What was the progression?
Ryan said on Instagram that it went from 120 up to 8K. Here's
that post, which includes video showing the overall polish. I'm pretty sure there were some natural stones involved because of the nice contrast between the cladding and the core steel, plus I saw another photo of my 210 (that I also sent in for thinning) covered in mud. Whatever he did and whatever he used went well beyond both my humble skills and my humble sharpening setup.
And I only paid $30, which is freaking bonkercakes for the amount of work that went into it.
I’ve been on the fence about getting a Takeda but I think this video has convinced me to give it a shot. Freaking amazing
Like a TF, they're a bit of a gamble. My 210 had terrible wedging, which is why I sent it in for thinning. And since I was doing that, I figured "what the hell, send in the big boy too." Someone mentioned in another forum that one of their Takedas was "borderline dangerous" when doing horizontal cuts on onions, and that's how my 210 was as well. But that same person said they had other Takedas that were superstar performers out of the box, so it really does vary. My 300 had some wedging issues too, but there were thinner shoulders toward the front of the knife so I was able to use it on onions without fear. Even after thinning, there's some cracking on carrots, but it's still super fun to use. It cuts a lot better after the service, and not just because it's sharper -- knocking back the shoulders toward the tip really helped. Takedas are very interesting knives with a lot of personality, but wedging really can be a problem if you happen to get a not-so-great one. I've learned more about knives from my Takedas than I have from any other ones.
To bypass the lottery, you might try posting a WTB in the BST forum and see if anyone wants to part with a good instance. Or if you prefer to play the lottery and lose, you can always send it in.