Takayuki - Damascus VG-10 Kengata 7.5" / 190 mm (Zelkova octagonal handle option)
360 / 220 / 200 / 50 / 2 / <1 / +15 / 152g
https://www.paulsfinest.com/ 170$ CAD
Blade length / Edge length / Height / Thickness (heel) / Thickness (tip) / Balance (Chin = 0) / Weight
In mm; all measures are first hand; balance (also in mm) is either forward the blade (+) or backward to the handle (-) where 0 was arbitrarily positioned at the chin as I find it to be a point anyone can easily relate to from the knives they have experience with - for example when comparing traditional Western handles vs. traditional Japanese handles if one never experienced the former or the latter.
*Kengata: drop starts 35mm from the tip. Blade 35mm high for 1.5mm thick at that point.
What is it? Rhetorical question, anyone around here will recognize it for what it is, but there are discrepancies among vendors. According to Takayuki's chart, the shorter 160mm is a Kengata Santoku, this one a Kengata Gyuto. Some vendors will call both options a Santoku - like Paul where I got mine. They are right to do so, the dropdown tip and curved profile have the bearings of a Santoku-like knife. But on the other hand, as most Santokus don't go over 180mm, Takayuki probably differentiated the type where they didn't really need to only because of the length if not for marketing purposes. A few vendors will try to push it as a Bunka, like CKTG does with the AS versions of this knife. In all of this, the tip is the metamorphic bit that allows such a variety of designations to fit to some degree, at once making the knife a hybrid of a Santoku and a Gyuto that is certainly Bunka-like, but isn't really like any one of these. Hence why I decided to simply call it "Kengata" without further classification as it pretty much becomes the type in this case. Defining the hybridization further will then indeed depend on the length/eye of the beholder more than anything else: I would not have been all that surprised to even see it sold as a Kiritsuke.
Like my Misono, the Takayuki Kengata I've got here has an edge 10mm longer than official specs. Also to be noted that, although the stainless steel versions of this knife (any Damascus series) are usually called for 46mm-48mm by vendors that display such specs, blade height here is in fact a hair or two under a full 50mm. According to CKTG, the AS Kurouchi version (roughly twice the price of mine) is 52mm tall : the choil shot of this one by CKTG reveals a much thicker overall grind than mine, but going to a much more finer edge than mine too. No surprise after experience with my Moritaka Kurouchi that shows a highly similar grind: this finish seems to translate, at least in less expensive knives, in quite a heavy set of shoulders, and makers seem to try to make the best of the secondary bevel with a tall and thin V grind. And that's about all the info that comes to mind on this knife throughout all its iterations.
This one and cheapest Kengata among all series (that I know of) caught my eyes a long time ago, and became more and more intriguing as I tried various Santokus and Gyutos and got to define my personal preferences much more acutely. At one point I knew I was going to buy one in the future - there seemed to be no way around it. Future just came a bit quicker than expected. All this time on my hand... I realized recently that I liked this knife so much simply because it looked like a lot of fun (for me, a longer and pointier Santoku), because of my interest in Bunkas, and because I find it a beautiful piece too for a price tag where Nakiris are either 165mm or too cheap if longer, and where a decent Bunka just doesn't exist. So yeah, I'm sort of hoping here that this Kengata can be a better vegetable knife than any other of my entries yet - or can allow me to discover something else about my preferences. It might look like a hit and miss buy, but if a hit it will save me a good deal of money. If a miss... I can imagine it being redefined as a showpiece carving knife, and it would be good in my array to have one knife dedicated to this task. And if it won't even do that, well... I guess it will look cool on a magnetic rack, at least.
Not much more to say at this point - the handle is actually soaking in a last rub of wax before first use.
F&F quite ordinary, with epoxy overflow not sanded off, and some gluey brown residue almost embedded into this side of the handle. Took quite a wash to remove. There was some on the blade too, visible here, easier to wash away though.
And a closer look on the kengata:
Very little taper until the Kengata on this knife, making it relatively thick at the spine for most of the usable edge.
And then a couple of shots of the handle once washed and oiled a bit.
Quite an abrupt change of hue on the third pic. I'll try and get this side with warmer lighting in the follow-up.
TBC...
