How about a knife thread?


 
Guess what came in the mail today!

10801589_10203112324350902_1416663724419919956_n.jpg


Along with the new knife, the others are my most used. The chef's knife 2nd from the bottom has been my favorite since I got it.
 
Guess what came in the mail today!

10801589_10203112324350902_1416663724419919956_n.jpg


Along with the new knife, the others are my most used. The chef's knife 2nd from the bottom has been my favorite since I got it.

Congrats! So, how is it? Don't keep us in suspense! I want pics :)
 
Some Really Neat, but expensive stuff!

Hi all,

If you buy a "WA" Japanese made knife they come with a Japanese style handle, usually a "Ho" D-shaped wood handle. That is the basic handle and it's made from magnolia wood with a buffalo horn inset. A D shaped handle is not ambidextrous That's all very cool, the handles are great and they will serve us well. But, you have spent a pretty penny to get a great knife and maybe you want to bring it up to a custom one of a kind knife. The blade is a given so maybe a custom handle? This will really set off your knife. Not for the faint of heart. Some of these handles could cost as much as the knife itself!

And if like me you are left handed and the knife came with a right handed handle you would want to change that, most likely to an octagon shaped handle. One of the neat things about Japanese WA handled knives is that you can replace the handle. This is not easy at all with a Western style riveted handle. Here are a couple of sites that will do that for you.

Japanese knife imports will replace your handles with some basic but very nice octagonal handles in different woods for ~$50.00:
http://www.japaneseknifeimports.com/knife-rehandling

Or, you could go all out and get a custom, one of a kind handle, from an American:
http://japanesehandles.com/

He just makes the handles. His friend actually installs them:
http://www.japaneseknifesharpening.com/handlereplace.html

Your chance to have a one of a kind knife:)

Best,

Jose
 
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UPS dropped this little beauty off on my porch this afternoon. 5 inch Yoshihiro hammered Damascus petty chef's knife. This thing is scary sharp right out of the box. :)



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Jose - Thanks for starting this very cool and very informative thread! I'm loving all the photos our members are posting of their cutlery collections. I started using Japanese knives about ten years ago, with Shun Classics being my first experience with Japanese cutlery. Over the years, I acquired more and more custom knives (great for cutting food, but very bad for the wallet), and ended up giving my Shuns (still great knives) to my brothers and sister. Here are some photos of a few personal favorites from my collection...


Sugimoto CM Wa-Gyuto 240mm: This is pretty much my workhorse knife, about 5 years old and still going strong. When I first got it, the factory edge wasn't very good, so I had to spend several hours sharpening it with various grits of water-stones in order to end up with a mirror-polished convex grind. A light and nimble all-purpose knife with pretty good sharpness and edge retention.





Asai Damascus Nakiri 165mm: I mostly use this one for more delicate jobs which require a lot of precision, as the blade is quite thin. My go-to knife whenever I make Hasselback potatoes!






Gesshin Ginga Wa-Gyuto 270mm: Another one of my all-purpose knives. The blade is stainless, but it sharpens up like carbon steel, able to take a very acute edge while still remaining durable. Exceptional fit and finish on this one.






Watanabe Pro Nakiri 180mm: I like this one a lot. Even though the grind tapers to an extremely thin and acute edge, this nakiri has more heft to it than my other ones and is by no means a light duty knife. The blade is clad in stainless steel with a carbon steel core, and it's easy to maintain its level of sharpness by just performing occasional touch-ups with fine grit water-stones.





Asai Damascus Wa-Gyuto 240mm: Like its nakiri counterpart, this one also has a very thin blade and I don't reach for it when doing heavy duty cutting jobs. I like using this one for carving cooked boneless meats.






Shigefusa Kitaeji Nakiri 180mm: Probably the nicest damascus finish of any knife in my collection. The blade on this one is all carbon steel and is highly reactive, forming a discolored patina wherever the blade makes contact with certain foods (e.g. onions, cabbage). I took these photos after polishing the blade back to its original out-of-the-box appearance. I'm a big fan of the geometry on this one, with its nearly convex taper near the edge. Great fit and finish, and other-worldly edge retention.





Hattori KD Gyuto 240mm: This guy only comes out of its box on special occasions. When sharpened properly, Cowry-X steel will take on a ridiculously sharp edge with absolutely freakish edge retention. For you Game of Thrones fans out there, this is the kitchen knife equivalent of having a Valyrian steel sword ;)
 
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Some amazing knives you guys have. I've been slowly putting together a set for myself. At the price, slow is good. One piece here, one there. So far been happy with American made Lamson Sharp "Silver" series. The 8" Chef's knife is my go-to.
 
Hey guys. Really cool thread. Here's a bad picture of a really great knife. My beloved Anryu Hammered Blue 2 240.

 
So far so good. I've only had the knife for about 6 months so it's only been on the stones once. All I did was clean up the out of the box edge since then all it's needed has been stropping.

I do however have a Blue 2 Nakiri i bought mostly to practice sharpening skils on and I'm not havng any problems with it.

Sharpest knives I own are White 2. One of those I needed to sharpen out a chip (my fault I dropped the knife). It took me some time since I was being careful but it sharpened right up.

I just beginning to learn how to sharpen but so far the only knives that have given me any real difficulty have been stainless.

Have a very, very thin White 2 nakiri on the way. Now that one's going to be fun to see what I can do with it.
 
Let's see yours and your reviews, and include pocket knives too.

The original post said include pocket knifes so that is what I am doing!

I spent the weekend visiting family in Houston. My grandpa has 7 grandsons of which I am the oldest. When visiting this weekend he gave me a knife brand new in the box. When he gave it he explained that when each grandson was born he bought a Buck 110 pocket knife and had it engraved with our initials. Before this weekend I did not know he had done this. While it is not a crazy high dollar knife it was a very good idea and something I will hold onto my entire life. I don't think you see too many 20+ year old knifes brand new in the box either!

It's a Buck 110.












The sheath is a pretty cool vintage camo pattern as well.
 

 

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