Yanagiba Hocho at Fine-tools

[DerSnap]

I am wondering if this is any good. Prices seem too good to be true?

http://www.fine-tools.com/messer2.htm#ziel309203

I am starting to look for a Yanagiba and have many considerations. Wantanabe is one of the main places I am considering but I would not mind a slightly more cheaper knife to practice with. I can't see any specifications though on hardness, etc.

Thoughts?

cheers,
Shamus

 

[berko]

i dont think a yanagiba could be any good at that price. i wouldnt buy it.

 

[DerSnap]

@berko, I was sort of under the same impression.

 

[banjo1071]

Why not? I guess it depends on what you are aiming for. You get waht you pay...This ist a simple no frills massproduction knife. I haven seen pros working with much much worse.....For this price you cannot expect a nice handle and rounded spins et al. But you can expect a decent industrial grind an ht....

 

[banjo1071]

I am wondering if this is any good. Prices seem too good to be true?

. I can't see any specifications though on hardness, etc.

Why is everyone so obssesed with the HRC anyway? This tells you nothing about the quality, sharpness or f&f of a knife.

 

[DerSnap]

Why is everyone so obssesed with the HRC anyway? This tells you nothing about the quality, sharpness or f&f of a knife.

That is true, but if your coming in at a 56 you might expect not such a nice slicer, no?
Handles can be swapped of course, but I am of the less is more camp. Hate collecting junk, or stuff that won't last, or I want to keep. Creates too much waste and IMHO a big problem in the world.

My bikes, Clothes, food, Espresso Machine, studio gear (drum machines, synths, etc.) all fall into that.
But to be honest I have custom made dress shirts that cost a fraction of my Kiton's and are superior in every way. Actually cheaper than off the rack Hugo Box types, if ya catch my drift.

 

[Pensacola Tiger]

That is true, but if your coming in at a 56 you might expect not such a nice slicer, no?
Handles can be swapped of course, but I am of the less is more camp. Hate collecting junk, or stuff that won't last, or I want to keep. Creates too much waste and IMHO a big problem in the world.

My bikes, Clothes, food, Espresso Machine, studio gear (drum machines, synths, etc.) all fall into that.
But to be honest I have custom made dress shirts that cost a fraction of my Kiton's and are superior in every way. Actually cheaper than off the rack Hugo Box types, if ya catch my drift.

The manufacturer, Fujitora, also makes the Tojiro DP and the ITK knives sold at another website. The prices are in line for a no frills knife. Nothing fancy, but perfectly serviceable.

 

[DerSnap]

Thanks PT, that is information that helps.
Don't get me wrong like I said earlier its nice to have a practice knife on, especially with my wife, brother in law (German Chef), etc to play with.
I do have my mind on a Wantanabe, but that will have to wait a few months.

 

[banjo1071]

That is true, but if your coming in at a 56 you might expect not such a nice slicer, no?

Of course you might. This is not a "nice" slicer, but even at Hrc 56 (wich is most unlikely) it would be a knife perfectly suited for 99 percent of the worlds cooks. If you dont cook in a pro envirioment it is most unlikely that you will ever wear this knife down. Even if this would be HRC 56, wich is surely not the case...

 

[DerSnap]

^^ Depends on what you cut

Yes with proteins its should not be an issue. Still to say my German knifes, Globals, are able to get as nice an edge as my MCD 7000s or other higher carbon knives is misleading, that is my only point. I do agree that it is likely better than 99% of what many so called pro chefs use, but like I ever cared what the 99% is.

 

[DerSnap]

So I picked this up as the price was very reasonable and am going to say its much better than expected.

I will post some more shots when I am not such a zombie and more details.

Of course today the new 10K stone also arrived so I ran this through the stone department before I tried it. No problems even at 3K with being a shaver. Blade is not as thin as some better blades, but still......

Handle (well no comment).

 

[apicius9]

Just make sure you sharpen it yourself. Long time ago, I had a cheap thinner deba and sent it with a bunch of German knives to a 'professional sharpener' in Freiburg/Germany. They put a lot of time and effort into grinding down that annoying thick onesided bulge and turning into a proper symmetrical German knife shape :eek2:. Not a big loss but a frightening experience... That said, there is nothing wrong with a basic yanagi to try out whether you like it.

Stefan

P.S. Hihi, he has a santoku

 

[DerSnap]

That Santoku I paid 10 euros for at KaDaWe because no-one wanted it.
Sadly I neglected him as the original edge was not so great, and just let my wife hammer on him. When I when I got some new stones and pulled out my straight razor again instead of being a harry bum I said hey lets see what I can do. It had a few chips but just a few swipes on the King 1K stone sorted that out. Took him up to 3K and its been pretty lethal ever since. What a score!
I would like to change the handles though, and my wife loves the knife now. Infact I never touch my Zwillings anymore as they are just too butch for me.

Oh ya forgot:
Took Zwillings to shop here for sharpening (basically new), came back fatter edge, no marks on (markings), shinny as hell in a cloudy way, with possibly a bit of burning from too much grinder.

I feel the pain there and totally agree sharpen yourself.