Why all the Shun hate?

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@Kippington

Just watched the video. It’s nowhere near the same thing. Miyabi is a monosteel blade with a fake hamon line. You would barely manage to bend the very tip free handed. Forget about bending it just before the bolster.

What I had tried was using the countertop, clamping the blade with one hand flat, trying to bend back by pushing down the handle. I guess I applied up to more or less 100 pounds. Doesn’t move much - it yields of sort but goes back to being totally bent off center.

I wouldn’t feel at ease trying more force nor using wise grip.

Wasn’t it @Larrin testings where I read that aeb-l was one of the toughest steel?
 
I'd throw Victorinox into the ring too as a good starter knife. It's less expensive than Shun and cuts better, IMO. It's not pretty or flashy but it does the job.
 
ModRQC said:
@Kippington

Just watched the video. It’s nowhere near the same thing. Miyabi is a monosteel blade with a fake hamon line. You would barely manage to bend the very tip free handed. Forget about bending it just before the bolster.

What I had tried was using the countertop, clamping the blade with one hand flat, trying to bend back by pushing down the handle. I guess I applied up to more or less 100 pounds. Doesn’t move much - it yields of sort but goes back to being totally bent off center.

I wouldn’t feel at ease trying more force nor using wise grip.

Wasn’t it @Larrin testings where I read that aeb-l was one of the toughest steel?
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Tough =/= hard or risky to bend
 
labor of love said:
Many of the Miyabis I’ve seen come bent out of the box.
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il_570xN.1918897168_nray.jpg
 
Thanks for all the good info. Don’t know if I will end up using my Shuns, but I went onto the Kia/Shun website and now have all of mine boxed up and ready to ship to Oregon. Will see how they handle the chip repairs and sharpening. Wonder how long it will take.
 
I did catering and demos for a local culinary retailer. They typically turned them pretty quick and more often than not just replaced them.
 
daveb said:
The opening question was "why the hate?" The responses made for a pretty reasonable answer - they were descriptions of objective shortcomings. If the question is "Does this knife make me look fat?" then your asking the wrong crowd.
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yes Dave, that hello kitty santoku makes you look like a sumo wrestler
 
How can one not to shun with this name?
 
Ceriano said:
thanks this is great info! What about stainless clad? Is it more corrosion resistant? This is the knife I’m look at in particular:

Wakui Gyuto White 2 stainless clad kurouchi Nashiji finish

https://knivesandstones.us/collecti...urouchi-nashiji-finish?variant=12015834759204
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Yes stainless clad got better with KU, Nashiji, hammer, etc. finish. My first stainless clad carbon core was a Hiromoto around 15 years ago. Before that I used mono carbons only at work.

Most of my home knives are stainless clad carbon core a dark grey patina at the edge forms quickly with use. Just wash and dry after cutting.
 
ModRQC said:
@Kippington

Just watched the video. It’s nowhere near the same thing. Miyabi is a monosteel blade with a fake hamon line. You would barely manage to bend the very tip free handed. Forget about bending it just before the bolster.

What I had tried was using the countertop, clamping the blade with one hand flat, trying to bend back by pushing down the handle. I guess I applied up to more or less 100 pounds. Doesn’t move much - it yields of sort but goes back to being totally bent off center.

I wouldn’t feel at ease trying more force nor using wise grip.

Wasn’t it @Larrin testings where I read that aeb-l was one of the toughest steel?
Click to expand...

It’s really weird that they made a fake lamination line. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. Bizarre. But yea, since it’s monosteel you probably wouldn’t be able to bend it back and make it stay.
 
Although I've never bought, used or desire to ever own a Shun—they are good, appropriate knives for many cooks—everyone starts somewhere. They offer a low price point, perfectly functional knife with a certain amount of 'bling.' Shuns being mass produced, might not have the nuances of handmade knives—but for many that's not an important objective that warrants spending extra money on. Shuns are also much, much more accessible, easy to find knives at big stores—lotta people don't like buying knives online. Also, Shun are so common, almost ubiquitous that they've become iconic—most pro cooks I know have never heard of Kato, Watanabe or Masamoto.

download-1.jpg

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DitmasPork said:
Although I've never bought, used or desire to ever own a Shun—they are good, appropriate knives for many cooks—everyone starts somewhere. They offer a low price point, perfectly functional knife with a certain amount of 'bling.' Shuns being mass produced, might not have the nuances of handmade knives—but for many that's not an important objective that warrants spending extra money on. Shuns are also much, much more accessible, easy to find knives at big stores—lotta people don't like buying knives online. Also, Shun are so common, almost ubiquitous that they've become iconic—most pro cooks I know have never heard of Kato, Watanabe or Masamoto.

View attachment 86175
View attachment 86176
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I guess it’s not surprising that the same people who don’t want to pay a little extra for a knife also don’t pay a little extra for a tattoo.
 
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TSF415 said:
I guess it’s not surprising that the same people who don’t want to pay a little extra for knife also don’t pay a little extra for a tattoo.
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Don’t think it’s really about not wanting to spend more. When I bought my first Shun, I don’t think I knew that there were knives that cut a lot better than them. The places that the general public buy from don’t stock anything better. I guess nowadays you can do a little better than Shun even on Amazon, but you’re not going to run across nice Yoshihiro knives or whatever during your search unless you’re already searching for better-than-Shun quality.
 
ian said:
Don’t think it’s really about not wanting to spend more. When I bought my first Shun, I don’t think I knew that there were knives that cut a lot better than them. The places that the general public buy from don’t stock anything better. I guess nowadays you can do a little better than Shun even on Amazon, but you’re not going to run across nice Yoshihiro knives or whatever during your search unless you’re already searching for better-than-Shun quality.
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My first knife was a shun. I knew no better. I'm also perfectly ok with a person buying a shun but knowing is half the battle.

I was trying to make a joke about those tattoos but I guess my sarcasm has failed me. I'm funny I swear.
 
Pro tip: if you have large Japanese supermarkets in your area, go to one of them and buy a Seki-magoroku, made buy the same maker (Kai) and for the Japanese market for less prices.
 
DitmasPork said:
Although I've never bought, used or desire to ever own a Shun—they are good, appropriate knives for many cooks—everyone starts somewhere. They offer a low price point, perfectly functional knife with a certain amount of 'bling.' Shuns being mass produced, might not have the nuances of handmade knives—but for many that's not an important objective that warrants spending extra money on. Shuns are also much, much more accessible, easy to find knives at big stores—lotta people don't like buying knives online. Also, Shun are so common, almost ubiquitous that they've become iconic—most pro cooks I know have never heard of Kato, Watanabe or Masamoto.

View attachment 86175
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Do people have tatoos of Toyota Camry, Honda Accords as well?

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TSF415 said:
I guess it’s not surprising that the same people who don’t want to pay a little extra for a knife also don’t pay a little extra for a tattoo.
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Often it’s not ‘want,’ but simply not able to afford. First j-knife I bought was a masamoto hc, most I’d ever spent on a knife, felt reckless back then! Yeah, with tattoos, it’s very much a taste issue too.
 
my first knife (besides a $20 forschner) was a shun classic. It was my main knife for years. I would never buy one again, the steel was quite chippy and I now know about several other options I would grab for about $20 more than the $130 I think I paid. But I had that first one for a while and when I wanted to get a knife and fire tattoo with my brother (yes a cheap tattoo!) I got that shun tattooed on me, not knowing that in a few years there would be so much more I was interested in.
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