Bought Honyaki blade from here but tip is bent. Advice?

[abangabo]

Hi guys,

Bought a honyaki blade from a member here but when I received it, I realised that the tip is bent/warped. The seller did not state that this was the case in the description and I'm aware that warped blade aren't an uncommon occurance in honyaki blades and also that it's not easy to restraighten a honyaki without breaking the steel. Is this a particularly bad case, and should I ask for a return? Or is this something that you would be fine with if you have bought it yourself. Seller claimed that he did not notice anything

 

[ptolemy]

Hi!

My only advice is to work it out with the seller in private so both of you are happy. If bent is going to bother you and it was not disclosed, then I think you know which way you're leaning to. Fixing it, IMO, is not your job and as you said is super risky. Was it perhaps damaged enroute? Was the package insured? Maybe one can file a claim ( i don't know if they will consider this damage though).

As you can imagine, there are many questions one can ask, but this all depends on you, how OCD you are, what are you going to do with the knife, how expensive it was, etc. In this situation, IMO, only your opinion matters

 

[abangabo]

Hi!

My only advice is to work it out with the seller in private so both of you are happy. If bent is going to bother you and it was not disclosed, then I think you know which way you're leaning to. Fixing it, IMO, is not your job and as you said is super risky. Was it perhaps damaged enroute? Was the package insured? Maybe one can file a claim ( i don't know if they will consider this damage though).

As you can imagine, there are many questions one can ask, but this all depends on you, how OCD you are, what are you going to do with the knife, how expensive it was, etc. In this situation, IMO, only your opinion matters

Yeh, I'm willing to work it out in private with the seller. I'm not going to disclose the user until a fair discussion had been had. I've even made sure the blade can't be discerned from the attached photos

I doubt it was bent enroute since it came in a saya. Plus I think the blade would sooner break than to deform like this through sheer external force. I'm thinking this was bent from the forging process as I've read honyakis are not always fully straight. But since I've never handled a honyaki blade before, I was just after other people's opinion on how bad this bending seems to be and if this is an acceptable product to receive.

 

[gentiscid]

That sucks! Resolve it privately with the seller, I’m sure he will be willing to work it out with you. Assumptions that it was initially bent or not before shipping will not lead to anything good. It could be bent during shipping due to gaps in the box and movements. In this case, that’s why insurance must be included, and this is part of the seller's take care.

This situation happened to me too but with a cheaper knife. The seller claimed he had never seen the tip bent, but I’m sure it was there (I just did not carefully inspect pictures from the previous owner he bought it from). The seller didn’t inspect it before shipping or maybe he was aware of it and still shipped it, but it doesn’t matter.

We resolved it privately, he partially refunded me a small amount. Took me like 30 minutes to bring the tip-acceptable flat. Not perfect but I could live with that.

In a Honyaki case, I would talk it out to return the blade to the seller and get a refund and if the seller refuses I would open a claim for a damaged item. I would not prefer to call names out and I am sure the seller would not want that either to dispute their reputation, but if the knife was damaged during shipping, that’s on the seller. Not sure if the knife was insured or not.

I hope and wish both of u find the best way of resolution for this case.

 

[Lurkernomore]

Happens. You need to buy a lot of honyaki to be able to establish a frame of reference and a lot will have bends, warps, low spots and other fun stuff. This holds true across all sharpeners and smiths.
Yours is fine, obviously not perfect but ok. The bend will not affect honbazuke to the point where it messes up the profile in my opinion.

No one in the industry in Japan would not sell it like that and western retailers can’t afford to send them back to Japan because of a bit of warp unless they want to fall out of favor with their supplier overlords. They cut fish, they’re not meant to lay flat on your coffee table.
All in all like 7 out of 10 honyaki are a headache. Just go awase.

 

[Gavva]

Unfortunately, you received it in a condition you weren't expecting. Hope you resolve it with the seller. It happens. Sometimes the seller will ghost you, some will claim they didn't notice. Most sellers I've encountered are very eager to get things right, though.

 

[ile74]

Seems to me used and sharpened fuguhiki and this is already affecting to geometry. Secondary bevel/koba/clam bevel is much more pronounced in the tip (2nd picture shows this clearly). Edge profile will develop bulge in the bent area and low spot to tip if not paid attention with sharpening. To me this wouldn't be ok. I have some experinece from yanagiba, but not fuguhiki. But if the knife is intended for delicate, almost transparent cuts then it is quite annoying that tip is offset several millimetres. Seems to me that this is not manufacturing defect but user error. Bent is in tip area where the blade start thinning and bent is opposite to pull cut forces. Maybe too hard board contact with tip? I hope you could resolve this so that seller and you are happy.

 

[Corradobrit1]

Happens. You need to buy a lot of honyaki to be able to establish a frame of reference and a lot will have bends, warps, low spots and other fun stuff. This holds true across all sharpeners and smiths.
Yours is fine, obviously not perfect but ok. The bend will not affect honbazuke to the point where it messes up the profile in my opinion.

No one in the industry in Japan would not sell it like that and western retailers can’t afford to send them back to Japan because of a bit of warp unless they want to fall out of favor with their supplier overlords. They cut fish, they’re not meant to lay flat on your coffee table.
All in all like 7 out of 10 honyaki are a headache. Just go awase.

I concur. Honyaki can be a minefield. Even high end ones from reputable makers can be bent or warped….even BNIB. The last 3 I bought or had serious intentions of buying were bent to varying degrees. I now request multiple photos to minimize the chance of receiving a bent blade.
I’m this situation I would maintain lines of communication and work things out with the seller, who hopefully is on the same Continent.