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Santoku
166mm edge, 146g, 44mm tall, 1.9mm spine

Rounded choil and spine, pinned bolster, tapered tang. Stainless. Not the finest easiest edge taking. Very wear resistant feeling though. Skittery on stones. Looks like hand ground

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Don't post Much in her anymore but I think with the amount of time I spent on this it deserved to be shared with someone.

minamoto 240 gyuto mono presumably sk , "restoration project" spent a good 5-8 hours creating a new tip, removing chips, sanding handle, recreating finish, removing reverse belly, all while thinning. What can I say I am a bit of a perfectionist til I reach the state of duck this, no more I'm done. Very slight overgrind and scratches remain from abuse,. I think this knife was trying to tell me a story, and the moral was I should try a GC stone.
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Got this watanabe 120mm left handed aji kiri deba. Got it because I wanted to practice breaking down fish, eat more fish, and practice single bevel sharpening, all at an affordable price. Might be my technique but my 180mm deba seems too big and awkard for the sea breams and branzinos I can find at the stores for decent quality and dont want to mess around sharping it yet. Finding fresh good quality fish in the desert can be a struggle.

1st time ordering from watanabe. There was a lag time between me emailing him, waiting for a response and then emailing him back. But everything went smooth and once I sent the PayPal info he sent it out and I was surprised how fast it came. He sent it out on the 13th, quoted me 7 days, and arrived on the 18th.

Knife cost 8300 yen, shipping cost 5000 yen, but still came out under 100 usd after the conversion rate. Very happy with the price, especially for a left handed knife. If not tomorrow, might be a minute until I actually put it to use.
 

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Ever since trying his Prototype, I wanted one of his Hook grinds. You can't go wrong with Kamons but especially this grind performs really well. Last year I got my Custom one but never posted it. Way too sexy not to

Kamon Apex Ultra RS-Hook Blacked out
Handle: Rosewood with black Titanium Caps
273x58mm
270g
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What’s the go with sharpening these and what happens when you sharpen enough times to reach the end of the hook? Do they have a limited life
 
On 2nd inspection, is this normal? Don't know what to call it. Looks kinda rough. As long as it's cosmetic I don't really care. Just don't want it affecting performance or causing problems later down the line.
 

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What’s the go with sharpening these and what happens when you sharpen enough times to reach the end of the hook? Do they have a limited life

If I may jump in here 🐇.

So sharpening works like with all other knives of mine. 15° per side. 30° total for the secondary bevel.

Thinning theoretically is the same as with my "normal" mid bevel knives as well but I say theoretically, as the primary bevel is way shorter with the s-hooks. So laying the knife flat on the stone with the primary bevel can be challanging and surely affords some experience, but it's doable. Masking the upper parts of the blade off with some thick tape will help to not damage the finish above the primary bevel.

The grind has a limited life, the knife doesn't really have a limited life other than beeing gone completely one day. What I mean by that is that it's mono steel fully hardened. So you're right that at some point, the grind will fade out if you thin it often enough. Depending on the use case and kind of maintaince, I'd give it at least a decade, for most people in this forum way more than that.
If you manage to wear it down in less than 10 years, that's pretty much abuse I'd say. Because that implicates that you (not actually you, but rhetorical you ;p) sharpened it with a stone progression that is too coarse, wearing the edge down too fast, requiring thinning too often.

Even though my knives are also beeing used by professional cooks, they're still kind of a luxury item and people usually will take care of them since they're expensive. What I want to say by that is that I have yet to learn of someone wearing the edge of my knife down by almost 3mm height in a 5 years period. That's the rate of wear it would require though, if we're talking about the grind fading out.
Nevertheless if that ever happens, you'll still have a functional knife with the hook and the s-grind (s-hook is the combination of the two) slowly fading into a convex bevel.

So to conclude all that I'd say the s-hook has benefits regarding food release as long as it's present, but no downsides once it's gone, as you'll end up with a knife that's just missing the s-hook, but otherwise is still perfectly functional.
 
If I may jump in here 🐇.

So sharpening works like with all other knives of mine. 15° per side. 30° total for the secondary bevel.

Thinning theoretically is the same as with my "normal" mid bevel knives as well but I say theoretically, as the primary bevel is way shorter with the s-hooks. So laying the knife flat on the stone with the primary bevel can be challanging and surely affords some experience, but it's doable. Masking the upper parts of the blade off with some thick tape will help to not damage the finish above the primary bevel.

The grind has a limited life, the knife doesn't really have a limited life other than beeing gone completely one day. What I mean by that is that it's mono steel fully hardened. So you're right that at some point, the grind will fade out if you thin it often enough. Depending on the use case and kind of maintaince, I'd give it at least a decade, for most people in this forum way more than that.
If you manage to wear it down in less than 10 years, that's pretty much abuse I'd say. Because that implicates that you (not actually you, but rhetorical you ;p) sharpened it with a stone progression that is too coarse, wearing the edge down too fast, requiring thinning too often.

Even though my knives are also beeing used by professional cooks, they're still kind of a luxury item and people usually will take care of them since they're expensive. What I want to say by that is that I have yet to learn of someone wearing the edge of my knife down by almost 3mm height in a 5 years period. That's the rate of wear it would require though, if we're talking about the grind fading out.
Nevertheless if that ever happens, you'll still have a functional knife with the hook and the s-grind (s-hook is the combination of the two) slowly fading into a convex bevel.

So to conclude all that I'd say the s-hook has benefits regarding food release as long as it's present, but no downsides once it's gone, as you'll end up with a knife that's just missing the s-hook, but otherwise is still perfectly functional.
Thanks, understood and very informative indeed!
 
NKD: Adonis Forged Arts MK1 gyuto.
1.2442 high tungsten steel at 65hrc.
Ebony and brass handle. I somehow managed to win Antoine’s raffle and was able to buy one. It’s a pretty sweet knife. More than likely a catch and release candidate but it’s a gorgeous knife.
 

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Not pictured: the candy that Antoine included, which was offered up to the household deity.

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How do you like it? I think he was selling those short by describing them as “production” knives when there was zero automation involved. They’re basically 10 identical “available” knives, IMHO.
 
How do you like it? I think he was selling those short by describing them as “production” knives when there was zero automation involved. They’re basically 10 identical “available” knives, IMHO.
It is a gorgeous knife. The grind on it is exceptional. I would agree, it exceeds being called a “production” knife. I made a few test cuts on magazine paper and paper towels and came away wanting to cut more. It is also perfectly balanced, right at the maker’s mark and feels quite comfortable in hand.
 
How do you like it? I think he was selling those short by describing them as “production” knives when there was zero automation involved. They’re basically 10 identical “available” knives, IMHO.
Totally agree here. If I thought this was truly a production knife, I would have balked at the price point, but it felt more like batch work ala mass drop instead. I wish mine would hurry up and clear customs in LA.
 
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