# Masakage Shimo 240



## Umberto (May 26, 2014)

Demo knife purchased at CKTG...Had a cosmetic blemish on the damascus, a small crack, not a structural crack but a very noticeable one...Knife sharpened on the stones...still continuing to work a polish. White #2...stays toothy enough for tomatoes at work even when using poly cutting boards.

Knife is thin behind the edge with some metal left for convexing...Personally I'd like a little more more meat above the cutting edge to support such a fine edge. End of blade is very sharp at choil area...pinch grip can easily draw blood if not careful  I was going to return the knife but used it one more day at work and had a box of heavy plastic film fall on the edge...It cracked the end of the spine...a very clean break indicated a very tight grained steel  I sharpened the edge and rounded the rear tip that would often bite into the board and my finger sometimes 

My conclusion is that Maskage knives are well made but the cost increase is largely visual appeal. When polishing the cutting edge and above the edge, there were lots of visible grind marks. Polishing these requires more metal removal than I would like to do on such a thin blade. A more robust edge would have been better to polish without sacrificing metal.

Cutting performance is very good, handle is rather narrow...great for pinch grip, not for racquet style, if you've got fatter hands and big thumbs like I do it might feel awkward or uncomfortable. Honestly I believe that buying two rustic carbon blades and polishing them to high standard would offer better value than one Shimo 240. Factory edge was okay but work on the stones made it more graceful. The knife responds very well to stropping on newspaper and maintaining a toothy bite which I think is very nice. I do believe the visual appeal is something you are paying for. A remarkable thin knife does not necessarily mean better cutting performance. There is a surgical scalpel like feel to the blade which is nice. It really does a great job slicing fresh squid, almost effortless pressure. Using poly cutting boards, the edges hold up well, just a newspaper strop and she's back to good. (I apologize for not using paragraphs it doesn't seem to want me to do paragraphs on the forum, I don't know why) Conclusion:Good looks, good performance, high price, other rustic values might be better served in a professional work environment. Accidents happen to the best of us, the Masakage revealed good heat treat and fine grain structure when cracked...still 300 bucks, is 300 bucks...Give some ugly KU blade and some stones and I 'll have a polished sword for half the price  Cheap I am!


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## erikz (May 27, 2014)

I own a Masakage Shimo 150mm petty and its excellent, steel is flawless. Nothing of the grinding marks you point out here. Are you sure that wasn't done by CKTG when using it as a demo knife?


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## mjwit (May 27, 2014)

+1 Ericz. I also have one, same story as yours


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## Ruso (May 27, 2014)

I have shimo nakiri and I like the performance and the steel, but the handle, non rounded spine and choil, very sharp corner (tip?) and very reactive cladding could be improved. 
All of the above can be fixed, but would be nice to have OOTB.


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## erikz (May 27, 2014)

The cladding of my petty was never reactive, not even the slightest patina has formed as of today (3 months+ almost daily use).


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## Ruso (May 27, 2014)

erikz said:


> The cladding of my petty was never reactive, not even the slightest patina has formed as of today (3 months+ almost daily use).



This is really interesting, my Nakiri was reactive as no tomorrow. Especially annoying since it was getting the ugly yellowish patina and cutting a bunch of onions was quite a smelly task. Now, after few cleanings and baking soda treatments the patina is better looking and the smell is faint to non existent. I wonder what is the difference from your to my experience.


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## erikz (May 27, 2014)

Ruso said:


> This is really interesting, my Nakiri was reactive as no tomorrow. Especially annoying since it was getting the ugly yellowish patina and cutting a bunch of onions was quite a smelly task. Now, after few cleanings and baking soda treatments the patina is better looking and the smell is faint to non existent. I wonder what is the difference from your to my experience.


No idea really. I cut small veggies and herbs with it, also meat (both raw and cooked). I just checked it and there's really almost no patina present. Cladding is still dark/light gray snow-effect.


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