What were your first three and last three J-knives acquired?

I remember a time when @lemeneid was still unsure about TF.

https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/threads/tf-or-watanabe.38102/

Unless I'm misremembering, all 14 pages of this thread were devoted to a careful, reasoned, and respectful discussion of the differences between TF and Watanabe.

 

Ah yes. The good ole days.

 

That would be for the TF god @inzite

 

Yup, I ended up with all 3 and I pick my Denka over Wat or Toyama any day now.

 

First 3:
1. Mac original 7" fillet knife
2. Mac Chef Series 10"
3. Tojiro DP utility knife

Last 3:
1. Kaeru 210
2. Tojiro ITK bread knife
3. Shigefusa 180 mm deba

 

I actually had a string of tf when starting out, then I moved away from it. . . i think i like fit and finish.

first
1. zhen western santoku vg-10
2. yoshihiro white 2 kurouchi gyuto
3. denka gyuto

(insert a lot of tf)

recent
1. gesshin hide 240 white 2 gyuto
2. heiji 270mm carbon gyuto
3. kaeru 210 (beater)

 

First 3 were hand me downs.

2 Globals- chef knife and paring knife and a Shigefusa santoku

So... whole spectrum.

Last 3-
Tsubaya Tanaka Blue 1 240 Gyuto
Morihirei W2 Deba
Konosuke Fujiyama Blue 1 Kenmuki

I haven't bought a new (kitchen) knife in over half a year, bought some stones upgraded a handle, took a sharpening course. Once the second knife block was full I felt I needed to use what I had and appreciate it more... As Christmas gets near I am starting to get an itch again.

 

I'd love to hear more about this knife please!

 

+1

 

First three

1. Mac Pro 8.5 gyuto from Seattle Knife Sharpening
2. Murata 160mm nakiri from Epic Edge
3. Asai Hayabusa 240mm gyuto from epic edge. I thought I was spending a crazy amount of money at the time

Insert bad decisions, TF (sadly only one)

1. Suien 270 gyuto from JKI
2. Mazaki 210 from PKH
3. It's a secret

 

First.
1. Makoto 240
2. Tojiro Santoku
3. Tojiro bread knife

Last
1. Togashi 270 honayaki
2. Radar 12 inch slicer
3. Toyama stainless petty

 

First 3 tosa 2 blue and a white from Japan woodworker. I practiced sharpening for a year and took Dave's course before buying anymore. TF TF Heiji

 

I like it a lot. Specifics: As a home cook, I think the edge retention is pretty good. It is super thin behind the edge... a little less thin now, but still very thin. Thinner than my lasers Being that thin, you just do a few tune ups and you notice its not quite as thin because there is so little material, lol. In terms of cutting, one of the best I've ever used. Pretty easy to sharpen. My dad bought the display model since I bought the last one in stock and he liked it a lot as well. We both purchased and preferred the aesthetics and feel of the traditional handled ones, I believe they're yew wood with a mostly black buffalo ferrule. Personally I found their yew handle the most comfortable one I've ever had with for octagonal with a slight taper. The major con I have with the knife is that it had the most reactivity on its iron coating of any carbon steel knife I've ever owned.

I got it because I wanted a Fujiyama and couldn't get one, but when I compared this to the FM choil shots later on I think the Tsubaya is the better knife for my evolving preferences. Its got the same angular choil thing I guess originated on the Fujis. The spine isn't as rounded, but honestly its fine, its not uncomfortable and you're not putting that much force down because it cuts well.

In terms of what I like and what I dislike for the knife:

Likes:
-I kinda am starting to like this sweet spot that I feel Sakai 240s and Sanjo 210s have between an actual 240 and a 210. Its definitely right in the middle, just a tad longer than my Mazaki 210.
-Tip glides through onions.
-Sharpens really easily.
-Food separation is pretty good, not amazing, but better than most lasers

Dislikes:
-I wish the tip was a little lower and the profile a tad flatter. They had a kiritsuke model at the store then, I see some of the other Tanaka likes also have this... I am tempted by this, though part of me wants my next purchase to be a stainless. I would definitely get the Gyuto before the kiritsuke, but if you can have both... they look fun too.
-Reactivity the first month was a *****, and I am used to carbon steel knives. Definitely has that smell the hitohira website talks about
-I feel like I definitely prefer to stick to hi-soft using it as opposed to wood because of its thinness/hardness at the edge. That may be me babying it. For reference my two wood boards are an end grain boos maple and a cutlery and more edge grain acacia house brand.

