- Japanese Santoku
- Farberware Chef
- Cuisinart Santoku
- K08
- Martha Stewart Chef (heavily worn)
- Miyabi Chutoh
This review consists of :
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Knives :
This review consists of : |
Basic specifications :
Initial impressions :
The edge had the usually ground and lightly buffed Spyderco edge which combines a high push cutting sharpness with high slicing aggression as seen by some numbers on 3/8" hemp which show a marked decrease in force required on a draw :
Working on a brace of rabbits the K08 easily had enough cutting ability to make
the initial cut cleanly (the fur is just pulled off), remove the heads, cut the
forelegs off (palm hit to the spine to cut through the bones), the gut opened
cleaned out, and then the carcass cut in three pieces and the main legs removed
for ease of braising. It also had enough weight to use the spine to break the
joints in the legs which is an alternative to chopping them off.
The grip was comfortable and secure even when bloody. The tip is a little awkward due to the width and length of blade, but for a couple of rabbits it isn't that much of a significant concern. However the edge was damaged on all the bone contacts. This is not that unexpected as the edge angle is very low (10-12 dps) and there is a lot of lateral movement when palm hits are used to cut through small bones. The damage however was just impaction and rolling and limited to steel which was 0.002" thick at maximum.
Ergonomics : the comfort in hand is one of the strong points of the K08 due to the general shape, contouring and soft/texture of the grip. Now while it is possible to use without discomfort fairly simple handles such as the common octagonal grips common on Japanese knives for longer extended use when heavier force is used in the cutting, ergonomic issues can be a concern.
Security : any of the softer grips tend to have high traction as one of the strong points and this is no exception. The security is also enhanced by :
Will all of these features and the large dropped blade the security is among the highest seen on kitchen knives and it can be used with little concern of slipping and of course the extreme of ramping up on the blade.
Durability : there is a concern with the long term durability of the grips and problems have been reported on the Spyderco forums. However the problems only take place after :
Cleaning : as the handle is some type of thermoelastic polymer there is always a question of will it absorb fluids and contaminants and how easy or difficult is it to clean. During the work with the rabbits after the handle was covered in blood there was a concern this would be an issue however it was easily cleaned with a simple rinse and did not appear to absorb the blood significantly. Similar there were no issues with fruit acids after working with apples and oranges.
As a further and more extreme test the knife was put in a glass and a 1/4" cup of normal household vinegar was poured over it and the knife was then allowed to sit in the glass to see if it absorbed the vinegar and/or if the acid would react with the handle and degrade it significantly. The intention was to allow it to soak for an hour (typical meal time) however it was left over night unintentionally and soaked for 12 hours.
In the morning the handle was simply rinsed off and then dried and there was no :
In short it seemed to be fairly resistant to normal household acids and even blood and such from meats.
However there is an issue with cleaning due to the many grooves in the handle which can trap food particles and become difficult to clean if the handle isn't rinsed quickly. It isn't a tremendous problem however where a smooth handle can simply be wiped down this one can require a little scrubbing to get the grooves fully cleaned out.
As a basic check on edge retention in kitchen use the K08 was put into use as the only knife in the kitchen starting on Aug. 1, 2012. It lasted four months less a week before it started to slide on a tomato. This was fairly difficult work which included cutting decorative (varnished fruits), cutting up bones in rabbits, and daily work on fruits and vegetables.
Using the knife on an edge retention trial :
The image at the right shows the result of five runs
MBS-26 is a relatively low carbide stainless steel, compared to popular steels so it grinds significantly easier than steels such as VG-10, and especially the high carbide steels such as S30V. Combined with that Spyderco runs this steel fairly hard so burr formation is minimal, and the edge is very thin so there is little steel to remove. This all combines to make a knife which is very easy to sharpen even with traditional and natural stones.
MBS-26 is very similar to 19C27 a more well known Sandvik steel. A micrograph of 19C27 is shown on the right. The large white objects are the carbides in the steel. Note :
As described by Sandvik it is described as :
Sandvik 19C27 is mainly used for industrial knives for cutting synthetic fibre, paper and plastic films.
The curious thing about this steel is that while it is described as a coarse steel intended for cutting abrasive materials, in comparison to common "high end" cutlery steels in the US/Canada such as ATS-34/154CM, this steel (MBS-26) is actually much finer in regards to carbide size and volume. This steel thus grinds closer to the carbide neutral steels but the high hardness reduces burr formation. It is a very nice steel for kitchen knives aside from the issue noted with spotting.
The corrosion resistance is an issue if the knife is left wet and/or exposed to fruit juices for an extended period of time and so the knife should be rinsed and dried after use. The heat treatment also could be adjusted to increase the corrosion resistance (increase the austenization temperature and increase the rate of quenching) however to make it truly stainless the carbon/chromium percentage would have to be adjusted to similar to 12C27M.
The toughness is also high enough that likely there isn't going to be an issue in the kitchen as even when the edge was over loaded on the rabbit bones it just dented and rolled (as the angle was too low for such work) and it did not chip or fracture significantly.
Overview :
Comments can be emailed to Spyderco Pro Culinaire Santoku K08
and/or the YouTube Playlist.
Most of the pictures in the above are in the PhotoBucket album.
| Last updated : | 19/11/2012 |
| Originally written: | 19/06/2012 |