Ok, this is sort of a new buy I wanted to share. I bought this back at the end of June from CKTG. I asked him to remove the handle since I had no desire to have the stock handle on it. Previously, I had purchased a nice handle and was going to use that handle, but the Wakui has a HUGE thick tang and I had to do a lot of filing to get the knife to fit. I was able to do it and tried just inserting the knife and did a couple of test cuts. I noticed the knife was a bit crooked in the handle and while adjusting it, the handle got a crack. Well, back in the box and it sat until a few weeks ago when I filed a new handle to fit and installed it using beeswax.
Since I’m a home chef, I can’t imagine mounting using anything but beeswax. It was simple, easy to readjust, and makes switching to a different handle a “plug and play” solution. It is very stable.
The knife is a Wakui stainless clad W2 240. It is 242 mm long, 48.5 tall, 3.6 at the choil, 2.6 midway, and thins nicely to the tip. It weighs 223 grams and the balance point is 15 mm in front of the choil…perfect balance for me.
The choil shot isn’t good since I evidently didn’t wipe it off and there was some debris from the cork I used.
I’d give the knife a 10 overall since it’s thin behind the edge, glides thru everything I cut with it, had excellent food release and balances very slightly towards the blade. I’m a sucker for tsuchime kuriochi and kasumi (ish) and mirror edge finish. I have a Hatsukokoro Inazuma 210 gyuto (it also adds Damascus) that I love with a similar finish, but it’s extremely reactive, so stainless clad is awesome.
Edited to add it was one of the best sharpened knives I’ve had out of the box. I also need to add the handle is from forum sponsor Tokushu knives.
Jamie (who was the original owner) spec’d a 50/50 grind when he ordered it.
