# So I started collecting, my first Shigefusa



## Zweber12

Two months ago I picked up a Takeda AS N Gyoto 240mm and today this baby arrived today straight from Japan; a Shigefusa Kitaeji 135mm Wa Petty. Simply stunning, the details, the finish on both blade and handle and smooth cutting. Surely this will not be the only Shigefusa in my growing collection!


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## TheDispossessed

beautiful! off to a good start, cheers


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## rick_english

Did that come direct from Shigefusa? Haven't seen that box before.


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## Mute-on

I love Shigefusa Kitaeji 

Nice start. You need more. :thumbsup:


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## Zweber12

Ordered the knife from a small cutlery shop in Tokyo, which had several models in stock. I used a Japanese friend to help with the communication.


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## Zweber12

A couple months after my last gallery post, a short update my humble Shigefusa collection. Mute-on is right, once you start, it is hard to stop, surprised my wife has not asked me to move into the shed. Most recent addition is this 150mm Petty with Western handle, which came in this week:


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## Zweber12

And this is how it all started, 135m Kitaeji Petty:


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## Zweber12

and my first knife over 240mm: Yanagiba 270mm, actually measuring 275mm:


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## Zweber12

Followed by long one: Sujihiki 270mm from Cheeks1989, actual length 279mm from heel to tip:


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## Zweber12

The 270 Family side by side:


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## Zweber12

Over the summer I picked up a 210mm Usuba:


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## Zweber12

and a 180mm Deba:


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## Zweber12

This one I particularly like, 165mm Honesuki.Thanks Matus!


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## Zweber12

Lastly, an 185mm Kitaeji Santoku, which I use daily:


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## Zweber12

and the obligatory family photo:


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## Hianyiaw

Wow I am really digging the honesuki


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## bkultra

The western handled petty looks out of place... send it to me and it should take care of this problem.


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## Cheeks1989

Beautiful collection!


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## aboynamedsuita

Zweber12 said:


> and the obligatory family photo:



Lookin good, but where's the Yanagi and Suji?


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## Asteger

Looks like the usuba is used the least. I've got the same, and me too, but I think it's my classiest looker ahead of my gyuto, etc.


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## mark76

Congratulations, Zweber!


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## schanop

That's a good start, soon you will have a set of kitaeji, a set of kasumi, and another set of yo.


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## Asteger

schanop said:


> That's a good start, soon you will have a set of kitaeji, a set of kasumi, and another set of yo.



KU too!


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## schanop

Asteger said:


> KU too!



You are so right :bliss:


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## Von blewitt

+ Yoshihide & Masuyuki


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## Smurfmacaw

I'm muy jealous. You managed to get a lot of kitaeji's in just a short time. I can't seem to get my hands on another lately....to slow when the emails come out and rakuten is maddening.


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## Asteger

Best wait times in Japan now seem to be 1 year, and this is even from someone related to Iizuka/Shigefusa who used to get them quicker in the past.


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## Zweber12

Besides the Shigefusas, I do have several other knives. This one came in this week from Maksim's recent Kato sale; 150mm Petty:


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## Zweber12

And a Watanabe Santoku Pro; this one takes a wicked edge and used daily as well:


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## Zweber12

All my current Petty knives, another growing family:


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## Asteger

Santoku and petties - I think someone likes small 2-bevel knives here, non? 

Wondering about your KU Watanabe santoku; I have a 150 KU petty and it's a great knife but, although a bit is to be expected with KUs, I'm still annoyed by its overgrinds (a safe distance) above the edge. Not sure if you've explored the wide bevel yet, but here's mine for a look:


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## Zweber12

Asteger said:


> Santoku and petties - I think someone likes small 2-bevel knives here, non?
> 
> Ha, you are on to me! Only way to explanation is a simple equation between "collection" and "daily use."


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## Matus

Zweber12 said:


> This one I particularly like, 165mm Honesuki.Thanks Matus!



Sometimes I think I should have kept it - it must be one of the most rare Shigefusa knives  

That Kato petty you posted in later post looks really cool. I should have picked 180 one when they were available for a very reasonable price about a year ago. I may try to do that should my quest for thin single bevel petty fail.


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## Zweber12

The Shigefusa family keeps on growing; I picked up this 190mm Mioroshi Deba in January, only got around to take a few images this weekend.


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## Zweber12

And added this 210mm Kitaeji Gyuto in February via a great transaction with a fellow KKF-er:






Beautiful patterns on the knife, the images hardly do any justice:


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## TheDispossessed

Beautiful kitaeji. I really like the looser patterns and some blank space myself. The more spare and random the better.


