# Yaxell Ran chef knife 8 inch #36000 review



## da_bsg

Hi guys, I am new here, first time posting, I like kitchen knives, especially Japanese knives, because its performance, Style and precision. It price compare to German knife is also cheaper. 

Recently I had bought an Yaxell ran knife from Rakuten. I receive with disappointment, reason being it workmanship is far worse than Global and Shun, 

1: it handle have few chips, about 2-3mm, 

2: the blade edge wasn't nicely polished. Some portion wider than the other.

3: the edge polishing can see obviously one side wider than the other side

4: bad hand held balancing, the handle heavier than blade.

5: sharp, but not sharp enough.

Pictures to share:

1: handle have obvious chips.











2: the edge wasnt nicely polished and one side of the edge wider than the other side:

Left side edge very narrow:





Right side edge obviously wider.





3: BAD hand held balancing!
To me, balancing is very important, the blade should be equal weight or slightly heavier than handle so that it have the right momentum for the user during cutting / slicing, if the handle is heavier, which meaning, user need to use comparable more strength to get the same motion and momentum, end up the user get tired easily.

I watched Youtube review for this Yaxell Ran 10 inch chef knife, it balanced nicely. 
Link is here: [video=youtube_share;lJbIIg1t4x4]http://youtu.be/lJbIIg1t4x4[/video]

Mine Ran 8 inch chef knife at the same point not able to balanced. It shows clearly that Yaxell are using the same handle mass production for 8 inch and 10 inch chef knife.

10 inch can balance because it blade longer, heavier, but 8 inch blade lighter. The good knife maker will use different handle for different size of blade to ensure all are have the right balanced.

Photo of Ran 10 inch chef knife from youtube balanced nicely






Photo My Ran 8 inch chef knife at the same point not able to balanced, handle too heavy!




For all the above factors:
1:not so sharp, 
2:edge badly polished, 
3: ALL IN ONE handle mass production, 
4: sloppy QC standard, of defective chipping handle.

All these characteristic Is similar to the other knife which I had bought before <Chroma Porsche chef knife> , at least chroma knife workmanship so much better, and Chroma is honest enough to claim that their knife is MADE IN CHINA.

From every factors, I would sense strongly, this Yaxell Ran chef knife I buy is NOT MADE IN JAPAN product. 

Even it blade is stated made in japan, due to globalization, it could easily for one big organization like Yaxell to make their knives all in China, then just ship to japan print on MADE IN JAPAN logo and pack. Is my assumption, but based on the product I am receiving it is quite logical for me to interpret as it. 

Lastly I suspect could that possible this Yaxell Ran knife I am buying is a FAKE Yaxell? Because I compare mine cover sleeve and other cover sleeve, their DAMASCUS is in RED colour, but mine is in Black colour.

Online shows in RED





Mine sleeve in Black colour









In summary, I am confuse. If I had bought an authentic Yaxell, then it workmanship are so unforgivably bad, and country of origin is very doubting.

Could any chance Yaxell knife have fake product flooded into market already, or the different coloring is just different packaging design for different market regions?

I wanted to buy Yaxell Gou 101 layers and Yaxell Super Gou chef knife, but by this Ran chef knife experience, I will not buy Yaxell product again.

Please let me know what do you think, I hope you can advise me on your professional commends or share with me your experience.

Thank you very much.


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## daveb

Chef Giovani is more than a friend, he's a mentor to many. Don't know who that "many" are, likely they are not here.





Nothing in your description suggests that yours is not a "genuine" article. (And who would counterfeit a nickle?) Most flaws sound cosmetic. The Yaxell serves well in homes where they are not used and in pro kitchens where they're not meant to be pretty. . Maybe you're expectations are a bit high?

Since my first response, I've google the knife and in US market they are 150 bucks from Amazon. My Korean friends would ask if you are on crack? THey would smile a little while asking. Many here have good experiences dealing with Rakmart. But when you get a lemon there's no practical recourse. 

The edge size being different on the two sides only means it's ground asymmetrically. Not an issue.

Japanese knives are measured in cm and mm. When length is expressed in inches, move on.

Perhaps next time ask questions first, buy knife second?

Welcome to the forum, hope that your disappointment does not sour you on the whole knife thing. And hope to see more of you. ​


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## da_bsg

Thanks again daveb, well noted your advise.


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## the_apprentice

Mate of mine at work has one of these and I've used it a few times. Didn't seem to have any of the flaws of yours.


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## EdipisReks

That's not a "chip" in the handle picture, that's just resin that has pulled away during the polishing process. Micarta may not have been fully cured. Purely cosmetic. The 10 inch blade probably has the same handle, so obviously the 8 inch is going to be handle heavy in comparison. The rest is just standard Japanese factory knife stuff.


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## spoiledbroth

I kind of like the pattern on the micarta, but I've never seen micarta like this before... Or maybe it's just a low res photo?


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## da_bsg

Hi, Guys, latest update for this knife issue.

I was angry with the rakuten sales pushing the responsible says that the chip of the handle is caused by the post man. What a joke.

So in the end, I wrote a complain letter directly to Yaxell.

Surprising me is that whin in one day, their general manager had replied my email here is the print screen of the email:






Now I can exchange with the direct factory, I am glad and satisfying with Yaxell customer service, Will support Yaxell again in future.


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## spoiledbroth

I like the, "If possible?" ... Sound's like it's "possible" you could end up with two knives and a stone for the price of one1! 

But that would be tremendously immoral.


