1st Impressions of my new Nubatama 240mm "Ryu-Ba"!

[Rob Babcock]

After what seemed like forever, I finally got my new Nubatama yesterday! Mine is 240mm and the maker calls it a "Ryu-Ba", which I guess mainly means double beveled knife. This one is a bit of a mystery. I don't know the artist who made it nor will anyone reveal the slightest peep as to just what "Black Steel" is. But stainless it ain't, it will patina a bit.

The first really striking thing upon unboxing is the finish! The knife was sharpened and polished by a sword polisher in Japan and the finish is unlike anything I've ever seen before. I'll try a few pics but I don't think they'll really do justice to this beauty:










The profile is very flat. I'd say it's kind of like a cross between a Masamoto KS and an Akifusa. Even compared to other Wa-knives I have it's incredibly light. I'm having some issues with my digital calipers (grrr!) so I can't say how thick it is but think thin.

The next thing you immediately notice is be beautiful convexing on this baby. I'm not sure any of my pics really show it. Let me try one I took at work with my phone:



Well, hopefully you get the idea... :P

At any rate, the edge on my Nubatama is incredible. If you've never used a knife sharpened on Japanese natural stones it's hard for me to describe that's simultaneously toothy and smooth. Right out of the box as a good I tried to push cut a free dangling paper towel...well, it push cut from 2" out! It falls through everything like it's not there. So a polished edge, right? Not so fast! You razor guys would say it's not "shave ready"- when shaving hair you can feel it pull. But not like a 3k synthetic stone pull...no, it's very different. Here's a close up of the very edge:



To be continued below...

[Rob Babcock]

Tonite I had a chance to try it out on the line. Not a great test as I came in at 5:00 pm just for dinner service. I did get a chance to cut some raw beef but mostly cooked proteins...well, and everything I had a chance to dissect! ;) My initial impressions are very impressive!

First, the edge- in practical terms this is as sharp as any knife I have ever used. The combination of the J-nat finish and convex edge make it pretty non-stick. For kicks I grabbed a shaggy ball of pizza dough that one of the guys dropped while playing "TV Piazolo". I was able to easily push dice it into little cubes with absolutely no sticking whatsover!

Here's a couple bad Droid pics of The Precious at work:





Yeah, really gotta watch those poly boards. :p

The Nubatama is light and nimble with a great profile and fantastic geometry. Now I'm anxious to see how edge retention will be!