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Sheffield wabi-sabi, 1920s.
TF Chronicles
- Thread starter Brian Weekley
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Corradobrit1
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Sure that's not the long lost TF prototype?
Proper Bolster on 1890's Sheffield carving knife.
Gotta love those sterling silver accents on old 1890's carving sets.
Sharing a few updates on the 300mm morihei hisamoto I snagged from Tetogi last week. It showed up weighing 471g with the usual wabi sabi. Have put in about 10 hours so far and starting to get close. I’ve removed about 5g of material as my low grit stones beg for mercy. Cutting performance has improved greatly, but there is still room to go. Right side is set. Spine has been rounded, but the left has a low spot at the edge along most of that side. Hoping to tackle it later today!
(Stone pic is a naniwa 220, shapton glass 220, and a shapton glass 500 double thick for reference.)
(Stone pic is a naniwa 220, shapton glass 220, and a shapton glass 500 double thick for reference.)
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I guess your hands will beg for mercy as well.
what are you cutting with a 300mm gyuto?
M1k3
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Everything. At once.
It reminds me when I cut myself on the kitchen mandolin and my wife asked me: Did you use any garlic in the food?Thisand some garlic
My answer: No!
And she replied: Ok! Then I know what was left on the cutting board!
We used Mandolin at work for some items. You are moving food toward a sharp blade with force. A safety handle with spikes to anchor food came with it. Still working fast against time in banquet kitchen cooks got cut. The small hand held mandolin are esp. dangerous for your fingers. I've seen many kitchen gadgets that work really well like hand crank that turns diakon into strips for sashimi platters. I have no love for mandolin.
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I hate using those spike devices, so I always wear a kevlar glove when using my Benriner mandolin.
I have no doubt that a 300mm TF gyuto sounds insane to some people, but mine makes perfect sense to me. The weight really makes cutting easy. It's a perfect knife for a cleaver guy.
I have no doubt that a 300mm TF gyuto sounds insane to some people, but mine makes perfect sense to me. The weight really makes cutting easy. It's a perfect knife for a cleaver guy.
im just shocked you have the board space to use it at home.
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Well, there is that. My board, a big Boos block that I bought because I wanted something that absolutely, positively would not move at all, or vibrate, when chopping vigorously on it with a cleaver, is 36x24x4, and sits on (or rather, dominates) a center island.
Corradobrit1
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4" tall? You're either 6'6" or use a step ladder to chop anything.
Think he is talking inches 4 is the thickness of the board.
Regular counter height + 4 inches + cleaver or tall knife and you got to be tall or use a step stool or your elbow and shoulder will not be happy.
Dan-
Senior Member
I don’t think you need a 2x3 board to make a 300 work. A regular 20x24 would get the job done too. It does help to be on an island instead of against the wall so you aren’t stabbing it. What changes is you use the front half of the knife to cut. You rarely use the heel. Your hand is off the board instead of on top of it. You pinch grip.
And 2” thick is plenty.
And 2” thick is plenty.
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(shrug) Well, they're happy so far. Maybe they're just used to it.
I had 12" Forschner at work, but most used size was 10" Forschner. Banquets at Sheraton Waikiki up to 2,000 max. Largest banquets in Waikiki. Big conventions of all kinds from USA & even Japan. 1970's. Plenty ice carvings, carving steamship rounds at end of large
buffet tables. Banquets also had Chinese side in very large kitchen that's where saw what cleavers could do for massive amounts of prep.
Got job at Kahala Hilton 1982 smaller luxury hotel. Really liked working there made lifelong friends coworkers. Back then President's, Rich Arabs, movie stars etc. stayed at Kahala Had smaller banquet rooms. Removed from Waikiki. Nice beachfront reasturants. More private beach Got into carbon steel most Masamoto's. 240mm most used blade also had 270mm gyuto & Suji. Later 270 white & blue carbon 270 yanagiba. Worked there 30 +:years till retired.
buffet tables. Banquets also had Chinese side in very large kitchen that's where saw what cleavers could do for massive amounts of prep.
