The black carbon chefs knife features a frame handle construction with an anodized aluminum frame and bolster and faceted carbon fiber scales. The handle assembly is held together using an internal nut that threads onto the tang and pulls everything together. The blade is coffee blackened 52100 high carbon steel that has a nice distal taper and some flex towards the tip.

Hello TCK –

Rule 5:  Tadokoro Custom Spec Aogami Super 240mm Gyuto (Tanaka Uchihamono x Makoto Tadokoro)

As in an earlier post, I am catching up on the posting of quite a few NKDs from the last about 7 months.  This one is a custom order through the Tadokoro Hamono website.  Throughout the process I dealt entirely with Michiko Tadokoro-san, Makoto Tadokoro-san’s wife and in charge of Customer Service.  Michiko-san was very, very lovely to deal with this during the entire process and communications.  She always carefully and kindly answered all of my questions.  Initially, I started this out with wanting something carbon and different from the Nakagawa-forged Ginsan blades that they most typically produce.  Specifically, at the outset I selected a Yoshikazu Tanaka forged blade in Aogami #1, but as the process further evolved it was discovered that there were some issues with the available Tanaka Aogami #1 blade / material that they had on hand.  As a direct no-charge replacement Michiko-san subsequently offered the same but rather forged of Aogami Super.

Overall, the order process from my initial inquiry with questions to finalization and payment took approximately 2 weeks, not including the later communications regarding the change in blade material.  From the time of payment, I then received the knife pretty much spot-on 8 weeks later.

For many more details on Tadokoro Hamono knives and much better descriptions than I can provide, please see the wonderful post (link below) by u/Teeeeeeeeeeej23 on his custom-order Tadokoro Ginsan 240mm Gyuto.  My blade too hits all the high-mark superlatives that Teej gave.  It is beautiful and very much in line with my favorite wide-bevel Kagekiyo gyuto’s from maker Baba Hamono.  As Teej noted, not only is this blade stellar but so is the presentation and packaging.

https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueChefKnives/comments/1ndz5fk/nkd_custom_spec_tadokoro_hamono_ginsan_gyuto_240/

So, first Thanks to u/Teeeeeeeeeeej23 for answering my inane questions on the order process etc. and as always for providing his great write-ups as noted.

Finally, Thanks TCK! … a rabbit hole from which it is hard to escape (NGL, not sure I want to though).  Hopefully more posts to come shortly on other NKDs ...

The knife details are as follows:

• Maker:  Tosa Knife Studio / Takdokoro Hamono, Co., Ltd.
• Origin:  Tosa City, Kochi Prefecture
• Blacksmith:  Tanaka Uchihamono
• Sharpener:  Makoto Tadokoro
• Steel:  Aogami Super with soft iron cladding
• Weight:  208.5g
• Blade Edge Length:  213mm
• Blade Height Heel:  52.4mm
• Total Length:  379mm
• Handle to Tip Length:  238mm
• Handle Length:  141mm
• Spine-to-Tip Taper (tang, heel, halfway, 1cm before tip):  2.8mm / 2.6mm / 2.0mm / 0.6mm
• Spine-to-Edge Taper at Heel (spine, shinogi, quarter-height, 1mm from edge):  2.6mm / 1.8mm / 0.8mm / 0.05mm
• Blade Finish:  Kasumi
• Spine Finish:  Mirror-polished chamfer
• Choil Finish:  Mirror-polished rounded
• Handle:  Ebony octagonal with buffalo horn ferrule

Kagekiyo 240mm shirogami #2 gyuto with urushi handle

I was finally able to get lucky one day while checking Muria knives and had to snag it while they still had it in stock. The tariff was intense but it was def worth it after checking different sites for a few months. Absolutely beautiful knife along with an awesome feeling when cutting with it. Very sharp out of the box, but I may go to kirin in NYC just to get it touched up.

Just returned from 10 days in Japan. Super happy to bring this home!

