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Regarding Tanaka knives -- the blades are well made but not nearly as nicely finished as the Hattori knives, and the handles are not the greatest. The WA or Japanese-style handles on my knives have gaps where the blade is attached to the handle, and with one, a Nikiri make of VG10, I have to pound the end of the handle on the counter about once a week to drive the tang back into the handle because it's coming loose -- and the knife is only a couple of months old. But I do like the knife nonetheless -- good value, especially from the Ebay seller I mentioned, who is very highly regarded on the knife forums I sometimes visit.

As for the Western-style handles, it's my understanding that they are not full tang, but I don't own any of those so I can't be certain.
 
Global has come out with a line of high-end knives that appear to be of superior quality. They are called "Sha Ra Ku Mono". I had the opportunity to "test-drive" on at Seattle Cutlery and it was very well balanced and sharp. According to the critiques I've read on line, these are very good knives. You might google some info about them. They are very light weight and slice through almost any food effortlessly. But then, and well sharpened knife will do that. These do feel good in the hand.

Does anyone have any personal experience using these knives in a real-world setting?

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
 
Scotch - The Tanaka I am looking at is on EE. You really can't miss it.
Thanks for the feedback on the Hattori, I'm leaning toward getting that and picking up a solid boning knife. Any recommendations there?
As for the Global "Sha Ra Ku Mono" I'll see what I can dig up on it. Thanks for the tip.
 
shalinee said:
Wow....that's a lot of knives I'm learning here. Scotch, You actually frighten me with so many sharp pointed knives that you have. I only have one....my favourite chopper/cleaver that I use for everything. Do you use all those knives all the time? They must have cost you a lot.
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Yup! Knives are just tools, and with all tools, each is best for a specific task, and each task has a best tool. I use every one of them, albeit not at the same time. Still, each one gets used at least a couple of times per month, and some get used several times per week (especially the petty knives). Trust me -- one knife won't do everything well.

One thought about Damascus steel -- it's pretty, and I have a lot of it in both kitchen knives and other blades, but it adds nothing else to the knife except price. If you are concerned about cost, I would suggest forgetting Damascus and instead putting the money toward a better knife or knives.
 
Thraingaar said:
Scotch - The Tanaka I am looking at is on EE. You really can't miss it.
Thanks for the feedback on the Hattori, I'm leaning toward getting that and picking up a solid boning knife. Any recommendations there?
As for the Global "Sha Ra Ku Mono" I'll see what I can dig up on it. Thanks for the tip.
Click to expand...
The Tanaka knives sold by Takeshi on Ebay are excellent for the money, and I'm pretty certain they're the same as those on Chef Knives to Go, except they cost less. Look especially for the "make an offer" deals, offer about 60% of the Buy it Now price. I got this Kikiri, which is a wonderful vegetable knife, for $90 with free shipping: Japanese DamascusV10 165mm NAKIRI houchou kitchen knife - eBay (item 250460358086 end time Aug-06-09 16:49:28 PDT)
 
One other suggestion: look closely at the Hattori FH series. I have one of these superb knives, a 300mm Sujihiki, and for my money it's one of the best knives in my collection.

Img458.jpg
 
I was really gearing for a suminagashi finish on my blade. I really wanted something that stands out, but the more I learn the more I have been coming back to the Hattori FH series. Which wasn't on my radar at the start. That and the other Hattori's are near impossible to get right now. (at leats a Gyuto 240mm). I know I have been jumping around a bit, but I think it's between the Hiromoto Damascus (it's available and beautiful) and the Hittori FH. Either way I plan on making the blade my goto workhorse for a few years. I guess that's why I'm being so picky. Thanks again for all the help.
 
One other thing you need to know: Hattori's HD series are not actually made by Hattori. Although Ichiro Hattori designed the HD series of knives, he subcontracted manufacturing of that line to a company called Ryusen, which is a high-end producer in its own right. However, the exact same knife is sold under various other names, including Takahisa, as well as under Ryusen's own label. The ONLY difference is the kanji or Chinese (yes, Chinese) characters that appear on the knives.

Some sellers in the U.S. sell the knives with the non-Hattori kanji as Hattori knives, which, to be very kind, is somewhat disingenuous. How do I know this? I own some of those, and I asked Koki, the contact person at Japanese Chefs Knife.Com, to translate the varying kanji on them. To say the least, I was a little disappointed, although the knives I have are otherwise identical in every respect to the Hattori HDs.

Anyway, Japanese Chefs Knife.Com sells only the HD series of knives with the Hattori kanji.

p.s. -- Ichiro Hattori produces the FH and very expensive KD series in his own factory.
 
This is a 270mm Hattori KD Gyuto, which sells for $1410.00 U.S. when it's available, which ain't very often:

Img548.jpg
 
I love the Hattori KD knife. Had one been available I might have impluse bought it. I still have it on my 'to do' list and may end up grabbing one in the future. It seems to be everything I was looking for (except the price) but I think it's too nice to pass on.
 
Well, I took the plunge and ordered the Hattori HD 240mm and the 135mm petty. The Gyuto is out of stock and won't ship for a month. Even without being made by Hittori himself, I never heard a bad thing about it espically from people who own it. I can't wait for it to arrive. Thanks for all the help everyone! I'll be asking more questions in the future as I replace my knife kit one blade at a time.
 
Thanks a lot. Because of this thread I just ordered the 150mm petty. Just what I needed, another knife.
 
I think you'll love the knife. IIRC it's made by Blazen Ryu but finished by Hattori. BTW, I second the love for the FH- I have an FH gyuto in the 240mm length.

As an aside, I've heard the wa handles Tanaka uses are pretty cheap but one can always replace them with something nicer.
 
I think when I get a handle replaced I will see if Jay Fisher is available. Those knives of his are sweet! Not sure if gem stones are the most praticle but Darn do they look good.
 
Rob Babcock said:
I think you'll love the knife. IIRC it's made by Blazen Ryu but finished by Hattori. BTW, I second the love for the FH- I have an FH gyuto in the 240mm length.

As an aside, I've heard the wa handles Tanaka uses are pretty cheap but one can always replace them with something nicer.
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The handle on my Tanaka 165mm VG-10 Gold Damascus Nakiri came complete off last night. I reattached it by filling the hole with Gorilla Glue and pounding the tang back in. Seems to hold. Great knife otherwise, especially for the money -- I paid $90 from eBay Store - Japanese tools metalmaster: Japanese kitchen knife, knives, plane
 
Rob Babcock said:
I think you'll love the knife. IIRC it's made by Blazen Ryu but finished by Hattori. BTW, I second the love for the FH- I have an FH gyuto in the 240mm length....
Click to expand...
See my post #29 in this thread. The Hattori HD Series are made by Ryusen; Blazen is another line made by the same company.

I have versions of the HD Series knives with three different kanji -- Hattori's own, Ryusen's, and a third company called Takahisa that is strictly a distributor. The only difference in the knives, aside from size and shape, is the kanji, so if Hattori is finishing the knives, it's either not apparent to me or the other companies are doing an equally good job. It really doesn't matter much, however, as they are all of superior quality.

For further information on this topic, check this thread on Fred's Cutlery Forum (I was the OP on eGullet referred to in the first post): Hattori/Ryusen/Ittosai/Kikuichi/Takahisa et al. - Foodie Forums
 
Yeah, there's a lot of OEM'ing going on in Japan. I've been drooling over the 210mm Takamura gyuto at CNTG and Mark tells me that they're also made by Ryusen.
 
Seems like Ryusen is busy these days.
@GB, no worries about the knife, you'll love it!
 
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