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## Asteger

Love the mioroshi above. Looks almost like a fat petty at a glance. Less height on the blade than usual for mioroshi, I think


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## Zweber12

Maybe a petty on steroids.. ;-) Full specs of the mioroshi are:

Blade length, full spine: 211mm
Blade length, heel to tip: 195mm
Blade height at heel: 40.0mm
Thickness spine at handle: 6.7mm
Thickness spine at heel: 5.5mm
Thickness spine halfway blade: 4.2mm
Thickness spine 1cm from tip: 2.1mm
Handle length: 145mm
Handle height: 27.4mm


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## aboynamedsuita

I'm glad you're happy with the 210 Kitaeji, and I also appreciate the kind words about the translation.


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## mikedtran

Great collection of Shigs and even better photos!


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## Asteger

Zweber12 said:


> Maybe a petty on steroids.. ;-) Full specs of the mioroshi are:
> 
> Blade length, full spine: 211mm
> Blade length, heel to tip: 195mm
> Blade height at heel: 40.0mm
> Thickness spine at handle: 6.7mm
> Thickness spine at heel: 5.5mm
> Thickness spine halfway blade: 4.2mm
> Thickness spine 1cm from tip: 2.1mm
> Handle length: 145mm
> Handle height: 27.4mm



:thumbsup: Thanks


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## Nomo4me

Most impressive collection. Thanks for sharing


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## Mute-on

I see you took my advice, such as it was . 
Very nice collection indeed! A few quite unusual pieces too, which I think is both more interesting and an excellent collection philosophy. 
It seems I'd better start saving to catch up!!
Cheers 
J


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## ynot1985

lovely collection.. do you have an updated shig family photo to share btw?


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## Customfan

Shigs.... Slippery slope.... Splippery slope!

I still keep one that I've kept as a memento...


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## Zweber12

ynot1985 said:


> lovely collection.. do you have an updated shig family photo to share btw?



Will work on that this week, probably by Wednesday.


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## Zweber12

Okay, did have time tonight to take a family photo, not the best with indoor lighting to see the details on the knives.


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## alterwisser

Zweber12 said:


> Okay, did have time tonight to take a family photo, not the best with indoor lighting to see the details on the knives.



Damn....!


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## mikedtran

WOW :bigeek:


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## aboynamedsuita

Like


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## Mute-on

Double digits in Shigs. Nice


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## Asteger

Very nice, Zweber. But honestly wondering if you might get a bit tired of having so much/everything (I don't know how much other stuff you've got) from the same maker?


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## ynot1985

Nice!!!, what's the 4th one from the left.. I see it's a single bevel


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## mikedtran

ynot1985 said:


> Nice!!!, what's the 4th one from the left.. I see it's a single bevel



I think its a Mioroshi Deba?

Described as being able to be used for Deba and some Yanagiba tasks as well


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## Zweber12

mikedtran said:


> I think its a Mioroshi Deba?



It is, 190mm.


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## mikedtran

Zweber12 said:


> It is, 190mm.



What is the weight of the Mioroshi Deba vs. the Deba? 

Would be interested in spine pictures also :biggrin:


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## Zweber12

mikedtran said:


> What is the weight of the Mioroshi Deba vs. the Deba?
> 
> Would be interested in spine pictures also :biggrin:



Seriously, I will need to invest in a professional photo studio,or something to that extend.


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## Zweber12

By request, a few more images of the Mioroshi and the Deba side by side.

Full Deba image (note: the blue spot is a light reflection/refraction)





Deba detail





Coils: Mioroshi on the left, Deba on the right:





Spine shot:





Full blade specs; (Format: Mioroshi vs Deba):

Weight: 218 vs. 268gr
Blade length, full spine: 211 vs. 186mm
Blade length, heel to tip: 195 vs. 166mm
Blade height at heel: 40.0 vs. 54.9mm
Thickness spine at handle: 6.7 vs. 8.8mm
Thickness spine at heel: 5.5 vs. 7.4 mm
Thickness halfway blade: 4.2 vs 5.7mm
Thickness 1cm from tip: 2.1 vs 3.4mm
Handle length: 145 vs 133mm
Handle height: 27.4 vs 27.2mm


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## mikedtran

Zweber you are the man!!! Is the spine shot swapped with the Deba on the left and Mioroshi Deba on the right?

I really really like the Mioroshi Deba, not sure I would use it or a Deba very often but it is definitely a cool knife. May have to hunt one of these down...


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## Zweber12

mikedtran said:


> Is the spine shot swapped with the Deba on the left and Mioroshi Deba on the right



Yes, you are right; Deba is on the left in the spine shot.


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## Cheeks1989

The sujihiki is the nicest knife in the collection.:razz:


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## Zweber12

Cheeks1989 said:


> The sujihiki is the nicest knife in the collection.:razz:



Fully agree!


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## Zweber12

This little beauty arrived from Tokyo today, adding to the growing "270" family. Will post more side-by-side comparison images with his Kasumi brother and 'lost' 40 year uncle when I pick him up this weekend in Denmark! Should make for an interesting post!


