# Shigeki Tanaka Damascus SG2 210mm



## ModRQC (Jan 1, 2021)

*Foreword:*

I must admit to impulse buying – surely I’m not the only one here. This knife was totally that. Saw the BST price, came cheaper than any Canadian price I could get, even with BF deals, and I just jumped it. Had to try this guy’s knives one day or another, and this was it.

Upon first use I was very pleased with performance, but the draggy Damascus was not something I cared for much when washing and drying. Also, a bit more lightweight than I like them overall. So, I decided to sell it, and did not return to it. Didn’t neither prepare for my usual review: if it doesn’t stick, I don’t bother. Caught a BF deal in the meanwhile on a Sukenari SG2, so one way or another this duplicate of steel had to be remedied: the Sukenari had been chosen more considerately, with focus for a perfect k-tip gyuto, and wasn’t likely to go any time soon.

Tanaka sale didn’t pan out, but when I lowered the price for a second attempt, thinking it was a goner, I used it every day for about a week, making sure I had gotten the whole experience and gist of it. And I was half happy when I went to withdraw it from sale once again, because I wasn’t sure I wanted to depart with it anymore. It really, really is a natural for me, this knife.

So, I went with the reviewing motions, hoping that the exercise of considering it as objectively as possible would help clarify some things for myself about it.









*MAKER*​*Shigeki Tanaka*​*TYPE & LENGTH*​*Gyuto 210mm*​*FINISH & STEEL*​*Damascus SG2*​*WEIGHT / BALANCE*​*160g / +5*​*HANDLE MATERIAL*​*Ebony, Plastic spacer & Buffalo Horn*​​​TOTAL LENGTH​355​BLADE LENGTH​220​EDGE LENGTH​*210*​​​HEIGHT AT HEEL​*47*​HEIGHT AT MID BLADE​38​HEIGHT 35mm TO TIP​25​​​*SPINE*​*THICKNESS*HEEL​*2.4*​MID BLADE​2​35mm TO TIP​1.8​10mm TO TIP**​*0.9*​​​*THICKNESS OVER THE EDGE*​@ 10/5/1mm (Choil=True*)HEEL + 10mm​1 / 0.6 / 0.1​MID BLADE​0.9 / 0.5 / 0.1​35mm TO TIP​1 / 0.5 / 0.1​TIP**​1 / 0.5 / 0.1​
** True is in line with thickness at Heel +10mm. False is significantly different - see choil shot.
** Nearest to tip location where there's still 10mm perpendicular from edge to spine.


FIT & FINISH: 3.5/6

Handle: 1/2*
_Aesthetics, Ergonomics_

In all absolute, this handle could have been full marks. It’s nice, not too ostentatious, and much more importantly it brings balance to just forward the heel, perfectly located for pinch.






It becomes ostentatious however when you look at the pic on the right of the above montage: that (plastic) spacer is protruding, with a mildly displeasing feeling whenever you rub on it in use. Not that you’ll do much with a pinch… but useless, plastic, protruding, possibly weakening thing? Please… Add the ugly spot of epoxy and debris at the insert, and you somewhat get the Wa version of a TF Yo: high grade base material, terrible fit, only looks nice at a safe distance.

*Blade: 1/2*
_Choil, Spine_

There is nothing wrong with this blade, especially considering the kind of work involved: it is very aptly done. There is no problem neither with spine and choil being ground perfectly straight.






There is absolutely no effort made to ease the spine, and barely some to the choil, however. This removes a full point as I usually do – but nothing really uncomfortable for home use, and there’s something about the whole blade that still screams perfection in how tightly controlled each aspect seems to be.

*Finish: 1.5/2 *
_Aesthetics, Maintenance_





The Damascus, for me, was a case of amazement and appalment. It’s beautifully etched, the rustic of it a real treat to the eye. It is also of the draggy kind, and this could have been a pitfall if it had been felt in cutting, which I am still surprised that I couldn’t fault it with. It hence truly helps a little bit with food release without impairing separation, although geometry plays the bigger role there. I even started to like the draggy aspect when washing and drying it – nicely tactile, but there’s a change of perspective about the whole knife playing into this.

I remove half a point for maintenance: be it SS-clad SG2, one still has to be careful of wiping this thing clean and dry thoroughly as it’s easy for liquids and debris to get trapped into a ridge or another of the multiple layers. Also because bringing this knife to the stones for thinning work must be a refinishing nightmare ahead unless you have a good deal of equipment I don’t.


*EXPERIENCE: 4/4

Box: 1/1*
_Aesthetics vs. Safeguarding_





I like the wooden box. It’s cheap, but it’s a special touch, and coupled with the felt linen interior it makes a significant step forward the typical cardboard box. It’s the box you’d want your TF to come with – without TF’s picture on top. I guess a VCI fold existed in the original packaging, not sent by the first owner in this case. Possibly a carton sheath… Not the most protective retail packaging overall but it meets average while the box goes beyond – hence a full point even counting out what I didn’t get but possibly was there initially.

*Performance: 3/3 *
_Profile, Geometry, Grind_





Profile wise, like many knives with little flat spot but a gradual arc from heel to tip, this one I find suits push cutting pretty kindly. Tanaka’s profile I was wary of for a long time: tip is placed relatively high, edge is slanted somewhat aggressively upwards to meet it: in pictures it felt kind of weird. My Yoshikane Santoku was of the same spirit with a flatter profilea and even more aggressive slanting, which coupled with the shorter length felt nice, but I wasn’t all that sure I wanted that in a longer blade with less of flat spot. Turned out it works awesomely well. Some knives aren't made to be heavyweights, and this is one: just a user-friendly middle ground midweight with some attitude.








Grind has some nice convexity down the edge and heel to tip, and seems achieved with a high degree of precision throughout the whole blade’s length. Nothing is ever told before thinning on a stone, and I've yet to encounter a truly perfect grind (then again, also to encounter one finished on stones), but it’s easy to see there’s nothing wrong here as far as a grinding wheel goes.





Geometry works very well, with quite precise feedback: I still wonder how much the draggy Damascus can affect this positively. Greatly surprising and pleasing how effortlessly it goes through stuff even with a ghost of a real sharp edge to it, and nothing like Yoshikane thinness behind it. It has nothing close to extraordinary telling, but it’s functional in a way I find greatly revitalizing. “Essential” is how I would qualify the cutting experience best and, somewhat cheap try at a high end looking handle aside, I think it also describes the whole knife superbly.


*Overall Score: 7.5/10




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## ModRQC (Jan 1, 2021)

*Personal take: *Am I selling this knife then? In fact, it just got traded, which to me augments the value of this amazing SG2 unit that somehow fell in between, as I get to try another brand and steel for the price. It sorts of resolved this situation nicely, since it didn’t seem like it wanted to sell. Perhaps because I didn’t want it to sell by then. But a real fair trade that just naturally occurred, pleasing both parties for reasons proper to each, wasn't expected until it just took hold in my mind. And the thing is… I don’t have any Blue #2 at hand anymore. SS-clad Migaki B#2 I never had, and it is kind of singing nicely to my ear… 

An option fighting for budget, with me wanting to also get a Yoshikane SKD 240mm, and still being totally tempted by another BST out there.


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