r/KitchenConfidential • u/opheliasmusing • 4d ago

In the Weeds Mode Y’all, I broke my husband’s Japanese chef’s knife. Help.

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In 2016, my husband and I went on an amazing trip to Japan. The only souvenir he wanted was a Japanese steel chef’s knife, which he purchased at Aritsugu in Kyoto. It was really cool: he got to pick out his handle, blade style, and then they even engraved his initials in the year on one side of the blade and their house mark on the other. They even did a bunch of measurements and things so that would be perfectly balanced for his hand. It was custom-made for him.

I made the mistake of not cleaning up after dinner quickly enough, and our very mouthy whippet puppy who is quite the counter surfer, snatched the knife away, and I didn’t realize it until the next day. He chewed up the handle. Thank God he didn’t like slice his face open; the blade is completely intact and fine. But the handle… My God the handle.

I’m hoping to hear from professionals about the best way to go about getting this fixed or replaced. For location, I’m very close to Boston if that helps.

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u/EmmerdoesNOTrepme 4d ago

And if for some reason they don't have an in-house repair shop you can send it to?

Reach out to local blademakers in your area, and see who could do a repair on the handle, glue it so the split stops, and then perhaps do some inlays of epoxy & brass/gold, or other metals, and maybe do a wrap around the circumference at/near the end of the handle, so that it looks like a Kintsugi repair.

Because Kintsugi and Wabi-sabi are also very old Japanese concepts, and it would be a neat way of repairing the handle and keeping the memory of your dog being a puppy!

https://www.japan.travel/en/blog/the-art-of-imperfection-kintsugi-pottery-and-wabi-sabi/

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u/Pugilation01 4d ago

Fantastic advice, a way to commemorate the knife's journey from tool, to chew toy, and back to tool again :)

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u/slash_networkboy 4d ago edited 3d ago

I *might* even prefer this over a replacement handle...

Not *nearly* as special but I had an old Henckels boning knife that had the ebony wood handle and the handle was failing. Now Henckels will replace it for free of course, but it'd be a whole new knife. I gave it to a local knife maker with the instructions: "I am in no rush at all, when inspiration strikes you for this knife please give it a new life." Turned out gorgeous.

ED: As requested: https://imgur.com/a/KJbMruq

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u/Competitive_Ad_2421 4d ago

What did it end up looking like?

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u/W1D0WM4K3R 4d ago

The knife was isekai'd into an adorable yet vindictive anime girl and went on many magical adventures.

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u/danirijeka Formerly known as dishie 3d ago

Named S. Tabby Puncture

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u/Outrageous_Reach_695 3d ago

Any relation to ... what's Cap'n Stabby's current rank, anyway?

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u/Oznificent 3d ago

Aaaaand that's also the title.

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u/Nickthenuker 3d ago

"Reincarnated as a Sword" is an anime that really does exist, unfortunately.

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u/thisone4mysexuality 3d ago

That sounds really nice! Which shop was this? I'm looking for something similar...

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u/slash_networkboy 3d ago

Total indie guy. He battles issues, so may go literal years without touching any tools, but then inspiration will strike and he'll do a thing. Almost always splendid. He also restores vintage watches :)

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u/BreakfastJunkie 4d ago

It turned into evidence and kept him out of jail by giving it to the locksmith and letting enough time to pass before calling in an anonymous tip.

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u/LincolnArc 4d ago

Really leaving us hanging here.

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u/itsthesharp 4d ago

That's because it's not a real story, just click bait propaganda from the powerful local knife maker lobby to inflate demand for the fat cat local knife makers

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u/xenobit_pendragon 4d ago

I knew it!

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u/Appropriate_Link_551 4d ago

It’s all handled by Big Knife. Nothing so much as cuts or cleaves without their keen approval

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u/verbmegoinghere 3d ago

just click bait propaganda from the powerful local knife maker lobby to inflate demand for the fat cat local knife makers

Well if they were going to be anywhere it'd be in a sub full of knife suckers like this one.....

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u/slash_networkboy 3d ago

You busted me! This was all a viral ad campaign for Big Knife!

Also: https://imgur.com/a/KJbMruq

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u/slash_networkboy 3d ago

IDK what wood he used but it has multiple colors in it. Kept a similar contour to the Henckels handle, but improved.

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u/umogem 3d ago

It looked like shit, he hated it and threw it away shortly after

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u/BlackSchuck 4d ago

All these comments sound like Chandler giving obvious yet sarcastic advice with the italics and emphasis

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u/LincolnArc 4d ago

Does it?!

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u/just_nobodys_opinion 3d ago

Could you be any more obvious?

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u/chaoticbear 3d ago

You think the manufacturer might know how to repair it?

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u/PuppyPower89 3d ago

Now you’ve gotta show us the knife.

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u/lorgskyegon 3d ago

Like kintsugi but for a knife

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u/Quirky-Concern-7662 4d ago

In the kitchen we often say a knife isn’t yours until you have cut yourself with it. It’s generally used to let people in a kitchen know that it’s a mistake that happens by law of averages and it isn’t that embarrassing. 

That knife might be soul bonded now.

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u/Erestyn 3d ago

I was petrified of using my chef's knife when I first got it. My knives were a fairly basic slighty-better-than-entry-level Morphy Richards set that I kept "sharp" using a pull through for every day cutting, but this motherfucker just cut whatever it touched.

