Ill admit that I was a bit disappointed when the knife first arrived because its height was similar to my 270 suji. Even though I was looking for a knife that complemented my other chef/gyutos pictured, this one still felt short. Two other characteristics I was looking for; a steel that I hadnt previously used and toughness (looking for a Jknife that could take a beating).
First, I re-handled it. Stock handle was one of those strange light, cheap feeling stained woods that a few makers use. But, I was hoping/expecting to do this work. It stayed without a handle (in my shop) a bit longer than I had hoped for, hence part of my tardiness in reviewing it. I used olivewood, copper and white spacers and copper rivets. I took the opportunity to try a curvy coke bottle shape handle. See images below.
I rounded the choil and spine and very lightly thinned the blade (until very, very slight convex). Then, I put an edge on it with Daves core set (which, btw, make me chuckle out loud every time I use
works sooo well for me:thumbsup
Performance.
First, Im a home cook, so it doesnt see the abuse that a lot of members knives see. However, my goal was to use this knife exclusively until review. Actually, goal was to use it until it stopped splitting hairs. Id say that the knifes been used about two out of every three days during the past month. It saw a lot of broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, onions, garlic, chicken, beef etc. I didnt baby this knife. It saw a lot of hard (sometimes not so elegant) chopping on plastic cutting mats:O.
Its very reactive, but nice patina akin to my sab (I tried capturing in photos without much luck). Because of its size (light, thin, short), I would consider it (not surprisingly) very nimble. However, I can now see why some people lament the thinness of lasers; there doesnt seem to be enough steel to create a geometry thatll push food away from the blade. Theres some stiction, but its not too bad.
This blade takes a screaming edge and keeps it. Ive seen this described before; assume the first edge = 100%, it quickly dropped to about 95% sharpness and is maintaining it. Its been a month and still splitting hairs
. Thats impressive considering that my technique is probably fine at best, the knife is seeing plastic boards and my wifes used it a few times. Shes having a hard time breaking from tearing food away in a twisting motion that stems from years of using bad knives. That method has definitely produced some chipping on AS and white #1 (sanmai) blades that I have. This knife shows no signs of chipping.
So, even though the shape wasnt inspiring to begin with, I like using it more than expected. I suppose one could call it a gyutihiki, or sujioto. And, because of that, I would consider it a very good multitasker
It will probably keep me from reaching for my suji a few times. That also means its not excellent at any one task. It reminds why i like the sab profile and weight so much.
Ideally, it would be taller and more blade heavy. A Wa handle would be nice as well. Id be curious to know what someone with more shop skills than me could do to make it perform better.
If I had to re-do it, Id definitely get a 270.
But man, this is one scrappy, tough knife that takes and keeps a wicked edge. Perfect gyuto? nah. Great? probably not. But it definitely deserves its place in my lineup.