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## mikedtran

Really excited to see the side by side comparison! =)


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## Zweber12

Adding a few more shots or my two recent additions. A detailed side-by-side can be found here on KKF: 

270mm Kitaeji Yanagiba describe in an earlier thread:






270mm Kitaeji Yanagiba from Maksim's recent NOS sale:





To see the side-by-side of the two kitaeji's and a kasumi, click here


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## jacko9

Great looking collection - I'm looking forward to see what knife comes next.


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## krx927

Zweber12 said:


> Fully agree!



What a beautiful picture; really nice peace of meat + great knife. I hope that some time next year I will be able to post exactly the same


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## Zweber12

This 165mm kitaeji niikiri one up last month and been using the knife for a week now. A completely different feel and style of use compared to the santoku, though is growing on my a lot!


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## aboynamedsuita

Nice nakiri! I also have one of those enroute from a forum member


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## ynot1985

tjangula said:


> Nice nakiri! I also have one of those enroute from a forum member



I'm going to miss you dropping hints to Mike hassling him about it


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## Zweber12

The mailman brought this little gift this morning: 180mm sickle blade. Feels like a very nifty knife, handle is a bit smaller compared other Shigs of similar length. Can't wait to start using it!


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## Asteger

Nice one. The kasumi on the wide bevel on this on is so dark in this shot. S-fusa 1-bevels definitely have something to them.


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## Zweber12

I took the shot without my usual set up, handheld and in poor light; this might have caused the darkness of the bevel. I will take a few other shots over the weekend, as the kasumi wide bevel almost looks like it has kitaeji lines and the grind is really pronounced on this knife. 




Asteger said:


> Nice one. The kasumi on the wide bevel on this on is so dark in this shot. S-fusa 1-bevels definitely have something to them.


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## mark76

Wow, I now see this thread for the first time. Great collection you've got! I'd do a murder for one of those knives. Well, I wouldn't really kill somebody of course. Maybe a chicken...


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## Zweber12

Okay, a few more of the sickle blade in a proper setup:


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## Asteger

Yep. Nice lines.

I've got a Kanto-style usuba (square-tipped) which has lines too, though you rarely see them. I'd have to finger polish for that, though I've never done that but they've still shown themselves with normal stones.

Mine is quite hard to polish nicely with stones; the convex grind which is more pronounced in the middle between tip and heel. Would be curious to hear if you find the same. Put it to stones!


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## aboynamedsuita

Looks like the clouds, nice job!


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## spoiledbroth

What if it's a jaw knife... -_-


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## Zweber12

This weekend I came back from a trip to the USA, where i picked up several past purchases which were shipped to a friend.


210mm Kasumi Gyuto (Thanks mikedtran!)





230mm Kasumi Chuka (Thanks echerub!)





180mm Kitaeji Gyuto:





Really digging the 210mm length of the gyuto; a very nice balance between blade length, performance and knife agility on the board. Will be a battle between my santoku and this one as far as my 'go to' knife is concerned.


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## schanop

Ha ha, Zweber12, at least you have got yourself a Shig chukka. 



Zweber12 said:


> This weekend I came back from a trip to the USA, where i picked up several past purchases which were shipped to a friend.
> 
> 
> 210mm Kasumi Gyuto (Thanks mikedtran!)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 230mm Kasumi Chuka (Thanks echerub!)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 180mm Kitaeji Gyuto:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Really digging the 210mm length of the gyuto; a very nice balance between blade length, performance and knife agility on the board. Will be a battle between my santoku and this one as far as my 'go to' knife is concerned.


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## Zweber12

Indeed, though your chuka is still in a different class!


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## Zweber12

Finally got around to take a of a few snaps of my kitaeji Gyutos; 180, 210 and 240mm. If any one has a 270 laying around willing to trade or sell, let me know; surely we can work something out!


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## mikedtran

That is just too freaking beautiful! I'm so glad I told myself no Kitaeji double bevels or we would be hunting after the same stuff =p


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## Zweber12

I can keep posting images to tempt you, or something you already have. 








mikedtran said:


> That is just too freaking beautiful! I'm so glad I told myself no Kitaeji double bevels or we would be hunting after the same stuff =p


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## schanop

That's a nice haul of kitaeji wa gyuto's, F.


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## mikedtran

In order I think I like the Petty, than the 210mm, than the 240mm Kitaeji pattern.

There is so much nice negative space on the Petty, reminds me more of the single bevel kitaeji pattern.


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## aboynamedsuita

Zweber12 said:


> I can keep posting images to tempt you, or something you already have.



Can you post a family photo :angel2:, not sure if that'd even fit in a single picture though maybe in a panoramic :idea2:


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## mikedtran

tjangula said:


> Can you post a family photo :angel2:, not sure if that'd even fit in a single picture though maybe in a panoramic :idea2:



One trick is to lay your knives on the ground and stand on the tallest thing you have :spin chair:


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## ynot1985

wow.. what a lovely collection.. thank goodness both you and Mike have no interest in KUs


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## Zweber12

Per the request, the collection as it stands today. Did need a chair and 35mm on the lens..