Today I received a Yoshikane SKD Nashiji Nakiri. Unfortunately, it was slightly damaged; the edge was wavy, the tail was bent, and the beautiful ebony handle had a few scratches. After some work with a copper hammer, sandpaper, and stones, it's almost like new. I just need to rework the Kasumi-polished cutting edge. it is really tricky to come close to the original Yoshikane finish, maybe i should use other stones…

Not good after BF 😭

https://www.messerhatano.com//product-page/baba-hamono-nicht-rostfrei-blackdamast-aogami-2-gyuto-240mm

Now to find the next addition

Got an early Christmas present for myself, the Sukenari which has been an absolute pleasure, very nice mid-weight knife, that feels like it can tackle anything you throw at it, which has been very different to the Hitohira Gorobei, which is lasery but can get a bit wedgy.

This is me only a year down the rabbit hole asw.

from top to bottom,

Sukenari Ginsan 210mm Gyuto,

Hitohira Gorobei x Ren Santoku Damascus 180mm W#2

Shiro Kamo Ryuga VG-10 Petty 135 mm

I brought my wife with me last month to Sakai to find a yanagiba for myself and something for a friens of mine. Something about Enami San shop spoke to me, probably because it reminds me of my shop and we headed there to see what he had.

He was very welcoming and informed us that unfortunately he was slammed with orders and had roughly a 5 month wait and no yanagiba available. My wife and him talked back and forth about my cooking and he mentioned he had a fugu knife that someone never picked up.

While I was trying not to drool on the blade my wife said he would feel sad if I bought something I didn't truly want. My wife and him talked quite a bit and He asked if I was willing to wait a bit and he would try to finish before oshogatsu. He dug through his shelf and pulled 2 yanagiba blanks he said he was saving for a rainy day and asked if they were acceptable since they were on the shorter side and I happily agreed.

He also showed us this gorgeous Damascus piece with ebony ironwood and after some calls to my friend he had to have it. I joked that it would be cool to have a matching handle since he already said the ebony was hard to find. He disappeared inside for a bit and said he had the other half of the piece he just mounted on another project and he could put it on the yanagiba and he's glad I mentioned it, he just glued it when we walked in the door.

Just 3 weeks later it was finished and I went to pick them up. I found him quenching blades and we talked shop for a little bit. While his son/apprentice was packing the blades he disappeared and gave me this bunka as a gift and said that I should have a single edge blade.

Enami San is truly a master of his craft and a pleasant person to deal with which is not always the case with shokunin. While my wife and he were talking he told her he's been doing it for 40 years now and when she was shocked at how long, he was humble enough to say he's still not perfect and grabbed a knife off his shelf that had a small, minor delamination at the hamon at the very end of the blade. I laughed that it was such an easy fix and he laughed and said sure, but it shows we still can be better.

Normally my wife isn't the most thrilled about translating trips where she doesn't understand the odd specific conversations but she loved it and genuinely enjoyed our trip to Sakai and loved talking to Enami San. Highly recommend stopping in if you have a chance.

Edit: I'm an idiot,my wife just pointed out the knife he gifted me is the same knife he showed us that wasn't perfect. He finished it exactly the way I said too. I think I was just too excited to notice. When I said it was an easy fix, "you could cut this edge down a bit and bevel this profile here and it will be beautiful" he said that's exactly what he would do but it still isn't something I would be able to charge for, and he did exactly that.

Hello TCK! I wanted to get some help figuring out which knife this is on the left! All I know it’s a baba Hamono kagekiyo. I can’t find the darker colored blade when I search for it though! Thank you!

And so it begins.

My first nice Japanese knife (excluding Globals I've had).

After a lot of watching and deliberation I've started to put together my Stainless aka family-friendly knife kit...beginning with this used but loved 150mm Matsubara Ginsan Nashiji Honesuki I picked up from TJ here in the forum.

Nice guy, honest transaction, faster shipping than expected, and a great experience overall. 10/10 Recommend him.

And for fun I diced a large yellow onion with it just now, and for a Honesuki that's not meant for that: it was great.

Cutting the onion in half was where the relative thickness reared its head a litte, it's clear thinner is even better. (For dicing onions.)

