here you talk about minimal effort, wich is straight plain ********, knowing Bryan and how much effort he putted to get where he is, it kinda trigger me a lil. You also talk about rustic, how do you judge them rustic if you didn't handle any? Bryan round and polish spine and choil, and also the handle, although looking simple, it is as comfortable as it can get, and also extremely durable. His knives are also finished on stone, so again, minimal effort is bs.
Lastly, his steel is actually unique and heat treated to perfection, never experienced such a clean glassy feeling steel with that edge stability, the clad he uses is also super cool looking and soft, so if you need a thinning it will be extra easy.
He always do his knives the same way and no new experimentation. If that is not minimal effort idk what is. I'm not saying minimal effort = bad quality at all. Rustic relates to its look. A knife can be rustic but well-finished. Again, I'm not judging anything, just making speculation.
See, I understood where you were coming from until this post.
Minimal effort = As little work as possible done to perform a task.
Minimal effort is not making the same thing again and again where hours are used to create the best work possible.
If I make 1000 knives that are extremely different but use 10 min on each its still crap, and its still minimal effort.
Minimal effort would (in my opinion) more be a production line where focus was on just making it perform good and not using extra time and resources on stuff like aestechis
Yeah, that's what I meant, sorry for misunderstanding. His knives are kinda production line-ish (even though it's handmade) and he doesn't put any effort in making it look special.
Forty Ounce
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Kato doesn't either.. why isn't he included in your post?
