r/TrueChefKnives

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

Just got back from Japan with a new bunka. Used just the soft side of my wood strop (which has some residual green polishing compound) and then cut up a cantaloupe and a pineapple.

Now I can't get this small stain off despite plenty of scrubbing. It's SG2 stainless steel so don't think it's a carbon patina issue.

I've watched the recommended "how to sharpen and strop your knives" video often linked in here but the strop part had limited details.

Did I screw up my knife?

It's the middle one in the set of 3

Yesterday I received not one, but two new knives on the same day! First arrived the 240mm "Tanjiro Nichirin" gyuto from Zao Viet Knives (u/youmakemeput123), and later the 175mm nakiri from Kennard Cutlery (u/Ok_Climate2648), which I won through an Instagram giveaway!

Zao "Tanjiro Nichirin" 240mm gyuto

I ordered this through Zao in early February, after seeing the same model posted here on r/TrueChefKnives. It is forged by the female smith Nguyền Thi Luyến. The core is 32 layers of 52100 and 1090 steel, then there is the copper layer, and on the outside there are 64 layers of stainless 304 and 301 on both sides! The handle is ebony and inox. I know this kind of damscus is not everyone's cup of tea, but I find the knife really stunning! It is actually my first 240mm gyuto too.

Kennard Cutlery 175mm nakiri

On the occasion of the opening of Kennard Cutlery's new online shop, the nakiri was given away through Instagram and I was the lucky bastard getting it! It is my first Nakiri and also the first knife I own with such a crazy concave grind! I am really looking forward to see its performance. The blade is forged out of 52100 steel and the handle is made out of spalted silver birch, ebony and brass.

I was to impatient to post and did not use the knives yet, so this is it for now! Cheers

Managed to get a 210 vg10 to replace my old beat 210 from many moons ago! (Very nostalgic) but also to pair with the 240 I recently picked up

Have been using the 240 daily at work for the last 2 weeks and it’s bliss to use but I generally prefer a 210 to keep on the board all day.

Recently decided I mostly want to focus on collecting Stainless/semi stainless purely because I use almost all my knives at work (on rotation) and as much as I want to baby my knives, sometimes shit happens and it’s just one less thing I would rather not have to worry about 🤷🏾‍♂️

Blacksmith-Shiraki Hamono (most likely Nakagawa)

Sharpener-Nishida (99 percent sure based off feedback from the 240)

​

Kisuke Manaka x Kazoku / Meesterslijpers

Sharpened and ground by Berend de Boer (Meesterslijpers in-house sharpener)

180x60

Aogami #1 iron clad

Ebony with horn

Somewhat of an unexpected pickup. I’ve been trying to get one of the JNS Manaka's, but I couldn’t seem to catch a drop. I saw the Meesterslijpers Instagram post the second they uploaded it. I wasn’t sure about the Manaka x Kazoku line because I hadn’t heard much about the knives ground by Berend. After missing all the JNS drops, though, I couldn’t leave this one behind.

No hate towards Berend at all, of course. I just thought he was less experienced with grinding knives than Maksim or the people at xingou. He’s been sharpening knives for years, so he clearly knows what he’s doing. He also recently spent time in Japan learning from a lot of different sharpeners. Maksim from JNS was at Meesterslijpers recently too.

Meesterslijpers has also been dropping a lot more in-house finished knives from well regarded makers. Those Wakuis looked very nice, and the Nakagawas definitely piqued my interest too. If anyone has one of these, or any other knife done by Berend, I’d love to hear some opinions.

About the actual knife: I was looking for a Manaka before the fire in his workshop. I was hoping to see some pop up again after the new workshop opened. The finish looks amazing. I’m usually a big nashiji kurouchi lover, but Manaka’s tsuchime looks incredible. As a lover of tall knives, this is the perfect bunka. I don’t think I’ve seen many bunkas this tall. It has a little more belly than I personally prefer, but still has a nice flat spot. The spine and choil are very nicely rounded and feel comfortable in hand.

The grind on these is very nice too. I haven’t had the chance to cut any hard vegetables yet, but it flies through softer produce. It gets quite thin behind the edge and has a really good cutting feel. In a way, it almost feels like a wide bevel knife. OOTB sharpness is good as well, around a 7.5/10.

The handle is nicely made and fitted. Not much else to say about it. You can’t really go wrong with ebony and horn, imo.

To compare it to the other Manaka releases: the finish is really nice on this knife. The spine and edge aren’t mirror polished like the xingou versions, and the kasumi doesn’t quite match the JNS kasumi. But they’re also sold at a lower price, so it seems like a fair trade-off. The kasumi still looks really nice imo.

I’m happy I caught this drop and managed to pick up the only bunka. Performance is great, and the knife looks stunning. There really isn’t much out there like these Manakas.

Hello guys
I just have a question regarding this Tetsujin Ukiba knife that I have a possibility to buy. What are these darker spots on the knife? Is it something that can be removed?

Been getting into sharpening myself a few months ago and bought a 1000/4000 combo stone from a Japanese knife shop here locally. They are decent as far as I can judge as a beginner and definitely not one of those $20 combo stones off amazon but i saw a good deal on knivesandtools and could get both the shapton 1000 and the naniwa 3000 for ~$100. Which seemed like a good deal to me. Will prob get an atoma400 soon and slap a replacement 140 grit sheet on its back which should sort me out for flattening and fixing chips in case that ever happens.

Looking forward to try them.

Anyone recognise this knife that i saw in a YouTube video? Or can help to identify the maker and model?

210mm Gyuto Damascus with a deep etch. Seems to be stainless. I don't speak Japanese and don't know what the kanji says.

https://youtu.be/VZG8ysKpLqc?si=m1M4usDRHBaHyZ-H

Starting with the big boy (and my favorite):

1. Yoshikane SKD Nashiji Stainless Clad 9.4" Gyuto
2. Moritaka 7" Aogami Super Carbon Steel Bunks
3. Hatsukokoro Shinkiro Aogami Super Kurouchi Damascus 5.9" Petty
4. Takayuki x Itsuo Doi Homura Guren Aogami #2 8.9" Gyuto
5. Enso Hand-Forged Aogami Super 6.5" Nakiri

The translated letter is something he includes with the sale.

https://thejapanesefoodlab.com/toshio-ohba/

My favorite knife, Mr. Ueda’s tamahagane gyuto, is due for a spa treatment😅

I’ve happened to make friends with a very knowledgeable man who is a polisher. He has taught me lots of things that I hadn’t known before. (It is so rare to stumble upon such people these days)

I will incorporate everything he’s taught me the last two months and see what difference it’ll make.

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.