# Practice knife review



## Keith Neal (Mar 16, 2012)

I have not been meeting forum standards for knife reviews, so I thought some practice would help. Critiques are welcomed.







This is a Suncraft paring style petty made in Japan of stainless steel. The blade is perfectly straight with an even, machine grind. The grind is done on a small diameter wheel, producing a dramatically concave hagane. It is fairly thin behind the edge, but thickens quickly. The steel is soft. It sharpens easily and it is quick to raise a burr and to remove it. Five minutes on a King 1200 raised and removed burrs on both sides. A little stropping on the stone and running the edge across soft wood removed the remaining burr and left a decent edge. The King 6000 was quicker, and stropping on newspaper left a good feeling edge. 

In spite of being fairly thin behind the edge, the concave hagane causes the knife to wedge quickly. It starts to cut nicely, then resistance increases significantly, and it feels quite dull.

I had reduced the bevel angle a little, and that along with the soft steel I expect to give poor edge retention.

Specifications:

Overall Length: 194mm
Blade: 94mm 
Handle: 93mm

Blade height @heel: 22mm

Spine thickness above heel: 1.2mm
Spine thickness @midway: 1.2mm
Spine thickness @tip: .015mm
Blade thickness 1mm above edge: .015mm
Weight 22g

Cost of the knife and saya was fifty cents at a flea market.


----------



## Andrew H (Mar 16, 2012)

Thanks for the review! You can't beat that price.

One question: If it was done on a grinding wheel wouldn't it be concave (or hollow), not convex?


----------



## sachem allison (Mar 16, 2012)

it says concave all over the review


----------



## Johnny.B.Good (Mar 16, 2012)

Keith Neal said:


> In spite of being fairly thin behind the edge, the concave hagane causes the knife to wedge quickly. It starts to cut nicely, then resistance increases significantly, and it feels quite dull.



Sounds like you got your 50 cents worth out of this one at least. 

Thanks for sharing and nice review.


----------



## macmiddlebrooks (Mar 16, 2012)

Um, I paid $10 for this recently....boy do I feel robbed. Makes for a great little picnic knife for cheese and salami :hungry:. Thanks for the review!


----------



## RobinW (Mar 16, 2012)

Hmmm, I paid $14 fo this http://japanwoodworker.com/product.asp?s=JapanWoodworker&pf_id=02.078&dept_id=13169 but at least i got VG1 steel.

Thanks for the review, good start!
To up it a bit you might want to consider uploading a bunch of pics in all angles. You know, we neve get tired of looking at knife pics....


----------



## Andrew H (Mar 16, 2012)

sachem allison said:


> it says concave all over the review



This isn't a good sign for my mental health. I'm going to tell myself Keith edited it.


----------



## Johnny.B.Good (Mar 16, 2012)

Andrew H said:


> I'm going to tell myself Keith edited it.



Telling yourself things that aren't true isn't good for one's mental health either.


----------



## Andrew H (Mar 16, 2012)

Johnny.B.Good said:


> Telling yourself things that aren't true isn't good for one's mental health either.


:rofl2:


----------



## Keith Neal (Mar 16, 2012)

macmiddlebrooks said:


> Um, I paid $10 for this recently....boy do I feel robbed. Makes for a great little picnic knife for cheese and salami :hungry:. Thanks for the review!



I plan to use it as a tomato peeler. I usually just need one tomato for a sandwich, and peel it grandma style with knife in one hand and tomato in the other. Wedging and edge retention won't be a concern, and it may just work fine.

Besides, I think it is cute!

Though this review was a little tongue-in-cheek, it was a real attempt at getting more thorough. More photos, OK. Anything else?

Thanks,

Keith


----------



## RobinW (Mar 16, 2012)

Well, balance point, if spine and choil are rounded, F&F as well as impressions in use are always interesting...

But honestly, all reviews are good in my mind. Every bit of info helps when you are lookig toput the puzzle together


----------



## Crothcipt (Mar 16, 2012)

RobinW said:


> Well, balance point, if spine and choil are rounded, F&F as well as impressions in use are always interesting...
> 
> But honestly, all reviews are good in my mind. Every bit of info helps when you are lookig toput the puzzle together



I was gonna say balance. How is the handle? It seems little large for the blade. Other that that great review. When I do anykind of writing I forget over half of what I want to say.lus1::ggodjob:


----------



## TB_London (Mar 16, 2012)

Nice review, covered most things I'm interested to know. This thread may be the prompt I need to do some reviews of my knives and I may well "borrow" your template if that's ok?
Cheers,
Tom


----------



## Keith Neal (Mar 17, 2012)

TB_London said:


> Nice review, covered most things I'm interested to know. This thread may be the prompt I need to do some reviews of my knives and I may well "borrow" your template if that's ok?
> Cheers,
> Tom



Sure, though I am hardly the one to emulate. I have added a few things I should have covered:


F&F
Photo of blade straightness
Balance point
Handle length, shape, feel
Spine & choil rounded?

This is a Suncraft paring style petty made in Japan of stainless steel. The blade is perfectly straight with an even, machine grind. The grind is done on a small diameter wheel, producing a dramatically concave hagane. It is fairly thin behind the edge, but thickens quickly. The steel is soft. It sharpens easily and it is quick to raise a burr and to remove it. Five minutes on a King 1200 raised and removed burrs on both sides. A little stropping on the stone and running the edge across soft wood removed the remaining burr and left a decent edge. The King 6000 was quicker, and stropping on newspaper left a good feeling edge. 
In spite of being fairly thin behind the edge, the concave hagane causes the knife to wedge quickly. It starts to cut nicely, then resistance increases significantly, and it feels quite dull.
I reduced the bevel angle a little, and that along with the soft steel I expect to give poor edge retention.
Specifications:
Overall Length: 194mm
Blade: 94mm 
Handle: 93mm

Blade height @heel: 22mm

Spine thickness above heel: 1.2mm
Spine thickness @midway: 1.2mm
Spine thickness @tip: .015mm
Blade thickness 1mm above edge: .015mm
Weight 22g

Cost of the knife and saya was fifty cents at a flea market.


----------



## Keith Neal (Apr 1, 2012)

I have now removed the concave blade road. This is my first attempt at modifying a grind, and it is not pretty! However, it works. The knife has no tendency to wedge, and is very sharp. I finished with a King 1200, which seemed enough for a fifty cent knife. 

A few things I learned. 1) The Bester 500 cut faster and much smother than the Atoma 140. 2)The starboard side of the knife seemed to have a deeper concave blade road, but it was more likely poor technique. 3)It looks like I let the finger pressure get a bit too far from the edge in a few places, moving the shinogi up too high. 4) I am no threat to the knifemakers among us!


----------