Any other info I can provide?

 

Thank you, that was a real good info. I assume these are a bit hard to find.

 

@nwshull thank you so much for the writeup. I take it that you got yours at the Tsubaya store in Tokyo? Do you have a picture of yours and your dad's knives together?

I like your assessment of the length as well. Did you try a 210mm knife of the same model? I can get my hands on one right now, but idk if I should still hold out for the 240mm one.

Also, how does the KU hold up? I've read that the KU seems to wash out easily on this particular knife.

Finally, by reactivity, do you mean that it turns onions black instantly? Or that it keeps getting patina? (oh and a few pictures of the handle and patina wouldn't hurt either )

 

Up at my moms so the lighting in the kitchen is so so, but here's the knife (yes I brought it with me).
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16zV102El1woEHprqf4KUFAv77rg4kL1L/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16rms92fUrifLbcI5UHoossOGUqB_r2Qa/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16tIPetVreOYHb2GkkWu5kEzzSy2xbcg5/view?usp=sharing

For the kuro... not sure. The fading you see there may be partially it going away but also me trying to get a saya to fit it right, by basically taking a small rasp, taking out some room, fitting it etc. I've also tried to remove some patina a few times. Its not as durable as some, but I think it looks fine for a rustic knife. IMO it shouldn't BE perfect Kuro.

I looked at the 210. Side by side it seemed small... both did for there size. I came in knowing what I wanted, my dad had the option between the two and inclined towards the 240. He tends to prefer a slightly shorter knife than me, though he also has a few 240s.

For discoloring, at first as I recall yes. Especially on apples actually. But now not really, after a few drives the discoloring on food stabilized whereas it is still somewhat of an issue on the knife itself.

 

1.Masahiro 240 western carbon 2.Masamoto H.C 210. 3.AritsuguA-type 270 Gokinko Wa- Gyuto.

Last Three
1. Itou 240 R2 damascus
2. Mazaki 240 Kurouchi Nashiji
3. TF 210 western Denka

 

1st 3
Wustoff 10 inch
Mcusta white handle 210 mm
Tojiro dp

Last 3
Shiraki mt Fuji honyaki white 2
Kono funayaki blue 2
Comet 245 52100

 

I have been interested in the Shigehiros. Does the low height bother you at all?

 

I got used to it. If you don’t mind masa KS height, then shigehiro won’t bother you.

 

Yea, I’ve been using the Miz KS as my primary knife and that’s 255 x 49, not so different from the 270 Shigehiro, which is 260 x 50. That’s plenty of knuckle clearance and everything. I think the low height (and the length, actually) has encouraged me to include more push/pull on my cuts than usual, which is a good development I think. Can’t wait to try a Shigehiro. Let me know when you get sick of yours, @labor of love, so that I can continue to cycle through all your used knives.

 

Haha I’m the luckiest guy ever. Craig @ Carbon picked out a very left handed shigehiro for me. It’s one in a million!

 

Congrats labor!

 

Hah, oh well. Nevermind.

Edit: but congrats, I’m glad you had some good luck for a change.

 

1. Hiro vg10 santoku
2.Tanaka vg10 nakiri
3. YusukeS Stainless Wa-Gyuto 210mm Extra Hard

Latest:
1. TF gyuto nashiji 20cm
2. Dan Prendergast petty
3.Watanabe special gyuto white steel 19mm

 

Ya can't just throw this out and not elaborate!

 

Hahahaha, it is actually a bit longer


Liked the yellow steel special petties so much I got this gyuto (from the special section). Got a good price (perhaps because of the substandard tip? Imo it curves up too much but that will get fixed over time). Looks more like a santoku actually but like Watanabe I also call it gyuto (to keep my face).
Really nice steel and grind.

 

First three: Tojiro DP 210 gyuto, Kohetsu AS 210 gyuto, Miyabi Birchwood 210 Gyuto

Last Three: Shigefusa Yo Kitaeji 210, Comet Honyaki 26c3 220x52, Takamura 210 Uchigumo gyuto.

yep, have come a long way...

 

And you didn't start out cheaply, either!

 

Last:
1. Michael Rader 247mm Western Integral Honyaki gyuto in W2, BST
2. Kippington 237mm wa-gyuto workpony in CPM-154, Hobbyist sales
3. Mizuno Tanrenjo 225mm Honyaki wa-gyuto in W#2, hand-picked at Mizuno in Sakai