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The deba has seen some action. I hear it calling for love at night. I'll strop her happy again soon.





 
I have got a 270 gyuto, 255 mioroshi deba, 210 and 180 deba, 300 yanagiba, 180 muki, custom hankotsu all in kitaeji, but no pictures as of yet. Maybe next week...
 
It makes me really glad that there are all these Shigs that are getting use! That deba looks happy, it was meant to see fish!
 
Pre-fight weigh-in:

Screenshot_2015-02-01-17-00-4_edit_1422828138336.png.jpeg



Post-fight picture op:

Screenshot_2015-02-01-17-00-5_edit_1422828234001.png.jpeg
 
Dardeau said:
It makes me really glad that there are all these Shigs that are getting use! That deba looks happy, it was meant to see fish!
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With a little care, their original beauty always seems to return. I too like the appearance of a working knife; wear from use is a beautiful thing. Here is the same deba a few hours after I posted that pic.



A few strokes on the strop felt and it is ready to break down another striper
 
The finish came back pretty nicely. How does it cut? I usually touch up the microbevel on my deba to bring back cutting ability and don't worry about the whole bevel until I sharpen it again.
 
People often complain that Shigs are more reactive, esp kasumi. (I think the less finely polished finish on the cladding has a lot to do with that - more surface area for rust.) However, one thing I like about them is they're otherwise easy to maintain - nice to sharpen, easy to re-finish.
 
Dardeau said:
The finish came back pretty nicely. How does it cut? I usually touch up the microbevel on my deba to bring back cutting ability and don't worry about the whole bevel until I sharpen it again.
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I have no issues with this knife though it feels less sensitive than I would like. I hear bones as the tip passes along the spine but I don't always feel them. I tend to cut with a pinch hold rather than using a point grip. The knife holds an edge quite well. I recently bought a Watanabe unagisaki with intent to make the initial dorsal cut through the skin using the eel knife inverted. This will take some of the more punishing use away from the Shig. I don't scale my fish. I skin the fillets but the initial cut pits the edge against some pretty tough scales. I make it a habit to touch up the edge after each use...though a fishing trip may leave me too tired to do the work immediately.
 
Until today, the only Shig I have is the 150 Kasumi petty. Today, I ordered a 240 Kitaeji Gyuto. You guys are a bad influence......😜
 
toddnmd said:
Sounds like you just jumped into the deep end!
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Yes and the Shig was not the only knife I bought today! Darn Maxim and his email saying he had Katos and Shigs.....evil, I tell you, just evil! :)
 
Any unusual shigs out there? Maxim had that 300mm eel knife for example. A shig kiritske? I have this suspicion that there are interesting shigs that never make it out of Japan...
 
Seth said:
Any unusual shigs out there? Maxim had that 300mm eel knife for example. A shig kiritske? I have this suspicion that there are interesting shigs that never make it out of Japan...
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That's my suspicion too. Where are all the mukimono, kiritsuke, miroishi deba, yo petty ... ?

Anyway, as Rami reminded me, I can't have them all ... :(
 
Mute-on said:
That's my suspicion too. Where are all the mukimono, kiritsuke, miroishi deba, yo petty ... ?

Anyway, as Rami reminded me, I can't have them all ... :(
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You can still try ;)
 
Honesuki Kasumi 165mm - my only Shigefusa so far. It looks a bit different now as I changed the handle for burned chestnut and tried to work on the wide bevel which is now full with patchy sharpening traces (I have some learning ahead of me when it comes to wide bevels):

 
Matus said:
Honesuki Kasumi 165mm - my only Shigefusa so far. It looks a bit different now as I changed the handle for burned chestnut and tried to work on the wide bevel which is now full with patchy sharpening traces (I have some learning ahead of me when it comes to wide bevels):

Click to expand...

Man, shigs just have these perfect proportions, it's like some Fibonacci sh#t.
 
Seth said:
Any unusual shigs out there?
Click to expand...
Mute-on said:
Where are all the mukimono, kiritsuke, miroishi deba, yo petty ... ?
Click to expand...

Some mioroshi so far, and a surprising number of square-tipped Kanto-style usuba. (The one Shig I currently have. Classic.)

Matus said:
Honesuki Kasumi 165mm - my only Shigefusa so far. It looks a bit different now as I changed the handle for burned chestnut and tried to work on the wide bevel which is now full with patchy sharpening traces (I have some learning ahead of me when it comes to wide bevels):
Click to expand...

Wooo, very nice knife. Should have kept the original handle, though! I think Shig's ho-wood handle maker is the best.
 
Asteger said:
Wooo, very nice knife. Should have kept the original handle, though! I think Shig's ho-wood handle maker is the best.
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I still have the original handle. The knife is better to handle with burned chestnut though. The original handle had not apparently received any treatment before it was shipped and after it got wet for the first time the grain raised and the handle also lost some of its looks. Since I have replaced it I have worked on the original handle a bit (light polishing and few coats of board butter) and it actually is much nicer now - both looks and feel. The knife is on loan currently. Once it gets back I may reconsider which handle I will put on it.
 
Kitaeji kiritsuke? Has to be one out there. Love the honesuki. Where can I get one?
 
Seth said:
Love the honesuki. Where can I get one?
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Mine came from Maksim (I was/am on his Shigefusa & Kato email list). He had 3 at the time (few months back) and I was lucky to snatch one of them. Drop him an email to see when/whether he will have more available again.
 
Matus said:
I still have the original handle. The knife is better to handle with burned chestnut though. The original handle had not apparently received any treatment before it was shipped and after it got wet for the first time the grain raised and the handle also lost some of its looks. Since I have replaced it I have worked on the original handle a bit (light polishing and few coats of board butter) and it actually is much nicer now - both looks and feel. The knife is on loan currently. Once it gets back I may reconsider which handle I will put on it.
Click to expand...

I can't remember in which thread, but someone recently had an insightful comment related to this - about how the grain raises, as you said, on the ho-wood and your handle ends up being the most practical, grip-friendly handle you should want (so long as you don't oil it, and I don't think they do this in Japan). No coincidence, I think, and trust the makers I'd say. Really, the customs are (sometimes only) an improvement visually, but maybe not practically. At any rate, hard to go wrong with a knife-beauty like that.
 
it was Huw looking for materials for a deba handle.
also, a lot of japanese chefs sand their handles down every day to keep them clean. thy couldn't have a more different approach to knife handles than the American custom handle lovers .
Asteger said:
I can't remember in which thread, but someone recently had an insightful comment related to this - about how the grain raises, as you said, on the ho-wood and your handle ends up being the most practical, grip-friendly handle you should want (so long as you don't oil it, and I don't think they do this in Japan). No coincidence, I think, and trust the makers I'd say. Really, the customs are (sometimes only) an improvement visually, but maybe not practically. At any rate, hard to go wrong with a knife-beauty like that.
Click to expand...
 
Indeed - once the ho wood gets wet and the grain raises in becomes more grippy, but I did not find that feel particularly pleasant. Also - the un-oiled handle will quickly absorb all possible kinds of dirt. Somehow not my thing. May still be practical though.
 
TheDispossessed said:
a lot of japanese chefs sand their handles down every day to keep them clean
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Yes, I was wondering about this. Explains why some old knives not only have sliver-like blades, worn away after umpteen sharpenings, but also these odd hour-glass shaped handles.
 
Back from my holidays, so let's revive the thread with not so common Shig. Let's start with a KU Shig chukabocho. This is a full size 215x105 390g thin slicer. Long neck and small wa handle make it feel a little bit more weird than usual, but not a problem giving some time.

20150216_165825.jpg

20131210_164631.jpg
 
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