From top to bottom :
From top to bottom :
This review consists of :
Specifications :
Initial impressions / noted :
The initial sharpness was decent, it could slice newsprint well but had no
ability to push cut the newsprint and scrape shave a little on one
side only. Measuring
the sharpness on
Esprit baisting thread it scored 220 (20) grams, on very light
cord under 40 grams of tension it took 3.5 (5) cm to make a cut.
It thus had moderate sharpness,
about 35-40% of optimal.
Checking the edge under 50X magnification the edge as seen in the picture on the right it is obvious that the edge was ground with a coarse abrasive and then just hit quickly on a buffer which left a pretty prominent burr. Checking the cutting ability on 3/8" hemp :
This was kind of surprising until the first sharpening which revealed that the edge was sharpened at an extremely high angle.
Initial use of the Santoku had a less than positive result. High cutting ability was expected as :
The Santoku only performed well on foods which were demanding only of sharpness such a tomato, green onions, etc. . On any food which was binding there was simply too much resistance on the blade. The reason for this was apparent after the blade was sharpened, the edge angle is extremely high and thus had a very significant reduction on cutting ability.
With the edge reground to 9.5 (5) dps at 0.018" thick and with the finish from the fine side of a BRICO hone (similar to a fine India) the performance of the Santoku was much improved. On 3/8" hemp :
Showing an almost 5x improvement in cutting ability over the as-boxed edge.
Comfort : The grip is the traditional oval wooden grip found on the traditional style Japanese knives. The only concern in regards to ergonomics is that the heel of the blade and spine are very sharp and with a very forward grip with the index finger against the blade and/or hand on spine there is discomfort when significant pressure is used.
Security : The wooden handle has a grained texture as the wood is not polished or finished it thus has decent security even when working with oily fish. The dropped blade also offers very high safety to keep the fingers off of the blade.
Durability and Cleanup : The raw finish of the wood is abrasion, cut and dent resistant compared to various synthetics and is especially heat resistant compared to most plastic type materials. There is a significant downside however in that it is easily stained and discolored and can even pick up odors from various foods.
With the initial edge the Santoku was used in the kitchen as the sole knife for a period of four weeks at that time the edge no longer had enough aggression to slice a tomato without multiple dead draws. At this point the knife starts to have problems doing any precision work which requires a high sharpness and can no longer easily cut :
As can be seen in the video on the right, after about a month the knife could no longer readily break the skin on a tomato this was among the lowest performance seen to date. However the initial edge was not so badly burred so the results were kind of surprising however the first sharpened revealed the likely problem as the edge angle was extremely inconsistent.
With the edge reground to a consistent angle and all weakened metal removed the long term, low sharpness edge retention on cardboard is as expected and consistent with entry level stainless steel. There is no issue with cutting a large amount of cardboard and the edge suffers no :
The first attempt to sharpen revealed the source of the major problem with the edge which is that the edge angle is inconsistent and runs from 60 degrees per side to 20 degrees per side from the choil to the tip on one side, it reverses on the other side. This means that the first sharpening has to remove quite a lot of material to even out the edge bevel.
The steel grinds very easily even with an inexpensive hone and has minimal burr formation. There is no need to use anything other than an inexpensive benchstone to sharpen, naturals like Arkansas work perfectly fine and the edge can even be filed and maintained on a butchers steel.
There was no spotting noted in the kitchen even with the knife left wet and exposed to fruit juices for extended periods of time.
Overview
A few modifications :
Comments can be emailed to Japanese Santoku.
Or posted to the YouTube Playlist.
Most of the pictures in the above are in the Japanese Santoku
.
| Last updated : | 06/01/2013 |
| Originally written: | 11:29:2011 |