Basics:
Takahashi Kajiya sujihiki
249mm x 36mm, 153.5g w/o handle
iron clad shirogami #2, hand laminated
$145* shipped and insured CONUS**
What nice:
Made entirely by hand by Mr Takahashi. Hammer and anvil vs power hammer, etc. The white 2 is very nicely done and takes a very, very nice edge. If you’re a polisher, it doesn’t get much better than this. There is grain, subtle banding, cementite clusters, a wild cladding line, etc. To get something with more character you’d need tamahagane imo.
What to know:
No way to sugar coat it, these knives are sent out borderline unusable. The grind is the worst I’ve ever seen. Too thick, no taper, holes in the edge, etc. I’ve put a lot of time into this already, but there is still a ways to go. Someone with skills and a belt sander or wheel could probably make short work of it, but it needs a healthy thinning and a gentle re-profiling at minimum. Will need a new handle too. I’ll include a ho and horn handle it was sent to me with along with the cracked original. Speaking of which, the tang is tiny and useless, it’ll need to be epoxied in for sure. I’m about 40 hours into this one - about 30 of those on 220 and lower stones and the balance on others just playing around with the polish. Without power tools, I think it probably needs half that again to get it to a good working state or more depending on what you want to get out of it.
TL;DR:
This is basically a really interesting half-finished suji blank that is languishing on my shelf and not on the immediate project list. If you want something ready to use, don’t buy this. If you are an ambitious DIY-er, this may be for you.
*A note on my pricing - this is slightly more than I paid, but I’ve sunk a lot of time and abrasives (basically an entire Aroma 140...) into this and am just trying to come out even w/ shipping included
** Happy to ship international, lets just chat about in in the PMs first
Takahashi Kajiya sujihiki
249mm x 36mm, 153.5g w/o handle
iron clad shirogami #2, hand laminated
$145* shipped and insured CONUS**
What nice:
Made entirely by hand by Mr Takahashi. Hammer and anvil vs power hammer, etc. The white 2 is very nicely done and takes a very, very nice edge. If you’re a polisher, it doesn’t get much better than this. There is grain, subtle banding, cementite clusters, a wild cladding line, etc. To get something with more character you’d need tamahagane imo.
What to know:
No way to sugar coat it, these knives are sent out borderline unusable. The grind is the worst I’ve ever seen. Too thick, no taper, holes in the edge, etc. I’ve put a lot of time into this already, but there is still a ways to go. Someone with skills and a belt sander or wheel could probably make short work of it, but it needs a healthy thinning and a gentle re-profiling at minimum. Will need a new handle too. I’ll include a ho and horn handle it was sent to me with along with the cracked original. Speaking of which, the tang is tiny and useless, it’ll need to be epoxied in for sure. I’m about 40 hours into this one - about 30 of those on 220 and lower stones and the balance on others just playing around with the polish. Without power tools, I think it probably needs half that again to get it to a good working state or more depending on what you want to get out of it.
TL;DR:
This is basically a really interesting half-finished suji blank that is languishing on my shelf and not on the immediate project list. If you want something ready to use, don’t buy this. If you are an ambitious DIY-er, this may be for you.
*A note on my pricing - this is slightly more than I paid, but I’ve sunk a lot of time and abrasives (basically an entire Aroma 140...) into this and am just trying to come out even w/ shipping included
** Happy to ship international, lets just chat about in in the PMs first