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## Vangelis

Just give us your home address and we will pay you a visit irate1:

Seriously this is impressive, are you coming at the gathering?


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## mikedtran

Zweber12 said:


> Per the request, the collection as it stands today. Did need a chair and 35mm on the lens..



This is freaking AMAZING!!!!!


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## mikedtran

Do you have a favorite?

If you ever want to unload any of these....


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## aboynamedsuita

Zweber12 said:


> Per the request, the collection as it stands today. Did need a chair and 35mm on the lens..



That is seriously impressive :doublethumbsup:


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## Johnny.B.Good

Awesome photo.


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## Zweber12

Vangelis said:


> Just give us your home address and we will pay you a visit irate1:
> 
> Seriously this is impressive, are you coming at the gathering?



Yes, planning on coming again, just need to convince my other half to spent 2 days at Lego Land with our little one!


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## Zweber12

mikedtran said:


> Do you have a favorite?
> 
> If you ever want to unload any of these....



Each knife has either a story, special occasion, or reason; difficult to say which one is my favourite. The Santoku (9th from right) currently get the most usage, the petties are great for the smaller work. Definitely been eating more fish in the past couple months, while the recent bbq weather led to more Sujihiki/Honesuki work. Right now, the top 3 would be the Chuka, 270 kitaeji yanagiba NOS (2nd from right) and sickle blade (7th from left). I've been working on website to share more details and images of the knives with the community, though the work has been slow; hopefully by the end of the summer this should be done. 

I still have a few knives on my list i would like to acquire, or trade for...


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## mikedtran

Love that each has its own story! Makes me want to do another family photo..I'm just waiting on ONE more to come in =)

I would trade lots of things for that yo-petty...though I doubt you would sell that.


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## Zweber12

mikedtran said:


> Love that each has its own story! Makes me want to do another family photo..I'm just waiting on ONE more to come in =)
> 
> I would trade lots of things for that yo-petty...though I doubt you would sell that.



One or The ONE?  

The yo-petty I happened to find on the day I got my last promotion; unless you have a kitaeji Kiritsuke to offer.. :biggrin: (had to try..)


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## schanop

Zweber12 said:


> Per the request, the collection as it stands today. Did need a chair and 35mm on the lens..





mikedtran said:


> I would trade lots of things for that yo-petty...though I doubt you would sell that.



Magnificent 18. That yo petty looks out of place, though. More yo Shig's for the family or let Mike be happy. :evilgrin:


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## mikedtran

Zweber12 said:


> One or The ONE?
> 
> The yo-petty I happened to find on the day I got my last promotion; unless you have a kitaeji Kiritsuke to offer.. :biggrin: (had to try..)



I'm waiting on a 240mm yo right now =)

You know I actually know someone who owns a Kitaeji Kiritsuke though I HIGHLY doubt they would ever sell it...


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## mikedtran

schanop said:


> Magnificent 18. That yo petty looks out of place, though. More yo Shig's for the family or let Mike be happy. :evilgrin:



lus1:=D


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## Zweber12

mikedtran said:


> I'm waiting on a 240mm yo right now =)
> 
> You know I actually know someone who owns a Kitaeji Kiritsuke though I HIGHLY doubt they would ever sell it...



With the recent praise for your networking and sales skills, there might be hope! ;-)


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## mikedtran

Hahhah shot you a PM, you could try....


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## j22582536

Zweber12 said:


> Per the request, the collection as it stands today. Did need a chair and 35mm on the lens..



That's a very impressive collection~:fanning:


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## Asteger

Zweber12 said:


>



Put me down as another impressed blade dude. My fav happens to be the only one I have, the square-tipped usuba, with the Kansai-style usuba and 2 deba as 2nds.

Really, you're not going to find a Shig array like this in more than a very few places in the world. You wouldn't come close, I'm sure, in any shop in Japan for eg. Do you have many other knives?

I hope you have one long Shigo-magbar at home to display all these just so. Would be a sight each time you walk into the kitchen.

You'll also need the Shig t-shirt, coffee mug, pajamas, and comforter to match. Naturally.


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## Zweber12

My latest addition, a 150mm Mukimono, a surprising agile knife with a beautiful finish. Absolutely love how the kitaeji lines curve around the tip:


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## aboynamedsuita

That must be from the recent JNS offerings? It is truly beautiful


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## mc2442

That is a beautiful knife! A K tip petty?


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## mikedtran

mc2442 said:


> That is a beautiful knife! A K tip petty?



More like a k-tip yanagiba, as it is a single bevel. I would originally be inclined to say it is like a k-tip usuba, but mukimonos are much lighter than usubas of the same size.


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## brainsausage

mikedtran said:


> More like a k-tip yanagiba, as it is a single bevel. I would originally be inclined to say it is like a k-tip usuba, but mukimonos are much lighter than usubas of the same size.