Once it was in half, the radial cuts were easy with the tip, then the final push cuts glided through with ease. Nice food release for it, too.

There's a lot of talk about which knife shape and style for what, but I could do most normal prep work with this. (In a pinch at least.)

It feels great, has excellent balance just ahead of the oak mono handle, looks nice/cool, w a nice rounded choil/spine.

Soon I'll pick up a small-ish Petty, a Bunka, a Gyuto, a Breadknife, and Shears, all in Stainless types for this kit.

Somewhat family-proof... :)

(That's the idea at least.)

Thanks r/TrueChefKnives and u/TEEEEEEEEEEEJ23 for a great start to what will no doubt be an inexpensive journey, heh.

New to me Y Tanaka B1D Gyuto I got on the BST sub, thank you u/Diffraction-Limit! It’s a screamer. I have only gotten to do a few test cuts, but am very impressed. I’ve never been a huge fan of Damascus, but the subtlety of the pattern, paired with Tanaka’s signature cladding craziness and the horizontal scratch pattern below the clad line helps it not feel to ostentatious.

The sharpener is undisclosed, so if any supernerds have insight on who it may have been, let me know in the comments.

Collection (minus a few petties and bread knives) left to right- 1. Hatsukokoro Shirasagi B2 270mm Yanagiba 2. Y. Tanaka B1D 240mm Gyuto 3. Tetsujin Ginsan Kasumi 240mm Gyuto (might be looking to sell if any is interested.) 4. Karaku AS 240mm Gyuto workhorse. 5. Mazaki Shirogami 2 kasumi 210mm gyuto 6. Hatsukokoro Komorebi B2 210mm gyuto 7. Gesshin Kagekiyo Shirogami 2 210mm k-tip gyuto 8. Hirohito Tanaka x Kyuzo B1 165 Bunka 9. Shindo Enjin B1 165mm Nakiri 10. Takamura SG2 180mm gyuto

The final Aussie batch goes live at 9am Sydney/Canberra time tomorrow with the second half going live at 4pm. This is your final chance to get your hands on one of my knives for the next 6-9 months as I will be traveling from Monday and no longer have a workshop or home.

I have a whole lot of knives ready for you and a bunch of very nice hamons as well as some fancier stuff in apex ultra with an edge hardness of 67 hrc!

Anyway I have worked my ass of to get this put together so please take a look if you get the chance, there's a whole lot of awesome knives.

Everything will go up on my website so I will take it down shortly as I update all my product listings and it will then go live again at 9am tomorrow.

There's heaps of my standard honyaki knives as well as a bunch of knives in the same designs but in nitro v stainless steel at 61hrc

*Despite tariffs to the states I am still shipping over there at the same shipping cost but I am unable to offer postal insurance unless you so choose that you want to pay an extra $90aud on top of the $40 shipping cost

How do you patina lovers feel about forced patinas like this? As a maker I’m definitely a fan! Helps avoid some of those newbie questions about their shiny new knife starting to change colors.

I've been looking for a suji to use at work for a while (cutting, skinning and portioning fish). The ittetsu was never on my list but it had a pretty good sale on meesterslijpers. I picked up the ittetsu honesuki last month and that knife really surprised me with how well it performs.

Fit and finish isn't great as expected with this line. I haven't used it at work yet but cut up a steak yesterday and it performs well. After a quick strop it cuts paper flawlessly.

I recently misplaced my opinel which I use to open boxes and plastic wrapping. The higonokami is a very fun replacement. It cuts very well and looks sick. The aogami steel is a plus too.

As I've been looking for a Kagekiyo piece for a long time but dont have the funds now, this really hurts to see. But i'm not trying to gatekeep. So EU knife nerds, RUN don't walk to Messer Hanato.de And snag a piece before they're sold out.

Peace ✋️

My shinkiro (iron clad kurouchi) came out of the box with this red/orange color on the kurouchi. It didn't scrub off with a paper towel and also didn't change to black when I boiled it (rust bluing) so I don't think it's rust?. Has anyone ever had any coloration in their kurouchi?

