Which Y. Tanaka to get?

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I really can't complain about the grind on the Itadaki. It looks mundane from afar, and the lack of taper made me expect a clunker, but that thing cuts surprisingly smooth.
 
I really can't complain about the grind on the Itadaki. It looks mundane from afar, and the lack of taper made me expect a clunker, but that thing cuts surprisingly smooth.
I actually think that the itadaki sucks for prep work. I only use it for cutting sushi rolls. And for that purpose, it's one of the best knives ever.
 
I actually think that the itadaki sucks for prep work. I only use it for cutting sushi rolls. And for that purpose, it's one of the best knives ever.
What makes you dislike it? The only major gripe I had about it was that the cladding was hyperreactive. Most reactive knife I've had so far; almost saw it rust in front of my eyes. But after it takes a patina it settled down and wasn't really much of an issue for me.
The grind on mine was a pleasant surprise; it's a bit of a heavier weight but it was surprisingly smooth through everything I threw at it.
 
What makes you dislike it? The only major gripe I had about it was that the cladding was hyperreactive. Most reactive knife I've had so far; almost saw it rust in front of my eyes. But after it takes a patina it settled down and wasn't really much of an issue for me.
The grind on mine was a pleasant surprise; it's a bit of a heavier weight but it was surprisingly smooth through everything I threw at it.
Alright, "sucks" is exaggerated. I was comparing them to the likes of Toyama and migoto. Those are far better for general prep.
 
What makes you dislike it? The only major gripe I had about it was that the cladding was hyperreactive. Most reactive knife I've had so far; almost saw it rust in front of my eyes.
True of the Hitohira Y Tanaka Yohei etc?
 
True of the Hitohira Y Tanaka Yohei etc?
Miura Itadaki; that's the only one I own. Never touched or handled any of the others so I have no informed opinion about them.
Admittedly I might be a bit spoiled... I realized after using it for a while that it's actually the only carbon clad knife I have; all my other carbons are either monosteels, or stainless clads. It's the cladding that's reactive on the Itadaki rather than the core. Settles down after a while though after it gets a patina - which it does fairly quickly.
 
Miura Itadaki; that's the only one I own. Never touched or handled any of the others so I have no informed opinion about them.
Admittedly I might be a bit spoiled... I realized after using it for a while that it's actually the only carbon clad knife I have; all my other carbons are either monosteels, or stainless clads. It's the cladding that's reactive on the Itadaki rather than the core. Settles down after a while though after it gets a patina - which it does fairly quickly.


the solution to this problem for most knives is to nuke the media blasted finish. it just takes hours and hours and hundreds/thousands of dollars worth of sharpening gear 🤪
 
the solution to this problem for most knives is to nuke the media blasted finish. it just takes hours and hours and hundreds/thousands of dollars worth of sharpening gear 🤪
I don't think it was a problem with the finish. I think on the Itadaki it was best described as a hairline finish.. basically longitudional polish at a somewhat coarse grit. It's just that the cladding would go bonkers in a few minutes before it took a patina. Luckily as a result, it took a patina pretty quickly, after that it was quite okay.

Admittedly this might just be a problem with all carbon clad; I think monosteels / core steels are far less reactive because they have all their impurities removed, and these days a lot of the clad knives (at least with the ones I have) all happen to be stainless clad. Starting to see the reason why now. ;)
 
the solution to this problem for most knives is to nuke the media blasted finish. it just takes hours and hours and hundreds/thousands of dollars worth of sharpening gear 🤪

pardon the ignorance, but what is a media blasted finish?
 
I don't think it was a problem with the finish. I think on the Itadaki it was best described as a hairline finish.. basically longitudional polish at a somewhat coarse grit. It's just that the cladding would go bonkers in a few minutes before it took a patina. Luckily as a result, it took a patina pretty quickly, after that it was quite okay.

Admittedly this might just be a problem with all carbon clad; I think monosteels / core steels are far less reactive because they have all their impurities removed, and these days a lot of the clad knives (at least with the ones I have) all happen to be stainless clad. Starting to see the reason why now. ;)

That was the case for my Itadaki as well. My first use was with onions and on the 3rd cut I noticed juices turning brown. I stopped, washed the knife, and put it aside. The next couple times I had proteins to cut (chicken and beef) I pulled it back out and it formed a really nice blue patina and completely settled down. I did leave it all rubbed up in chicken and steak juice for 20-30 mins after cutting, though.
 
I don’t suppose anyone would know more about this Y Tanaka, based on the image? The retailer hasn’t been all that helpful. It’s supposedly a 180mm Gyuto, but I don’t know more.
 

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heads up that there are some Y Tanaka blades in the rare Aogami Super hitting strata in the next few days. I saw it up earlier today without handles, but its now taken down. I think it was $700 for the 240mm Mirror Polish without handle and $600 for the kasumi
 
heads up that there are some Y Tanaka blades in the rare Aogami Super hitting strata in the next few days. I saw it up earlier today without handles, but its now taken down. I think it was $700 for the 240mm Mirror Polish without handle and $600 for the kasumi
I believe I recall seeing them being listed as 230x52, spines on the thicker side, ~159g blade only which would translate to around 200g with a basic handle.
 
Think the Kikuzuki is just the new branding really - Kikumori added a Choyo specific website last year, with the Kikuzuki range (damasus, ku, migaki) basically seeming to be positioned as the non mirror-polished versions of the choyos, using the same smith and sharpener combos

Possible that a different sharpener is involved between these two, but this whole range seems to be all Tanaka
 
The Strata super blue is one of the best. Thicker grind - like a Kaiju or Kono “thick FM”, amazing fit and finish. Fully convex, middle/weight WH. The most impressive knife I have handled recently
I've got Bernel's So-Ten and Strata's double bevel in 240 AS's, they are both really nice knives, the steel is perfect, sharpens super easy and holds an edge forever.
 
It looks like the choyo upside down pineapple (flower thing) has changed to a nun behind a flower, pinecone with a parachute, or pacman eating a ninja star (shuriken?)
 
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