Hattori FH-6C Gyuto 210mm
 

I could not resist anymore. I broke down and bought this gorgeous knife. I got the Cocobolo wood handle instead of the black linen micarta. It can be seen here.

Now the wait begins.

Nice!!

Uh, GB, I'm your long, lost son, whose been searching for my parents for ten years. I recently discovered that you are my parent and I need one of those Hatori knives for my birthday. If you get me one, I promise, I'll cut the grass every week, and take out the trash, and do all of my household chores, on time. And Ill make you pancakes every Saturday morning.

So, can I have one? Please, please. I promise to do my homework, please?:wink::mrgreen::wink:

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

If anything would put me over the edge to say yes it would be those pancakes!

So for our knife experts out there, I have heard that honing certain J knives is not quite the same as German knives or maybe even necessary. Is this true? I have a ceramic honing rod. If I do hone then should I use that or should I get something else?

Beautiful!!! You can see the superior hand made quality in the photo! Nice going!

You need to take copious amounts of close up pictures.

Great looking knife. Let us know how it performs.

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It will perform like a champion! I had one (sold it for reasons only an insane knifenerd will understand- I needed the money for another knife!) and it was incredible.

The wait won't be long. It's shocking how fast EMS is. You might get is faster than if you're have purchased a different knife from the opposite side of the US!:cool:

I will be sure to take pictures and maybe even video to post here. I can't wait!

Rob, you are right about how fast they are. I got an email last night saying to expect my knife in 3-5 days. I was not expecting a turn around that quick. I figured it would be closer to a full week at the earliest.

OK, here is another question for you since you have used this knife before. Will this be one that I will want to sharpen out of the box or should I just start using it right away as is and then sharpen down the line when needed? also, what degree would you recommend? I am thinking 15.

This thread has me seriously considering a purchase. Probably something out of the HD line. My current chefs knife is a 12" Victorinox but is too large for many tasks. I'm thinking an 8 or 10 inch would be better.
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Mine was pretty sharp OOTB. It wears a bevel of about 15 degrees per side. It's differentially beveled (about 60/40) but that won't affect your angles- just sharpen as usual. Yours will probably be serviceably sharp OOTB.

Hattori makes great knives. The HF/KF is a special breed, but all their stuff is nice.

Thanks Rob!

GB I think you're going to be the one that makes me finally get this knife. Once I get my Global sold (and I'm thinking the Shun as well) I'll probably skip the Kanetsune and just get this one. Can't wait for you to get yours!

You and me both :)

This is a video of the HD, not the FH, but I love watching it.

YouTube - hattori Hd-9 Gyutoh VS Tomato

I took the plunge. I ordered a HD Gyuto 210mm.

I need to stop reading these threads.....:wink:

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Cool .40! We are both going to have some fun.

Hahaha!:lol: The "knife disease" is like an infected zombie bite!:rofl:

210 mm. for $277 is $33.50 per inch. Wood's pretty but micarta might be more stabile?

The HD-7 210mm was about $160 shipped. About $19 per inch. I can't wait to try the falling tomato trick. :rofl:

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$160 shipped is much more better than the $227 I saw at JCK. $277 was my error. Thanks for the correction.

I think the FH is $227, not the HD.

There's a reasonable chance the wood's been stabilized. If not, it's at least very well dried and then treated. But yeah, that's the great advantage of micarta- it's incredibly strong and very, very stable.

You are not kidding Rob. I had it sent to my office figuring I would not see it until sometime during the week so I would get it during the day instead of having to wait until I got home at night if I had it sent there. I gambled and lost. If I sent it home instead I would have had it yesterday. Oh well. At least I know it will be in my hands tomorrow. They were incredibly fast!

I'm not sure that it makes much difference other than cosmetic what the handle materiel is. My Forschners are 50 years old with rosewood handles. All took a lot of abuse in a packing house environment when new, and none have ever shown any inclination to crack. Like a CI skillet, the natural oils eventually form a protective coating.

In Forschner knives the handle shape is different in wood and Fibrox. It fits my hands better. Besides, I just like wood.

For some real fun try that with a cherry tomato. That'll seperate the men from the boys!:rofl: Or the women from the girls, if you prefer!:smile:

Sounds like a challenge I will have to attempt.

Ok. I spent about 3 hours using a Smith's 600 grit stone and some oil to sharpen my chef's knife. It goes through a tomato with zero pressure with ease. I tried dropping a fresh tomato on the blade, as in the YouTube video. First attempt, my aim was off and the side of the tomato hit the knife blade. It cut off a slice. I was happy. I tried two more times, with each drop more carefully aimed. Alas, when the tomato dropped onto the knife so that the center of it hit the cutting edge, it failed to cut, or even break the tomato skin. Now as I said, when lightly pinching the side of the handle, and allowing just the weight of the blade to provide pressure, it slices through the tomato effortlessly. I need to get better sharpening gear if I want to get sharp enough to drop a tomato on my knife and have it cut on contact.

Now the broadheads on my arrows were that sharp before I gave my bow to my son. Does that count?:lol:

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

More pictures and maybe video to come hopefully, but I just got the knife here at my office so I took this shot with my phone so that I could post it now.

GB congrats on your new knife. Looks great!

I watched the video with interest and decided to try it for myself.

I have a Henckels Pro S 8" Chef's Knife. I sharpen it myself to a 25 degree angle on each side but not nearly often enough. I have been telling myself lately that I really should clear a space at my workbench so I could sharpen my knives again because they were not as sharp as they should be.

Today I was having a fresh garden tomato as part of my lunch and decided to reenact the video. I watched the video so I could accurately approximate the angle of the knife and the height from which the tomato was dropped. It worked! The tomato ended up on my counter neatly and smoothly cut in half.

Now all this tells me is that the test is not very good at showing that a knife is super sharp. It's just a slick trick.

i have no doubt that good J-knives can be a lot sharper than my Pro S (heck, my Pro S can be a lot sharper if I chose to change the angle and sharpen it more often) but this test is not the way to demonstrate that.

Andy, thank you for doing that. I was wondering if it really was a good test or not. There sure is showmanship value to it, but maybe nothing more than that. I would be curious to try it with a cherry tomato as Rob suggested. I am guessing that might be a better test. Or maybe try dropping it with almost no distance between the drop and the blade.

Have fun. Leaving work early today?

Don't I wish. Actually I am, but it is to make it to an appointment after work so I will be getting home later than usual. If I was smart I would have brought a cutting board to the office today and spent my lunch playing. I am not smart though.

You're smart. You're not a lunatic.

After all these years I thought you knew me Andy. Well thank you for the compliment even if there are many others who would disagree with your assessment of me.