u/chezpopp

Been wanting a wakui for a while now and finally snagged one. Love the taper and the fact that it’s not a laser not quite a workhorse but somehow an amazing balance of the two. Snagged this for some harder use at the shop. Put it through some veggies today for mire poix.

This knife is all about balance. It’s a goldi locks build for me. Not to light not to heavy. Not to lasery not to thick. Hits all the right notes and sweet spots. Just a fun knife. Well made. Fit and finish is solid. I’m not sad about this one.

Little wedging on some straight cuts. Really shines w a straight cut and slight draw.

Beat it up for 6 hours today doing veggie prep for soups stocks and crudite. Would def reccomend as a one knife to rule them all for anyone cook or someone who’s not looking to collect 18 gyutos.

Start by saying that I don’t usually care for Damascus. Not getting into the debate of pattern welded vs damascine or champagne and sparkling wine. That has nothing to do with it I just don’t care for Damascus and the manic vibes I feel when I look at it. I love a kurouchi, or just a straight cladding but Damascus has never been something I like or prioritize. If it’s your jam I see you and appreciate you. No yukking of yums but not my flavor.
That being said I have a love of copper/rose gold and enjoy the occasional cumai or copper accent. Saw this hatsu on knifewear garage sale and figured I’d take a shot. Usually not a huge fan of treatments or finish but this one just tickled my fancy.

Super thin and light. Coloring and visual is stunning. The Damascus pattern looks more like waves and ripples with the color treatment. Makes me think of rich milk chocolate being poured on marble for chocolate work. Much thinner laser grind compared to some of my other hatsu but again not sad about it. Excited to get this on the board but honestly this was more a style/vibes knife than anything.
#5 rule -Hatsukokoro ryuhyo sg2 brown Damascus 210.

Been considering it for a while. Anyone have any knowledge or first hand use. Looking for actual experience with this guy specifically.

Been wanting a wakui for a bit and hit up knifewear during the garage sale. Thing feels and looks choice. Little shorter height wise than most of what I currently rock out with, but will definitely get some play as I rotate my kit. Thinner than I thought it would be, was hoping for a little more workhorse edge out of it but the distal taper is on point and I’m not sad about it. Be on the board soon.

My classic battleship is Vera my very favorite knife and now my ironhorse is Nueva Vera. I opted for the classic handle of ebony and white. Thing is an amazing knife. Best I own for just blasting down prep on the board. Amazing distal taper. Heavy, which I like. Thick at the spine but still laser thin. Works well push cutting or heel up draw cutting. Just absolutely a beast amongst knives. Has great size and proportions.
No music but a little vocal overview as I chop. If you can hear it over all the short ribs sizzling on the flat top. Maybe 50 pounds of veggies today.

Slicing some boneless smoked short ribs. One of them the bark was a little crusty and burnt. Caught the knife wrong. Oh no takada. All good. Plenty of meat on her still and I’ll keep using it until I need to hit the stones with this current rotation in a week.

Ok. So it’s a great knife 7ish out of 10 depending on tastes.
Used for two weeks. Probably 160 pounds of veg and 50 pounds of protein as well as other herbs and lots of mushrooms.
Thing is a gem. Super light. Too light. Feels fragile. Is not fragile. Actually pretty durable and slicey. It’s thin. It looks sexy w a simple appealing optics.
My major gripe is edge retention. Reviewing my kit it’s almost all carbon steel. White, blue, super and the variants. I also have chromax and r2 from shibata and those are light lasers as well and their edges last longer.
This particular ginsan is my first ginsan and also my least impressive knife in rotation. Not sure if it’s just because it’s a budget kono (200ish). It was a placeholder purchase for a konosuke I’ll add one day.
Anyway the edge did all right. For daily touch ups I keep a smooth ceramic hone, a smooth butchers hone (no ridges diamond dust or abrasives, super smooth super hard new but old school called butchers hone) a strip w leather and chro ox painted linen. The ginsan did alright for a quick touch on the ceramic but really shone on the smooth butchers hone. I know there’s a lot of opinions on honing and whether or not it even has an effect. I’m not looking for debate I’m just saying I use a knife every day for hours and a smooth hone used lightly and smoothly definitely brings the edge back after a long session or hard veggies. Diminishing returns for sure but it kept the kono going for two weeks. Going to hit the stones w it soon and pull it out of rotation for now.

Any other ginsan users have issues w edge retention or any knowledge of this particular knife and gripes? Not sure it’s a steel id grab again.

Recently acquired two vintage Dexter Russell high carbon knives. Probably from the 50s. A monster chef knife very similar to the old sabatier imo. Nice distal taper. Quality carbon steel. Just rough cleaned and ground. Same for the boning knife. The plan is to put on some pants and hand sand to a mirror polish. Finish the edge and beat them up. Not sure on which blanks will become handles but I’m thinking the blue dude maple burl for both.

If you’ve seen any of my posts you know I use and relatively abuse all my knives. Meaning they get put to work and though I don’t purposely beat them up for fun I do use them as tools. That being said I had some gnarly winter squash and between stems and seeds I did some edge damage to my beast bunka from u/danstroyer1 and I just got it back looking slick and sharp as ever. Going back into rotation next week.
Cumai beast bunka (like a boss bunka) from donathan hamano.

Catering a small wedding at the farm. Takada was my knife choice for kitchen action today.