shinyunggyun
Banned
Nope. Not by a long shot. Not in the same class as Kato at all.Takada Suiboku damascus
Nope. Not by a long shot. Not in the same class as Kato at all.Takada Suiboku damascus
Are these mostly niche/collector's makers?
Not sure I agree with all of that. How many factory, which I assume you mean mass-produced, knives are using steels like Aogami and Shirogami, which are heat treated to the same hardness as a TF for example. There is a subtlety and complexity to the geometry of a Yoshiaki Fujiwara blade that I've never seen duplicated in a stamped or machine forged blade. All these factors contribute to the 'performance' of the blade, be it edge retention, sharpness whilst retaining durability or food release. Yes, there is a premium for the connection to the maker and his/her backstory but its a lot more than that IMHO.
@IsasmedjanI'm waiting for someone to start the "most sought after Serbian cleaver" thread...
There's no objectivity involved. Simple market forces. For performance it is really hard to beat factory produced Japanese knives. But they are boring and not that pretty and readily available. So there's a demand for artisan produced knives and a limited number of artisans to produce them. It doesn't mean that a $1000+ Raquin is going to chop your onions any better than a $120 Mac Pro.
Thanks guys, I think you just saved me from spending another thousand dollars. It all started because I needed a slicer for thanksgiving. A $1,000+++ later after multiple “sale” invitations I would say my two favorites are a Tojiro Flash 8” chef and 5” petty.@stringer nailed it there - the difference in performance between a Kato and a fibrox Vic is significantly, massively smaller than the difference in their prices. The prices are a reflection of primarily the supply/demand curve and to a lesser extent the craftsmanship in production. But higher or more expensive effort used producing a blade doesn't mean that the blade is better at anything other than costing a lot of money.
Buuuuuuuut... humans are not objective creatures. My kids are by far the most amazing people on the planet... to me. I'm not objective, but don't pretend to be at all. My Kato, my Togashi honyaki, several others, are the greatest knives I've ever used... and that opinion is absolutely as subjective as my opinion on my kids.
Given the availability of extremely effective knives for under 50 dollars, no knife is objectively "worth" over a thousand based on utility alone.
Ill give you tree-fiddy for it! Man that looks like a veg-prep monster! Rectangles > triangles!!! (sometimes)This is my favorite knife for sheer performance. No frills. Cost me less than $40.
View attachment 162367
Ill give you tree-fiddy for it! Man that looks like a veg-prep monster! Rectangles > triangles!!! (sometimes)
I don't think it's so much a question of whether these knives will outperform a fibrox by a factor of 20, (c'mon, nobody's deciding between a house knife and a @Kippington) but will they outperform my Gengetsu by a factor of 4? Or even a noticeable amount?In almost anything there is a diminishing return when pushing for top performance. You tend to pay a lot of money to increase performance by a marginal gain when you get to the top. An artisan knife worth $800 will not outperform a $40 fibrox by a factor of 20. That is not to say it isn’t worth it but you just have to accept that in order to experience the pinnacle of knife making you need to pay a master bladesmith what he is worth to get you there. I absolutely believe that some, not all, of the higher end knives outperform some of the tried and true favorites. Then there are knives where you pay a premium for the look, artistry or just hype but they can’t deliver the goods in the kitchen. Not going to point fingers but you know what I’m talking about.
You got a lucky one recently, heh-hehComet
I would add Micheal Rader.
GlobalBesides the obvious like Kato, konosuke Kaiju, shigefusa, or tsukasa hinoura
This is my favorite knife for sheer performance. No frills. Cost me less than $40.
View attachment 162367
Ill give you tree-fiddy for it! Man that looks like a veg-prep monster! Rectangles > triangles!!! (sometimes)
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