Like many here, I was really curious to try Bill's knives. The price was attractive, the finish seemed clean, the choil was really to my liking and the dimensions of 210x48 were really up my alley. So I placed an order and received my knife earlier this week. This review is just for fun and is obviously my personal opinion. I just wanted to share my experience with you and support a new member who is friendly and very responsive.
What I received
I ordered the Dark Edge gyuto without the handle, because I wanted to create it myself. Everything was very well packaged and the knife arrived without any damage. I appreciated the box and the notes written to describe the specifications of the knife. Even if I didn't ordered a complete knife, I also received a handle with it. I don't know if it's an oversight but thank you!
The blade
The Migaki finish is clean and the etch on the core steel is uniform and well executed. There are no sharp corners or visible defects. Obviously for this price range you shouldn't expect a polished spine or choil, but the F&F is honestly good. Anyway, when ordering this knife I knew I was going to polish it and have fun getting it to my liking.
The specs
Once again, nothing to declare! Height, length and weight are spot on. The blade weight 129g and with the handle that I created, it gives a total weight of 170g. The balance point is exactly at the blacksmith's signature with a slight forward balance that I like. The measuring of the first 10mm on my knife is : BTE - 0,16 | 5mm - 0,73 | 10mm - 1,29. Oh and I forgot to say that the grind is slightly convex and this convexity is uniform from heel to tip.
Sharpness and sharpening
I measured the sharpness with my Bess tester and OOTB the result is 180, which is very good. After polishing the knife and sharpening on my Naniwa Pro 1k, I went down to 140. Sharpening this D2 steel was really easy and you get a sharp edge with very little effort. I personally like to finish at 1k and a loaded strop and this is perfect for my needs. As for the retention of the edge, obviously this will happen over time and through use, so I can't express an opinion on that.
Time to pimp it!
Even if the finish itself is correct, I wanted to have fun and polish the stainless steel to a mirror effect. The progression was: sandpaper 600, 1k, 1.5k, diamond paste 1.5k, 3k, 4k and 14k. This is honestly only the second time I've polished stainless steel and I forgot how much less difficult it is to polish than a honyaki blade! I also polish the spine, the choil and I etched the core steel again once everything was finish. For the handle I chose to use Turkish walnut. I love the combination of the mirror effect and the elegant, warm effect of this handle. In short, I'm very happy to have taken the time to put it to my liking.
The performance of the knife
The majority of my knives are lasers and it's nice to handle something different. Most of the time I rock chop and I think this knife shine with this technique. The tip is less surgical than other lasers I have but that's normal and not a big concern for me. For the carrot, the cut is clean and practically without any cracking sound. On a larger and firm carrot you need a little more pressure but nothing too alarming. The weight of the knife is super nice and it's a pleasure to cut with anything less dense. I only made 2 meals with it and I didn't have the chance to try a wide range of foods but I like the feeling!
In conclusion
I am really happy with my purchase and the transaction was very easy with Bill. For this price, with free shipping on top of that, it's honestly a really good value. It's obviously not the most exotic steel and I took some time and energy to get it perfectly to my liking, but again, for the price paid, it's great. I had fun getting it to my liking and now using it. So there you have it, that was my personal vision for this review and thank you for reading!
What I received
I ordered the Dark Edge gyuto without the handle, because I wanted to create it myself. Everything was very well packaged and the knife arrived without any damage. I appreciated the box and the notes written to describe the specifications of the knife. Even if I didn't ordered a complete knife, I also received a handle with it. I don't know if it's an oversight but thank you!
The blade
The Migaki finish is clean and the etch on the core steel is uniform and well executed. There are no sharp corners or visible defects. Obviously for this price range you shouldn't expect a polished spine or choil, but the F&F is honestly good. Anyway, when ordering this knife I knew I was going to polish it and have fun getting it to my liking.
The specs
Once again, nothing to declare! Height, length and weight are spot on. The blade weight 129g and with the handle that I created, it gives a total weight of 170g. The balance point is exactly at the blacksmith's signature with a slight forward balance that I like. The measuring of the first 10mm on my knife is : BTE - 0,16 | 5mm - 0,73 | 10mm - 1,29. Oh and I forgot to say that the grind is slightly convex and this convexity is uniform from heel to tip.
Sharpness and sharpening
I measured the sharpness with my Bess tester and OOTB the result is 180, which is very good. After polishing the knife and sharpening on my Naniwa Pro 1k, I went down to 140. Sharpening this D2 steel was really easy and you get a sharp edge with very little effort. I personally like to finish at 1k and a loaded strop and this is perfect for my needs. As for the retention of the edge, obviously this will happen over time and through use, so I can't express an opinion on that.
Time to pimp it!
Even if the finish itself is correct, I wanted to have fun and polish the stainless steel to a mirror effect. The progression was: sandpaper 600, 1k, 1.5k, diamond paste 1.5k, 3k, 4k and 14k. This is honestly only the second time I've polished stainless steel and I forgot how much less difficult it is to polish than a honyaki blade! I also polish the spine, the choil and I etched the core steel again once everything was finish. For the handle I chose to use Turkish walnut. I love the combination of the mirror effect and the elegant, warm effect of this handle. In short, I'm very happy to have taken the time to put it to my liking.
The performance of the knife
The majority of my knives are lasers and it's nice to handle something different. Most of the time I rock chop and I think this knife shine with this technique. The tip is less surgical than other lasers I have but that's normal and not a big concern for me. For the carrot, the cut is clean and practically without any cracking sound. On a larger and firm carrot you need a little more pressure but nothing too alarming. The weight of the knife is super nice and it's a pleasure to cut with anything less dense. I only made 2 meals with it and I didn't have the chance to try a wide range of foods but I like the feeling!
In conclusion
I am really happy with my purchase and the transaction was very easy with Bill. For this price, with free shipping on top of that, it's honestly a really good value. It's obviously not the most exotic steel and I took some time and energy to get it perfectly to my liking, but again, for the price paid, it's great. I had fun getting it to my liking and now using it. So there you have it, that was my personal vision for this review and thank you for reading!
You can also use some packing peanuts inside the box to keep things stable 
