u/Brief-Net-3339

Hi knife nerds,

One thing about me is I love trying out all kinds of knives, even cheaper ones. I’ve tried a lot of the knives you can find on AliExpress and usually you kinda get what you pay for in some way or another.

But with this one I’m genuinely shocked, its a very good knife. Better than any CCK I’ve used, better than any chopper king. I like it more than my custom cleavers?

It’s got this ridiculous convexity to it, the food release is off the charts somehow. The maker says it’s SG2 steel at 60-64hrc; I haven’t sharpened it yet but I did some testing and it’s retaining an edge beautifully. Look at the video, ghosts carrots, potatoes barely stick to it, yes it does have wedging in sweet potato (can’t have it all right?)

The handle does feel a bit cheap, but there’s a nice little cutout for the pinch grip which I intend to polish eventually. May even remove handle and put a custom one on.

The price was *$62AUD* - I am in no way affiliated w AliExpress, I am just genuinely pleased and a little shocked w this find. Have we finally entered the age where Chinese mass produced knives can compete against small scale craftsmen in grind quality? The food release on this is better than my Toyama, it’s as good as a Takeda. Obviously it’s much more rough around the edges as it’s a mass produced stamped knife, but wtf

Anyway maybe I just got a good one, idk. But you could do a lot worse than try this one I gotta say

Why does this (I assume SK “Japanese steel”?) steel take and retain such an insane edge? Could a nihonko be the best value for money starter knife? I reckon they absolutely blow Tojiro out of the water. This 18cm was $47 on Amazon

Same as last time but different knife. Also thinned out somewhat on AliExpress diamond plate. Sharpened on Shapton 1k.

This one goes out to those who need proof it isn’t glued or cooked

Shiro kamo AS Gyuto vs its natural prey the humble carrot.

thinned out on coarse sic stone and sharpened on Naniwa Aotoishi.

Thinning an old second hand Victorinox full tang bolster 15cm petty out behind the edge on an atoma 140, then putting a new edge on with a Shapton 1000 and deburring on a spycerdo fine rod. I didn’t film it but also did strop with some crOx as this steel was very gummy and did not want to give up its burr! Also worth mentioning I only caught last bit of thinning on camera, I was doing that for maybe 2-3 mins per side beforehand.

I’ll preface this by saying that I am no sort of professional cook - I use this knife for home cooking family meals. That being said I am an obsessive nerd, therefore I keep it hair popping sharp. Necessary? No. Fun? Absolutely.
There are not many things that I like quite as much as touching up well done shirogami 2 or 1 for that matter. The stone is a Naniwa Aotoishi, and in between stone touchups weekly or fortnightly, I generally use a strop and eventually a ceramic rod to keep things nice and crispy. Basically, if it doesn’t easily pierce old capsicum skins I feel dissatisfied which is obviously impractical but here we are.
Love this knife, Mazaki is goated.