JohnnyChance
Founding Member
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2011
- Messages
- 3,456
- Reaction score
- 30
I got this little yanagi a little while ago from eBay seller 330mate_com. It was $59 shipped from Japan, I chose the free shipping, and it probably took like 3-4 weeks to get here. Here we go:
As shipped, cardboard box wrapped in newspaper:
And here she is:
Measurements:
Problem with the packaging is that the knife was able to slide back and forth inside the box, poked its way through the box and broke off the tip:
The handle ain't great. Burnt chesnut, plastic ferrule. The transition between plastic and wood isn't perfect, and where the knife enters the handle there is a small recess where if you aren't careful I suppose some food stuffs could collect there:
Pretty good polish for a $59 knife:
Some backside pictures:
Choil shots:
The finish is really stable and doesn't seem likely to flake off or deteriorate over time:
Overall, pretty good, especially for $59. The packaging wasn't great, and caused a broken tip. I just rounded the jagged broken edge over a low grit stone to smooth it out. If it comes out in future sharpenings, so be it. If not, I don't really mind. I plan on using it as a line knife for slicing proteins during service. The handle isn't perfect, but somehow is still really comfortable. If it were a gyuto or suji where I was using a tighter grip it wouldn't be, but since you handle a yanagi, especially a small one with a light touch, that handle feels really good. Knife was quite sharp out of the box, not that that really matters to anyone here. Tip is nice and thin if you need to use it for non-yanagi tasks in a pinch.
Here is the link to one of 330mate_com's auctions:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Japanese-YAMAWA...main_0&var=&hash=item746ae3a48c#ht_5376wt_905
As shipped, cardboard box wrapped in newspaper:
And here she is:
Measurements:
Problem with the packaging is that the knife was able to slide back and forth inside the box, poked its way through the box and broke off the tip:
The handle ain't great. Burnt chesnut, plastic ferrule. The transition between plastic and wood isn't perfect, and where the knife enters the handle there is a small recess where if you aren't careful I suppose some food stuffs could collect there:
Pretty good polish for a $59 knife:
Some backside pictures:
Choil shots:
The finish is really stable and doesn't seem likely to flake off or deteriorate over time:
Overall, pretty good, especially for $59. The packaging wasn't great, and caused a broken tip. I just rounded the jagged broken edge over a low grit stone to smooth it out. If it comes out in future sharpenings, so be it. If not, I don't really mind. I plan on using it as a line knife for slicing proteins during service. The handle isn't perfect, but somehow is still really comfortable. If it were a gyuto or suji where I was using a tighter grip it wouldn't be, but since you handle a yanagi, especially a small one with a light touch, that handle feels really good. Knife was quite sharp out of the box, not that that really matters to anyone here. Tip is nice and thin if you need to use it for non-yanagi tasks in a pinch.
Here is the link to one of 330mate_com's auctions:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Japanese-YAMAWA...main_0&var=&hash=item746ae3a48c#ht_5376wt_905
i dont know what i did expect for 50-60$ but what i got was not worth 10$