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## da_bsg

Haha, this is Japanese way of politeness. I would definitely ship back my defective knife.


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## rbester

da_bsg said:


> Haha, this is Japanese way of politeness. I would definitely ship back my defective knife.



Hi, I am also thinking about buying a Ran. I have read this thread and now curious - what's the conclusion?
Have you received a new knife? Is it better than the original one you received? Do you recommend a Ran knife?

BTW, my first name is Ran... it would be cool to have a knife with my name already on it (just as an extra bonus) :wink:


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## daddy yo yo

a couple of years ago my cousin gave me a Yaxell Ran santoku as a gift. It was my first J-knife. What shall I say? I still have and use it for tasks which require a I-don't-care-about-this-knife knife...

The handle is the biggest disappointment! It is huge and heavy!

To make a long story short: the blade is ok, but I would never buy one of these knives if I had to spend my own money...


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## Mucho Bocho

rbester said:


> BTW, my first name is Ran... it would be cool to have a knife with my name already on it (just as an extra bonus) :wink:



Have you considered changing your name to Kato?


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## rbester

daddy yo yo said:


> a couple of years ago my cousin gave me a Yaxell Ran santoku as a gift. It was my first J-knife. What shall I say? I still have and use it for tasks which require a I-don't-care-about-this-knife knife...
> 
> The handle is the biggest disappointment! It is huge and heavy!
> 
> To make a long story short: the blade is ok, but I would never buy one of these knives if I had to spend my own money...



Thank you for the input. To be more specific, I am looking at the 8" chef knife, which according to various reviews I've read is supposed to be light and have excellent balance.


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## chinacats

rbester said:


> Thank you for the input. To be more specific, I am looking at the 8" chef knife, which according to various reviews I've read is supposed to be light and have excellent balance.



Guessing those reviews were somewhere other than this forum...


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## rbester

Mucho Bocho said:


> Have you considered changing your name to Kato?



I like Ran. It's light, sharp and strong. Good for a lifetime. Also it's well balanced with my last name - Bester.


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## preizzo

I bought one small santoku for my wife. 
She like it a lot and it s perfect for her hands. &#128516;
Good girl knife IMO


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## supersayan3

Actually I prefer perfectly balanced knives as well.
But handle heavy makes my wrist less tired than blade heavy.
Plus, if your handle heavy knife falls down, it will land with the handle.
If your blade heavy knife falls down, your tip is gone...
I have similar micarta handle on Ryusen hammered Damascus. 
Nice handle


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## da_bsg

rbester said:


> Hi, I am also thinking about buying a Ran. I have read this thread and now curious - what's the conclusion?
> Have you received a new knife? Is it better than the original one you received? Do you recommend a Ran knife?
> 
> BTW, my first name is Ran... it would be cool to have a knife with my name already on it (just as an extra bonus) :wink:



Hi, I never ship back the knife, because my local shipping agent donot accept Knife to ship, so I keep this so call defective knife.

If you want to buy, I would recommend you to go for it. To be fair with Ran, it is still a excellent workmanship knife with VG-10 core and damascus blade, At the affordable price. It is the knife could accompany you for a life time or even few generation, if you take care of it.

From this time experience, I was very satisfy with the Yaxell company management handle my complain, they are polite, not trying to escape their responsibility, willing to accept my commends, quick response.

Yaxell Ran or even Gou knife still a reliable product.

Is always good to spend $200 to buy a VG-10 core knife then spend the same amount of $ buy a knife which can be rust easily.


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## richard

rbester said:


> Thank you for the input. To be more specific, I am looking at the 8" chef knife, which according to various reviews I've read is supposed to be light and have excellent balance.



I have some experience with Yaxell Ran, and it's generally a solid knife. But you say you are interested in the 8" chef and noted it's lightness and excellent balance...what is your definition of a light and well-balanced knife? Because the Ran 8" isn't exactly this definition for me, the handy is a bit on the heavy side and throws off the balance. I'm not saying no one should ever consider Ran, but in your case I'm not sure expectations are in line with the actual knife.


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## rbester

My current chef knife is 210mm and it weighs 260 grams. It feels somewhat heavy on the blade. I ended up using it mostly for meats and poultry cutting. I also have a cheap knife which is 200mm and very comfortable for me to hold and use for most tasks, but it is not as sharp and cannot hold an edge as my chef knife, yet I use it much more. I was looking for a decent knife to replace my cheap knife, to use for most of my daily needs (normally it includes lots of fruit and vegetable cutting.)

Light for me means around 200 grams. 200mm long blade feels right. The Yaxell Ran seems just the right choice also for my budget. I already went for it and ordered one. Thank you all. Wish me luck :lol2:


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## richard

OK so it is a different point of reference then. For me a 200-210 mm is considered light at around 150-160 g, and 200 g is not super heavy, but at the point where I would consider the knife has a bit of heft. Hope you enjoy your new Ran knife!


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## DanHumphrey

Man, for about that price you could get some much nicer knives.


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## The Anti-Chrysler

IMO, if you're gonna buy a Yaxell VG-10 core knife, buy either a Zen or Tsuchimon. The fit and finish is just as good as the Ran line, for about 1/2 the $, you just get fewer layers. Yaxell's heat treat on VG-10 is as good as it gets. My sharpest VG-10 knives are Yaxell.
If you like carbon steel, Yaxell makes some very nice, very traditional blades at a very reasonable price. I have a 6" Yaxell Blue #2 santoku, and I can get it sharper by far than any other knife I own.
No affiliation.


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