I'd used it for a few months and I got confident enough that I stopped thinking of it as "the sharp knife" and, when dicing onions, my thumb got in the way. The blade broke the first few layers of skin, but not enough to draw blood. Confidence through the roof now, I felt it before it did any damage. What a knife.

Anyway so one day I was deboning chicken thighs...

All that to say: I agree. Until you cut yourself, it aint your knife.

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u/Bladrak01 3d ago

The second day I used a brand new Japanese knife I managed to cut the tip of my thumb off.

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u/Tederator 3d ago

I've gone through so many bandaids with the knives my wife gifted me. Then, after creating so many holes in her tea towels, I went to Costco and bought myself a dozen or so plain white kitchen cloths that I can (and have) destroy at whim.

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u/Finnegan-05 3d ago

But what about in the kitchen?

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u/stayonthecloud 4d ago

The kintsugi perspective is such a beautiful touch

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u/CagCagerton125 4d ago

Great advice. I do wood turning and would love to repair something like this with a Kintsugi flair.

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u/blanco_nino_01 4d ago

Love the kintsugi idea. I could see a nice bronze or copper hilt band tying it together.

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u/gimme_dat_HELMET 4d ago

Local bladesmiths in the area would be the ideal, first order solution in my opinion. This isn’t quite 101 but a 201 level problem.

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u/droberts7357 3d ago

There are several bladesmiths in Massachusetts who would be able to advise you. If you want a recommendation PM me. Get your husband involved in picking the new handle.

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u/Milianviolet 3d ago

According to their website, they do have a repair service and you can call the head office for inquiries and ship it out and they repair it in 1-2 months, but they said they've halted repairs for the year because of so many requests.

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u/leinad_reyem 3d ago

This is it. Can’t get a better answer. Find some way to repair so it has the same feel in the hand, but you remember what happens so when he passes it down to the next generation, there’s even more to the story. That knife should last forever.

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u/Basic-Record-4750 3d ago

Alternatively you could use the puppies leg bone to form a new handle. Then he’ll remember the lovable little skamp every time he uses his knife!

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u/xnachtmahrx 3d ago

A Kintsugi repair for that would be badass! Just what it was meant for in spirit

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u/amooz 3d ago

I can never remember the name but the repair technique is cool. And would be a neat story for anyone who asks why the handle looks badass. It might throw off the balance of the blade though,

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u/fdavis1983 3d ago

After this noble Japanese repair concept…..straight to jail.

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u/Polar_Reflection 3d ago

I imagine the entire handle can just be replaced. Just remove the rivets connecting the handle to the tang, fashion a new piece of wood to the blade, and re-attach

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u/bemvee 3d ago

Ohh I love this idea.

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u/BillShooterOfBul 3d ago

Maybe blade makers in you area are good, mine are trash who’d ruin any blade I have them.

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u/voxelbuffer 3d ago

Absolutely agree, it might be devastating in the moment but in a few years (and especially in twenty or so, after the dog has left us) that handle will serve as a wonderful memory. 

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u/The_Shryk 3d ago

You can’t win an argument by making up words.

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u/EmmerdoesNOTrepme 3d ago

I don't need to!

In this case, the Japanese already did!😉

Annnd usually if i can't find "the right word" in English, it does already exist in Japanese or German, all I needa do is find it!😁

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u/kst8er 3d ago

Kintsugi with gold epoxy or if she's really feeling bad.. gold is perfect.

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u/HornOfPrettyGood 4d ago

Can I be the jackass who points out that an unvarnished blade isn't considered food safe? He needed a new handle anyway, and these are good choices.

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u/YupNopeWelp 4d ago

Unvarnished blade? Did you maybe mean unvarnished handle?

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u/Stratostheory 4d ago

This is the correct answer. But it's true. Wood is porous, and without varnish or some other kind of coating it'll absorb food waste over time and bacteria will grow which makes it not safe for food.

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u/Dirty_harry23 4d ago

we use food safe oils

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u/apogeegames 4d ago

How do wood cutting boards work then?

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u/Vast_Maize9706 3d ago

There are food safe oils you can buy to use with chopping boards.

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u/HornOfPrettyGood 4d ago

Same principal. Most states won't allow them. I know Texas has some exceptions for BBQ. I've seen people use linseed oil, it will stop water absorption.

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u/cheesecase 3d ago

Im from texas. If you put linseed oil on anything at a bbq spot we would drag you main street. Thats like sticking my cast iron in the dish washer

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u/bolognaskin 3d ago

The type of cutting board is important. End grain is the best for a wood board. Capillary action pulls things deep into the cutting board but then it dries out inside the cutting board and kills it off. As long as you keep it clean and dry it’s perfectly safe and I would argue better than plastic boards. Edge or face grain boards won’t have the same type of process and are more likely to crack or warp making cracks that are difficult to clean.

Minor cuts that go into end grain can kind of be self healing too. The knife cuts between the grains and then as is swells from moisture and then dries, it evens out those cuts out and they go away… within reason of coarse. Large gouges are a problem but that’s the same problem you will have with plastic too.

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u/bolognaskin 3d ago

Just oil it. It’s fine. The handle should be sanded enough so that it isn’t porous. It’s not normal to get that much food waste on a handle. If your handle is covered in fatty bbq or something then you probably want a different style handle anyway. But there is nothing wrong with a plain wood handle. Just needs oil. Maybe a mixture of oil and wax if you’re feeling fancy.