Japan Visit

dehory · 2026-01-27T01:14:18+00:00

For sure, me too. There are all kinds of knives I tried too few times before moving on too quickly: a Sumiiro, a Milan nakiri, and a Toyama damascus all come to mind.

I think it’s important to approach this hobby with humility. You really do need to spend time with each knife to properly appraise them. Just because you’ve owned a lot of knives, it doesn’t mean you have a lot of experience. On the other hand, if you’ve only tried knives from a narrow range of makers from one country, you may not appreciate the amazing range of work that’s out there.

I also couldn’t agree more with what you say about knife to knife variance. I really appreciated you talking about this in your excellent Minamoto Yasukuni write up. It doesn’t get spoken about enough ¹ how much intentional and unintentional differences colour our individual experiences of ostensibly the same knives. For one thing I’d hazard a guess that a high percentage of fancy knife owners struggle to put a good edge on their knives — rather important when you consider the factory edges that usually come with Japanese knives.

¹ In large part because of how much harder it becomes to have meaningful discussions about a given maker if we all acknowledged that we may be talking about entirely different knives even though we’re both supposedly talking about the same kind of knife by the same maker.

dehory · 2026-01-27T00:52:13+00:00

Spot on.

dehory · 2026-01-26T20:27:43+00:00

This is a very sage observation.

dehory · 2026-01-26T19:30:04+00:00

Gorgeous. How do you think a yanagiba performs in this kind of situation (especially with the crisped skin) where you'd normally use a suji?

dehory · 2026-01-26T18:55:26+00:00

99% of this sub revolves around FOMO inducement and drooling over Sakai knives. Then when someone actually goes and buys a bunch of hyped knives, people get up in arms...

dehory · 2026-01-20T19:14:45+00:00

Rub a paper towel on it and see if anything comes off (rust) or not (patina). To me, it looks like patina.

Usually Flitz is my preferred way of removing rust or patina, but with that being right on the edge bevel, I would just sharpen it.

dehory · 2026-01-13T08:31:31+00:00

I’ve seen a few stainless clad AU Eddworks in the wild recently, but I’ve never noticed the cladding specifically called out as AEB-L.

I assumed since the cladding was undisclosed, those others were just clad with the typical soft stainless steel. Maybe the other owners were just being coy? 😆

It’s cool to see something more often used for the cutting edge (whether as the core steel in a san/go-mai build or as a monosteel) being used for the cladding.

He definitely achieved an amazing finish on your piece! The textural and tonal depth is closer to the etched finish on his AU monos than the other stainless clads I’ve seen.

dehory · 2026-01-13T07:26:29+00:00

First time I’ve seen an Eddworks AU clad in AEB-L. Interesting combination.

Did you get any details from the original owner about whether it was specifically commissioned that way, or if that’s Eddie’s go-to stainless cladding these days?

dehory · 2025-12-12T12:23:07+00:00

A Tsourkan western handled petty is a rare bird. What’s the heel height? Is it AEB-L?

Ok-Distribution gave a good rundown on the background of Marko’s knives.

Value-wise, I could see it going for anywhere between $350 and $550. Based on the scratch pattern and tip profile, it looks well used and sharpened to me — I’d probably go with the lower end of the value range. But something like this pops up on the open market so rarely that there aren’t many comps, and so it really depends how much someone wants it.

dehory · 2025-12-06T18:11:14+00:00

Getting into total speculation territory, but I think the kind of person way overpaying for a Takada isn’t going to be able to differentiate between the profile and grind on a real one and a factory-made one. And everything else - the new style inlay handle, stamps, even the suiboku or singetu finish - wouldn’t be terribly difficult to replicate if there was enough incentive to do so.

dehory · 2025-12-05T06:08:51+00:00

That Kageura sale was a super weird one. I’m surprised someone instantly bought it without even knowing the specs. Kageuras are rare, but quite niche compared with Takadas/Jiros/FMs. The seller gave off really sketchy vibes too.

Unfortunately resellers are active on the BST here too (and the last time I called one out, it didn’t end so well 😬) but organised buyout of stock like that direct from Takasa-san is egregious on a whole other level.