My kasumi muki actually reminds me a lot of an short kiritsuke.


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## mikedtran

brainsausage said:


> My kasumi muki actually reminds me a lot of an short kiritsuke.



Actually that is a better comparison as a 150mm k-tip yanagiba would be much shorter in heel height. =)


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## brainsausage

mikedtran said:


> Actually that is a better comparison as a 150mm k-tip yanagiba would be much shorter in heel height. =)



&#128077;&#128077;&#128077;


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## Zweber12

Lol, any one have a Shig kiritsuke for sale, just for another comparison thread?


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## brainsausage

Zweber12 said:


> Lol, any one have a Shig kiritsuke for sale, just for another comparison thread?



I've heard legends of one floating around out there.


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## mikedtran

brainsausage said:


> I've heard legends of one floating around out there.



I have actually seen on in person, though I'm pretty sure you couldn't pry it from his bare dead hands =p

I won't say who it is, but I will say it currently lives in Oregon.


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## aboynamedsuita

mikedtran said:


> I have actually seen on in person, though I'm pretty sure you couldn't pry it from his bare dead hands =p
> 
> I won't say who it is, but I will say it currently lives in Oregon.



pics of kiritsuke along with fuguhiki and hamokiri :cool2:


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## YG420

:eek2:


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## mikedtran

tjangula said:


> pics of kiritsuke along with fuguhiki and hamokiri :cool2:



Tanner is that your collection?!?!?


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## brainsausage

I want that hamokiri.


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## Mute-on

I just cried a little. 
That pretty much seals it. You win 
Nice work :thumbsup:


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## brainsausage

That kiri has a delightfully aggressive tip btw. Really dig it.


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## aboynamedsuita

Sorry gents, these aren't mine (thought the fact I'm a lefty may have been a giveaway)


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## Mute-on

tjangula said:


> Sorry gents, these aren't mine (thought the fact I'm a lefty may have been a giveaway)



So that leaves Mike and Floris fighting it out for the lead?

Missed the lefty bit. Whoops. Sorry!


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## schanop

Mute-on said:


> So that leaves Mike and Floris fighting it out for the lead?



Don't forget James as another one in the mix for the lead.


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## mikedtran

schanop said:


> Don't forget James as another one in the mix for the lead.



I think Chanop has me beat =)

Then again it isn't a competition, I've recently found my love for Katos and am trying to hunt down some single bevels!


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## ynot1985

Chanop might have a few of those single bevel katos covered too



mikedtran said:


> I think Chanop has me beat =)
> 
> Then again it isn't a competition, I've recently found my love for Katos and am trying to hunt down some single bevels!


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## brainsausage

I take it back. I want the kiri and the hamokiri...&#129300;

But, I'd want the lengths switched.


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## Mute-on

mikedtran said:


> I think Chanop has me beat =)
> 
> Then again it isn't a competition, I've recently found my love for Katos and am trying to hunt down some single bevels!



Of course. It's just the fun of the chase ... 

Seriously though, other collectors have commented that between Shig and Kato, it is Shig for Single bevel and Kato for double bevel. Whilst I doubt this is universally true, there may be some merit in it. At this level, you really can't go wrong. 

Enjoy!

J


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## jimbob

Funny, not that long ago a hamokiri sat unsold for a long time at jns.


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## mikedtran

Based on members I have talked to that sounds accurate. I have heard some reports of Kato single bevels having some in perfections.

I'm actually also hunting for a 180mm Standard Kato petty and a 270mm Standard Sujihiki =D



Mute-on said:


> Of course. It's just the fun of the chase ...
> 
> Seriously though, other collectors have commented that between Shig and Kato, it is Shig for Single bevel and Kato for double bevel. Whilst I doubt this is universally true, there may be some merit in it. At this level, you really can't go wrong.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> J


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## Mute-on

jimbob said:


> Funny, not that long ago a hamokiri sat unsold for a long time at jns.



It seems like it was there for a couple of years. I think the market caught up to the $1.5k + price though, and has just kept moving. 

Kato 270 Sujis would sit on JNS for months too, until about 9 months ago ...


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## mikedtran

jimbob said:


> Funny, not that long ago a hamokiri sat unsold for a long time at jns.



Wonder who ended up buying that one at $1500 http://www.japanesenaturalstones.com/shigefusa-kitaeji-hamokiri-300mm/

I'm giving myself a hard rule that I can't buy knives I won't use - so I would have had to learn how to break down some conger pike =D


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## Zweber12

Mute-on said:


> So that leaves Mike and Floris fighting it out for the lead?



Nope, not mine, though have seen these images before. These three knives were part of an order which included these as well:


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## schanop

mikedtran said:


> I think Chanop has me beat =)



If it just for the total number of Shig's, I am retreating  Just a bit above a dozen, that's all. However, I am happy with variety and each will get used at one time or another. Chukka gets the most use at the moment.