Got job at Kahala Hilton 1982 smaller luxury hotel. Really liked working there made lifelong friends coworkers. Back then President's, Rich Arabs, movie stars etc. stayed at Kahala Had smaller banquet rooms. Removed from Waikiki. Nice beachfront reasturants. More private beach Got into carbon steel most Masamoto's. 240mm most used blade also had 270mm gyuto & Suji. Later 270 white & blue carbon 270 yanagiba. Worked there 30 +:years till retired.
Corradobrit1
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Exactly, 4" thick board is gonna mean the work surface in a standard kitchen is uncomfortably high, unless you have the stature of a short basketball player.
Dunno, our counters are standard height, and I think I'd be happy with another 10cm on top of that to avoid having to slouch when cutting. I'm only 186cm (6'2”) tall.
Since this is a TF thread thought throw in my 2cents. I have owned 3 Fujiwara knives. Got caught up with all the hype here years ago.
TF Nashji 180mm BST 115.00 2014
TF Maboroshi 210 BST 250.00 2016
TF Denka 240mm 2023 Ordered direct from Teruyasu Fujiwara. 620.00. Good exchange rate.
Love the rough nashiji on the 180 good cutter decent edge retention. Been using it since bought it over 10 years ago. Put custom handle I made on it. I've thinned over the years.
TF Maboroshi when thinned it with coarse stone noticed overgrind. So put 60 grit belt on my 1X42 belt grinder & bucket of water thinned it till overgrind gone. It cut better after that. I gave it to my younger brother.
The Denka bought last year. Like to prep meals with that hunk of steel.
If you like pristine finishes on knives don't buy Fujiwara's.
If you like rough forged look. Nashiji with character. Don't mind working on them. They do have Wabi Sabi character.
TF Nashji 180mm BST 115.00 2014
TF Maboroshi 210 BST 250.00 2016
TF Denka 240mm 2023 Ordered direct from Teruyasu Fujiwara. 620.00. Good exchange rate.
Love the rough nashiji on the 180 good cutter decent edge retention. Been using it since bought it over 10 years ago. Put custom handle I made on it. I've thinned over the years.
TF Maboroshi when thinned it with coarse stone noticed overgrind. So put 60 grit belt on my 1X42 belt grinder & bucket of water thinned it till overgrind gone. It cut better after that. I gave it to my younger brother.
The Denka bought last year. Like to prep meals with that hunk of steel.
If you like pristine finishes on knives don't buy Fujiwara's.
If you like rough forged look. Nashiji with character. Don't mind working on them. They do have Wabi Sabi character.
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I think I'm done (mostly) with this one on the stones. Aside from chasing the low spot along the edge on the left, this week has been a lot of testing and fine tuning. There is almost no taper to this big guy so I've had to add some in at the tip through this process. If I go back to coarse stones it would be to smooth out transitions near the right side tip, but I'm satisfied with where its sitting right now. It will swipe through onions fairly smooth at this point.
I've lightly rounded the shoulders on most of the left side and the front third of the right side. The back 2/3rd on the right I kept the shinogi a bit sharper to help with food release. It has been a fun knife to work on and have different regions of blade to shape for different purposes. When I first bought this it was a bit of an impulse purchase, but the more time I'm spending with it the more I like it.
Final dimensions have remained largely unchanged aside from taking off 15g of weight! Still comes in just north of 1lb.
- Original: 301mm/63mm, 471g
-Final: 300mm/62mm, 456g
I tried to do a family shot like Brian when he kicked off this thread, but I've only got 7 TF's and one Isamitsu cousin on the far right... Also have a sweet potato and onion video of performance.
I've lightly rounded the shoulders on most of the left side and the front third of the right side. The back 2/3rd on the right I kept the shinogi a bit sharper to help with food release. It has been a fun knife to work on and have different regions of blade to shape for different purposes. When I first bought this it was a bit of an impulse purchase, but the more time I'm spending with it the more I like it.
Final dimensions have remained largely unchanged aside from taking off 15g of weight! Still comes in just north of 1lb.
- Original: 301mm/63mm, 471g
-Final: 300mm/62mm, 456g
I tried to do a family shot like Brian when he kicked off this thread, but I've only got 7 TF's and one Isamitsu cousin on the far right... Also have a sweet potato and onion video of performance.
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