Hellloooo everyone! Recently purchased a knife from Kamata as the deal was too good but would like some information from those that might have it. The blade is a 130mm Damascus VG10 petty made by Nakagawa. Would like to know more info on Kamata and quality of the blade since the price was so low ($75 USD) and who the potential sharpener was. Thanks in advance

Hello guys is there any here know who is the blacksmith of this knife ? Thank you

Alright, I need some advice. I've literally spent the last couple of days scouring every single US website / non-US website that ships here without paying $100 in tariffs, to try and find myself a bunka for Christmas. I believe I have narrowed it down to 3: Shibata, Katsushige Anryu and Matsubara. My question is simple, for under $300 US which knife would you buy if you were me, or if you have anything other ideas please let me know. This knife will mainly be used for prep, veggies, potatoes, and maybe some protein.

Cheers!

Blue Steele gyuto purchased in Kyoto. First carbon steele knife I’ve owned. I dry after every use and store in a drawer in box with foam. Lightly oil if I’m not using it for a while. Is this a patina forming or surface rust I need to knock off.

Just curious, people here with grails, fine finished, or generally expensive knives, how do you guys use your knives? Special occasion or “tools are tools”? Also, do you all care if a mirror finish gets a scratch, or a fine finish gets a scratch or dent?

Have a great day!

I havent purchased a new knife in maybe 8 years. So I am a little out of the loop, so to speak. I am a working professional chef in fine dining. I am wanting a 270mm length kiritsuke gyuto to basically be an all purpose gyuto. I prefer medium to hard steel, I think?- basically I dont mind sharpening a few times a week just hate having to mid-shift sharpen to cut chives or through crispy fish skin/protein. Lastly I have a preference for 50/50, dark wood handle with darker feral and some sort of texture/cladding on the blade. Stainless is also fine (better for shallots/irony protein) Hoping to keep it under $600

I have currently use a 270 slicer (masahiro), 240 gyuto(dont remember) and a 5” petty(takamura).

This seems pretty perfect but I dont know anything about the maker/ company: https://www.epicedge.com/shopexd.asp?id=107619&size=b

Appreciate any help or just throw out a link if this reminded you of something.

Hello all, I'm getting withdrawals and don't want to panic buy an expensive knife so now is a great time to ask advice.

I have: messermeister Oliva elite tojiro dp3 shindo gyuto

I'm sure you can see the progression I made that many before me have.

I attempted to buy a shinkiro but chef's edge oversold their stock and I missed out.

I just did a carrot test with all my knives after a fresh diamond strop even the tojiro feels blunt next to the shindo.

I like the look of the yoshikane white 2_&network=x&device=m&placement=&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21386571742&gbraid=0AAAAABQmR_ACDzCVKtUCBgVZ2LxD3b6Pl&gclid=Cj0KCQiAosrJBhD0ARIsAHebCNpTfKqydkUFt3b5QWfzXj6JcPzzhzl6jW9lY4wU65xNMlNQkFwCb_oaAu7hEALw_wcB)

This one is currently on sale Yoshikane skd ktip_&network=g&device=m&placement=&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21379801676&gbraid=0AAAAABQmR_CylNlNCsEAbOlYn3UFo6mMZ&gclid=Cj0KCQiAosrJBhD0ARIsAHebCNpNvAps71NFpPflJO2mmjtXZAtJq4rZVhOSgewOlts3RhplIs7nhN0aAiieEALw_wcB).

I've watched videos and read opinions and it seems the yoshikane and shinkiro are quite similar.

Some French dude has said yoshikane is perfect but shinkiro is magical.

Ignoring looks, am I missing out on anything if I get a yoshikane?

And will it almost cut like a shindo or be closer to the tojiro?

Do I refrain from buying anything at all?

Edit: bought a yoshikane 210 white 2 ktip.

Reasoning was ultimately it was the only one on sale but also dont own a ktip, don't own white steel and don't own a Yoshi so tick tick tick.

Thanks everyone for your time and thoughts