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## Zweber12

The latest addition, had the opportunity to acquire this 180mm Kitaeji Gyuto, Yo Handle; had to find out myself all the noise that Mike's been making about yo handles..  A very nice blade profile, handle feels extremely comfortable, stunning finish on the blade. Can't wait to put this knife to good use!


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## schanop

Congrats, Zweber12. That Shig original handle in lighter colour wood is looking nice.


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## Chef Doom

Nothing like a good ol' fashion penis swinging contest. I should mention I'm 1/8th grizzly.


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## brainsausage

Hah! It's kinda like when you decide to eff with things for no good reason. Right? 

RIGHT


----------



## Zweber12

So I finally got around photographing my collection for the upcoming website. (_Do not ask me when it comes online, I do not know_) Today was "Coil Day" (per advice of Matus and XoMG (thread here) and updating several angle shoots of the knives from last year. Took a bit longer than expected for sure. 

Coil shot setup:





Make shift lightbox:





Coil Sample (Chuka):


----------



## Zweber12

Okay, that all went faster than I thought; finding the right groove and workflow this weekend to process the images and create the site. It's online!






(_link in my signature_)


----------



## schanop

Thank for the sharing of art, F.


----------



## aboynamedsuita

Very nice F, you even have your own domain :cool2:

One thing I noticed is that the second listing (KASUMI SUJIHIKI, 270MM) looks to have a picture of a Kasumi yanagi, I could be wrong, but the shinogi looks very defined for a Suji :dontknow:

Also glad to see you got one of those Kitaeji Mioroshi Debas I think Maksim must have had at least four of them as several people got one


----------



## Zweber12

thanks, T; indeed a reminiscent from the late 90's of buying domains "before they were gone". I checked the link (#17) for the suji and the images seem to be the right ones. Perhaps the patina in the blade reflection? The images are actually 1024x768 though have to find a way to make them pop up, or something; My HTML skills are a bit rust at best.

Re: Mioroshi, i was surprised i was able to order one from Maksim, as I discovered his email fairly late. Maybe there are more than 4?


----------



## aboynamedsuita

Yea, I kinda wish I got on the domain bandwagon too, not sure what I'd do with one though. I'll send you a quick email about the website

I already regret not getting a mioroshi for the collection, not much use for me as a lefty but they were a good price for a Kitaeji and a single bevel at that. I was actually on the JNS site when the email came in and had it in my cart and was about to submit my order then a momentary lapse of sanity overtook me. Sat around debating for awhile and repeated the process several times, eventually emailed someone I thought would be interested who apparently got one and they still weren't out of stock.


----------



## Zweber12

Got around taking several photos of the Mioroshi:






more images and measurements can be found here


----------



## Zweber12

Finally arrived after 5 weeks in transit with several custom hold-ups from a fellow KKF'er. Super excited about this one can't wait to put it work






More knife details can be found by clicking here


----------



## Hianyiaw

So it looks like there were quite a few mioroshi that went with maksims latest sale. Seeing that I have now seen or heard at least 2 more other than me who got it as well. Was a real beauty at that price too.


----------



## schanop

That must have been a torture.

Congrats on a new yo and growing family of yo shig's. You should also do a reverse taper on the tang shot. It is a sublime look on the look of integral bolster where the tang is thicker at the bolster and thinner at the tip.



Zweber12 said:


> Finally arrived after 5 weeks in transit with several custom hold-ups from a fellow KKF'er. Super excited about this one can't wait to put it work


----------



## Mute-on

Might be time to update the title of this thread?

How many more to go, Floris? 

31st .....


----------



## Zweber12

Mute-on said:


> Might be time to update the title of this thread?
> 
> How many more to go, Floris?
> 
> 31st .....



If i had known, yes, the title would certainly have been different. Maybe a la Buzzfeed: "_Collecting Shigefusa's? See what this guy did_."


----------



## Zweber12

One more addition to my website, a 225mm kasumi deba:







More information and photos of the deba can be found here


----------



## Mute-on

She's a big 'un alright 

Only 6 to go


----------



## daveb

Sweet


----------



## Zweber12

Two new additions to the website! Very excited about this first one, a 300mm kasumi Fugubiki. Now I can start comparing this knife to the yanagibas, as soon as I find some time. Incredibly light knife and razor sharp out of the box. 






The other knife is a 210mm Kitaeji Kakugata Usuba. Both knives I picked up during a recent trip to Japan.






More info on the Fugubiki can be found here
More info on the Usuba can be found here


----------



## Mute-on

That Usuba is incredible!
Nice pickup :thumbsup:


----------



## Elber10

Beauteful knife


----------



## daveb

Elber10 said:


> Beauteful knife



Welcome to the forum Elber. What types of knives are your favorites?


