Rob Babcock
Head Chef
Okay, one came yesterday and the other today, but I just got a chance to try them out. The first was an impulse buy, a 270mm Hiromoto AS. I've been wanting one and a fellow at another forum was selling it for a price I couldn't refuse. I'll take a pic of my own knife when I get a chance, but for now I'll post a pic from JCK (my own knife was purchased used and is sharper plus has a beautiful patina on the edge):
The other is on that I've been impatiently waiting for for a couple months- an Ichimonji TKC! This beauty has been back-ordered for awhile with only one US dealer. The steel is a some type of semi-stainless high speed tool steel. It might just unseat my reigning favorite stainless, the 240mm Akifusa. Certainly the Ichi is a bit thinner. A shot from the vendor:
The Hiromoto is basically a 270mm razor blade! The selling did a nice job on it, and the Aogami Super hagane is legendary for its ability to take an edge. The Ichimonji isn't very sharp at all OOTB, but that's pretty typical for J-knives. Aside from mass market brands sold primarily to the West most Japanese knives aren't very sharp when purchases. No problem, I'll sharpen the TKC up to 10k on my Choceras before I take it work to try it.
The other is on that I've been impatiently waiting for for a couple months- an Ichimonji TKC! This beauty has been back-ordered for awhile with only one US dealer. The steel is a some type of semi-stainless high speed tool steel. It might just unseat my reigning favorite stainless, the 240mm Akifusa. Certainly the Ichi is a bit thinner. A shot from the vendor:
The Hiromoto is basically a 270mm razor blade! The selling did a nice job on it, and the Aogami Super hagane is legendary for its ability to take an edge. The Ichimonji isn't very sharp at all OOTB, but that's pretty typical for J-knives. Aside from mass market brands sold primarily to the West most Japanese knives aren't very sharp when purchases. No problem, I'll sharpen the TKC up to 10k on my Choceras before I take it work to try it.