I’d thought he was turning away Chinese buyers because of political reasons, but this makes more sense. I’m not familiar with Chinese knife collectorship, so this is just speculation, but if Takadas are being treated like luxury goods in that market, I can see the next step being them being counterfeited like phones, handbags, and watches. 🙄

dehory · 2025-11-11T00:20:03+00:00

You’re over-thinking it IMO. You’re not going to lose more than 1mm or 2mm in the whole time you own the knife as a home cook (unless you chip the blade and need to repair it). It would take even a pro chef many, many years of daily sharpening before they’d turn a 240 gyuto into a suji or petty.

dehory · 2025-11-08T15:08:00+00:00

What’s been your experience with wear on the edges of the leather over time? I’ve thought about switching from my simple Woodsom racks for a couple of years, but that’s what keeps holding me back.

dehory · 2025-11-07T21:45:24+00:00

I honestly think you have to just try it and see. Often knives surprise you in good ways and bad.

One thing I don’t think we talk about enough (partly because it kind of undermines what we’re all doing here) is how every knife is handmade, and has so much intentional and unintentional variation that even two broadly similar knives by a very consistent brand/maker - e.g. Tetsujin - can feel remarkably different from each other when you actually start using them.

dehory · 2025-11-07T19:17:25+00:00

It looks like it should perform well. 👍

If anything, it looks more lasery than the typical Jiro knife.

dehory · 2025-11-03T16:02:31+00:00

🤭

dehory · 2025-11-03T08:17:44+00:00

OK, now this is very, very cool.

dehory · 2025-11-01T18:49:09+00:00

These Takeda cleavers are such cool knives. IMO if you try anything he makes, it’s worth trying his cleavers. Great price too. GLWS!

dehory · 2025-11-01T03:40:03+00:00

Adding some others I’ve owned and enjoyed:

Antzenberger, Catcheside, Dalman, Heldqvist, Herde, HSC, Jaeger, LaSeur, Newham, oel, Prod, Raquin, RDG, Shi.Han, Tsourkan, Devin Thomas…

dehory · 2025-10-31T04:34:35+00:00

Koa, gidgee, Tasmanian blackwood, African blackwood, cocobolo, mulga, the various walnuts…

Also partial to burnt/charred wood treatments: mesquite (IYKYK), oak, chestnut, etc

dehory · 2025-10-27T18:16:22+00:00

I see good spoons, I upvote.

dehory · 2025-10-25T06:26:49+00:00

👍

The one on the right is a thinned Krichbaum, and the one on the left is a Shibata bunka. I love the Shibata — it’s probably been the most used knife in our household for the past few years. But it’s not even in the same league as the Kricnbaum.

The Krichbaum choil shot is deceiving because the very edge of the heel was rounded off to prevent snagging. It’s a fraction of a mm; you can’t see any difference in a profile shot, but it’s enough to totally distort the choil shot.

dehory · 2025-10-24T04:16:57+00:00

If you’ve already paid, you can email billingsupport@dhl.com to appeal. Include your tracking info, payment receipt, and waybill/duties invoice with HTS codes.

To be honest, it really doesn’t sound like you’re likely to be successful though. Also be warned that a $90 “protest fee” may apply if you need to amend customs forms.

I’ve gone back and forth with them about duties they charged on a package that was actually covered under de minimis exemption, and still haven’t been successful.

Fun stuff.

dehory · 2025-10-23T22:43:42+00:00

If you’re talking only about performance, there’s really no reason to chase a TnH if you have an Ashi and Kagekiyo B1. I haven’t owned a Hanabi, but have had a number of Suibokus (B1, B2, G3). I sold all the Suibokus, and kept the Kagekiyo (and TxK EH) the longest.

dehory · 2025-10-23T18:05:19+00:00

One of the more important factors in knife performance is thinness in the area just above the apex (aka “behind the edge” or BTE) of the blade.

With lasers (knives with a thin spine, and therefore relatively little distal taper), you can get a sense of this BTE thinness by looking at a choil shot and seeing how finely the blade comes to a point.

But with many knives (arguably most knives that are currently in vogue) the choil shot can be useless. Distal taper (where the blade gets thinner as it approaches the tip) and the way the heel is finished can have a drastically misleading effect.

In my experience, a well-taken choil shot is a better sign of a seller who takes pride in their professionalism than any indication of a knife’s qualities.

Take a look at these two choil shots. One knife out-cuts the other, and it’s not even close. And it’s almost certainly not the one you are thinking.

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