----------



## Elber10

Hi daveb,
I prefer Gyutos, but i have also nakiri,Usuba, pettys from Shigefusa, Marko Tsourkan, Kato and other.


----------



## daveb

Nice knives. Thanks for the response.


----------



## Zweber12

Recently added this 180mm kitaeji deba to my collection; breaking down fish has never been that easy!






More images and measurements of the knife can be found here.


----------



## mikedtran

Your collection is AMAZING!


----------



## aboynamedsuita

No kidding that is some serious stuff you got going on there F. I also see you've added a Kitaeji chukabocho :doublethumbsup:


----------



## Zweber12

Yup, i believe it is Markenki's sibling from So's order. To round up the recent additions:

180mm kasumi Gyuto:





More Gyuto photos and measurements can be found *here*



230mm kitaeji Chuka:





More Chuka photos and measurements can be found *here*


----------



## schanop

Awesome, Floris.


----------



## Mute-on

Floris is single handedly trying to corner the kitaeji, unique, rarer- than-rare, must-have Shig market, and put us Aussie Shig hoarders to shame. 

He's succeeding!

Very nice, Floris


----------



## Zweber12

Finally got around to take photos and measure this one, a 210mm kitaeji kamagata usuba:






More info and photos can be found on my site.


----------



## schanop

Is it NOS or something? You will have to work a bit with polishing magic to get rid of those black spots. :viking:

Apart from that, it looks awesome.


----------



## Zweber12

Hi Chanop, not 100% sure at this stage; i'm still planning on comparing the different kanji engravings, perhaps this will shed some light on the NOS.


----------



## Zweber12

Okay, it's been a month and thought to mix things up for my 30th Shig celebration, a 150mm KU petty:






More info on the knife can be found by clicking this link

_Yes, i am adding sections to my site and these are not active yet; overall performance should have increased a lot already._


----------



## Mute-on

Nice way to bring up the big 30, Floris! The second most used knife in a western kitchen (the most used in some ...). 

Classic affordable Shig


----------



## Zweber12

Today the mailman dropped off something really special straight from Japan, a Shigefusa Udon Kiri. Thanks to fellow KKF (you know who you are!) pointed me to this auction on Yahoo! Japan. I probably spent more time figuring out the kanji of the reCAPTCHA for the auction registration then bidding on the knife. The process after the bidding with help of Tenso & Buyee was super smooth and took exactly 7 days from winning the bid to arriving on my doorstep. I can definitely recommend these services when buying from Japanese websites/auctions. Tenso does require verification.

Coming back to the knife, ive never seen or heard about a Shigefusa Udon/Soba/Kashi Kiri, searches on google do not yield any results either. Id be interested in hearing your feedback via PMs or Instagram. Happy to send high res images to you if the ones on my site are not detailed enough.








More information on the knife by clicking here


----------



## cheflivengood

thats an awesome unicorn, does the handle come off? is it old stock?


----------



## aboynamedsuita

Very interesting it almost looks like a Kurouchi with the finish partially removed


----------



## Zweber12

cheflivengood said:


> thats an awesome unicorn, does the handle come off? is it old stock?



The handle is solidly attached to the knife itself and does not come off. Old stock? There are signs, though the chiseling of the kanji is very refined compared to the 270mm yanagiba NOS that I own. 



tjangula said:


> Very interesting it almost looks like a Kurouchi with the finish partially removed



Indeed, I have seen one such example (partially removed kurouchi finish) and there are similarities, though this removal would be a hell of a job to accomplish on both sides of the knife. We're talking 2x 245mm by at least 50mm of surface area on each side. 

When I have a chance, I will post pictures of the kiri box the knife came with. Unfortunately, the box took a beating in the mail, as it was shipped loose in a package along with three large udon rolling pins. The wood of the box is different from the 'standard' Shigefusa kiri boxes; thinner side walls and darker discolouration, perhaps not even paulownia wood. The rust paper covering the knife is also different from the more recent knives i received, definitely and older type face and has an 'very old' feel. So more to come on this side.


----------



## Zweber12

With the excitement of the Udon Kiri and website upgrade, I forgot to post two recent additions, a 300 & a 330mm kitaeji yanagiba. The website underwent mainly performance enhancements, i added a section with some of my stones and put up a section for comparisons. The latter is still under construction.

Funny fact, both knives are a fraction too long for the usual background i use in my makeshift photo booth. For the keen eye, the wooden background warp the other way compared to the short knives. Nonetheless:


*300mm kitaeji yanagiba:*





Link to more information on the knife: here


*330mm kitaeji yanagiba:*





Link to more information on the knife: here


----------



## XooMG

Noodle knife looks like a vinegar wash job. Pretty neat.


----------



## aboynamedsuita

Whoa I remember when you said you were only going for 270mm or less, good way to buck the trend :cool2:

The JNS Ohira Renge Suita looks awesome too with all that surface area and aka renge.


