Toyama vs Watanabe

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Jacko: the Toyamas are (feels) very different from Shigs and Katos. T is tall and feels like a big knife in hand. Esp. the Shige feels very different. The T is super steady and has a great weight for push cutting vegetables. Reminds me more of my 270 Shige. Im unsure of its weight right now but I think it feels much more substantiel than a similar Shige. I own a 210 Kato - a 240 may feel much bigger in hand and be more like the T?
- Kim
 
KimBronnum said:
Jacko: the Toyamas are (feels) very different from Shigs and Katos. T is tall and feels like a big knife in hand. Esp. the Shige feels very different. The T is super steady and has a great weight for push cutting vegetables. Reminds me more of my 270 Shige. Im unsure of its weight right now but I think it feels much more substantiel than a similar Shige. I own a 210 Kato - a 240 may feel much bigger in hand and be more like the T?

- Kim
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Thanks Kim, The Toyamas do look very tall and perhaps I should look for a 210 since I already have a Teruyasu Fujiwara 240 Nashiji that fits my needs for a large knife and still in my block is an old 300mm Western chefs knife made from carbon steel that is quite tall itself.

I have a short 210 in the Konosuke Fujiyama and that is good for some jobs but a taller one might go side by side with that one very well. I like the looks of the Toyama but, I just wasn't in the market for the higher priced Damascus version.

Thanks for your feedback,

Jack
 
Shig and Toyama have nicer profiles IMO. Shig steel is the best but all 3 have really good
Core steel honestly. Toyama is pretty much the best "heavy duty" knife money can buy while kato needs a delicate touch and shig ootb grind could use some tweaking. As far as value goes I think
The performance Toyama offers is unmatched for the most
part while the kind of performance shig offers could be had by other knives but for less $$$. I'm not a fan of kato as a daily knife but it is a fun unique knife to use on occasion.
 
Anybody have any thoughts about the Toyama Kasumi vs Damascus, is the value there for a multiple layer clad knife?
 
jacko9 said:
Anybody have any thoughts about the Toyama Kasumi vs Damascus, is the value there for a multiple layer clad knife?
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Aesthetics aside, the cladding may also be less reactive depending on what the layers are.

I asked Watanabe about the benefits of honyaki vs Damascus (kintaro-ame) some time ago and here is the quote:
OK, I explain these advantages.
Honyaki knife is a solid steel.
1. There is not a laminated line. The bevel is more smooth than laminated blade.
2. All steel. If you bend the blade, it keeps the shape. Because steel is harder than wrought iron.
It is a little important for only thin blades like Fugu hiki. It's not the important for other knives.
It is too small difference.
All steel blade is hard so it is broken easily. Because of not tough.

Kintaro-Ame steel is some layers.
1. decorative looking.
2. Tougher than laminated steel. Kintaro ame steel has wrought iron and low carbon steel layers instead of wrought iron.
3. To sharpen is easier than Honyaki.
4. Be strong for many folding process..
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labor of love said:
Shig and Toyama have nicer profiles IMO. Shig steel is the best but all 3 have really good
Core steel honestly. Toyama is pretty much the best "heavy duty" knife money can buy while kato needs a delicate touch and shig ootb grind could use some tweaking. As far as value goes I think
The performance Toyama offers is unmatched for the most
part while the kind of performance shig offers could be had by other knives but for less $$$. I'm not a fan of kato as a daily knife but it is a fun unique knife to use on occasion.
Click to expand...

Could not agree more. Toyama is possibly the best deal out there right now for an all around Gyuto. Kinda pissed I couldn't take advantage of Maxim's sale. Really interested in checking out some Toyama single bevel action.
 
I picked up the Toyama sujihiki it looks pretty perfect for what I was looking for from the pics. Can't wait to get it and break it in. But I was definitely bummed the 240 gyuto was out of stock.
 
turbochef422 said:
I picked up the Toyama sujihiki it looks pretty perfect for what I was looking for from the pics. Can't wait to get it and break it in. But I was definitely bummed the 240 gyuto was out of stock.
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Same here. I love my 270, but it's more knife than I need most times.
 
turbochef422 said:
I picked up the Toyama sujihiki it looks pretty perfect for what I was looking for from the pics. Can't wait to get it and break it in. But I was definitely bummed the 240 gyuto was out of stock.
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I was eyeing that Suji also! Good taste =)
 
Looks like I was able to grab the last Toyama Damascus 240 Gyuto........ Looking forward to trying this in comparison to my 240 Watanabe pro.
 
Fillmoreslimm said:
Looks like I was able to grab the last Toyama Damascus 240 Gyuto........ Looking forward to trying this in comparison to my 240 Watanabe pro.
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I almost bit on that, until I remebered the upcoming Billip, and the many other dangling knife related threads I'm currently entangled in. Somebody lend this guy a 240 Toyama so we can get a side by side by side going on!
 
brainsausage said:
Could not agree more. Toyama is possibly the best deal out there right now for an all around Gyuto. Kinda pissed I couldn't take advantage of Maxim's sale. Really interested in checking out some Toyama single bevel action.
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Have a 180 deba and can't fault it. Damn near perfect ura, even shinogi blah blah. Haven't sharpened yet though. Just got the muki as well!
 
brainsausage said:
Same here. I love my 270, but it's more knife than I need most times.
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Let's see just how much knife 270mm of Toyama is. I do actually feel a little like I've let Shinichi down or cheated on him but he'll always have my custom.
 
i used to much prefer 270 blades but i lean nore towards 240 lengths purely because i just dont feel like I have that much prep space anymore. it also happens to be a length most people are happy using making it easier for me to sell off knives I don't particularly feel suit me.
 
brainsausage said:
Somebody snapped up the damn 240 while I was putting in my order info😔
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I have all my data logged on jns. I just have to click "next" twice and choose payment method.

Makes it so much easier to put an order in after a newsletter being sent out. I might even say that autofill is the reason I have three Katos....
 
DamageInc said:
I have all my data logged on jns. I just have to click "next" twice and choose payment method.

Makes it so much easier to put an order in after a newsletter being sent out. I might even say that autofill is the reason I have three Katos....
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+1

Use my default billing and shipping addresses at JNS (I have DHL hold for pickup anyways so no worries). Makes everything much faster
 
DamageInc said:
I have all my data logged on jns. I just have to click "next" twice and choose payment method.

Makes it so much easier to put an order in after a newsletter being sent out. I might even say that autofill is the reason I have three Katos....
Click to expand...

Yeah, I have an account, I just entered the discount code incorrectly, and in the time it took to refresh my screen I received an error message that it was now out of stock. Oh well.
 
I followed his site all day yesterday to see if he was going to add to his offerings - I guess I was not patient enough ;-(

I have entered all of my information on his site so you just put something into your cart and click next twice?
 
jacko9 said:
I followed his site all day yesterday to see if he was going to add to his offerings - I guess I was not patient enough ;-(

I have entered all of my information on his site so you just put something into your cart and click next twice?
Click to expand...

I didn't mean it literally. I have a jns account, so all I have to do is choose my shipping and billing address, the method of payment, check off the agree to conditions box, and then click confirm order. I can get an order through in 15 seconds. If I choose payment via bank transfer, I don't have to spend time finding and punching in credit card info. The order goes through immediately.

This is very important stuff if you want to get your hands on the fast moving items. It also helps having push notifications that set off an alarm on your phone when you get newsletters from JNS.
 
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