----------



## Vancouverguy

Damn, Where are you getting your shigs! Just impressive your collection. $$ is a problem for my shig collection for sure.


----------



## Zweber12

Finally had time to make my own noodles with the Udon Kiri; I definitely need more practise:


----------



## Zweber12

I've been very fortunate to add this knife to my collection with a beautiful ringed gidgee handle made by Dan.

*210mm kitaeji gyuto, yo-handle:*






More information and photos of the knife can be found here


----------



## inzite

sexy in all ways!


----------



## nevin

Nice new Shig!


----------



## Zweber12

To follow-up from a post I did last year on the price development of Shigefusa knives, I actually took the time to scroll through the last years years of BST sales, a 160 pages worth, to see what sold for which price. In the search process I surely missed a couple Shigefusa sales here and there; nonetheless I was able to record 170 knife sales. Please note, I did not take into account Shigefusa sales from other, reputable sellers, just BST as a representation of an open market environment.

Enjoy the reading below.

Total Shigefusa sales found: 170 knives. Yes, I did come across a lot of catch and release knives, each sale was counted individually as those prices often varied. Below a breakdown of the number of Shigs sold per year. CY17 is YTD. If CY17 continues the way it started, it will be a new record year for Shigs sales on BST. (if you are planning on selling a 270 kitaeji gyuto, contact me! ;-))







Then you might wonder, what is the total value sold on BST: well, a whopping $89k USD over those years. So keep those BST donations coming!







Next up, what is the most popular knife to be sold? Guys by far. Interestingly, Sujis and Yo Gyutos were regularly sold between 2012-2014, though have become a complete rarity now.







And what is the most common finish?







Here it becomes interesting part about price development over the past years: what is the average price per mm for the different finishes. With more data compared to my previous post, the average prices are actually fairly stable, with a couple bumps here and there. Numbers are not inflation adjusted. To give an example, a 240mm Kitaeji knife in 2015 sold for $912, in 2016 this was $936, etc. Perhaps you can help interpret the Kurouchi finish price increase? I have an idea, though like to hear yours. 







And yes, there are differences by knife type. Below the graph for gyutos only. Kitaeji certainly saw a steady price increase, yet kasumi finish is nearly dead straight.







Of course, there are differences between single and double bevel knives. One does have to look a bit more into details here and the sample pool was too small, as I expected single bevel Kitaeji to be more expense then a double bevel variation. 







Bonus graph: Box plot of the different finishes, wa handles only:







And for us total geeks, the full data set stats:







Let me know you what you think about the data above, Id be interested to hear your thoughts & discuss.


----------



## valgard

Interesting article, curious to hear your theory about KU. May have something to do with people getting fed up with reactivity or something? Or just plainly an effect of a lower supply as it seems those are the least commonly sold (perhaps also related to the above and the fact that the retail prices on those are lower leading to some people holding onto them as a better value?). Just rambling here.


----------



## BeepBeepImAJeep

I love this yo-gyuto! Beautiful handle.


----------



## Zweber12

As Valgard was referring to, I indeed think that several trends are playing a roll in the recent price development. What the above analytics does not reflect are 3rd party vendors. If this data is included, one can observe a steep incline in (especially) kitaeji prices, as high as $6.60 per mm, whereas the average on KKF $3.66 is. Secondly, the KU prices are generally more accessible and have remained fairly stable in terms of price per mm around $1.49 per mm. Yet recently, with the steep increase in kitaeji prices, less offers of kasumi finished knives, the KU price has increased on KKF. Recently, there was a 3rd party KU offer for $2.49 per mm, while recently a single bevel kitaeji knife went for $2.33 per mm.


----------



## Customfan

Nice Shig and very interesting analysis and stats.... cool approach on cost per mm since its a good way to compare apples with apples. ;-)


----------



## brainsausage

Thanks for the work you put in Zweber. It's strictly academic for me in many respects, yet still interesting to analyze. Regarding the KU, I'd hazard to guess that it's fairly 'new' in my experience and not as appreciated in many regards previously aesthetically which would yield differing results across the board. The relative rarity of the kasumi/kitaeji would open up the need for any type of shig, hence the upturn in KU sales. Just a guess on my part.


----------



## Zweber12

Almost forgot, added this beauty last month: 150mm kitaeji petty:







More information and photos of the knife can be found here


----------



## Customfan

Nicely done! you are well on your way...


----------



## Zweber12

Customfan said:


> Nicely done! you are well on your way...



If I have to believe my wife, it's half way to hell, lol


----------



## Zweber12

It's been a busy weekend, yet I finally got around to finish up two comparisons for my website:

First up; *a side-by-side of three 270mm yanagibas:*






More information: click here



Second, a long awaited comparison between *two 240mm Kitaeji Gyuto with a Wa and Yo Handle:*






More information: click here


I am open to do more comparison, just drop me PM.


----------



## Zweber12

Had a chance to take all the stones out for a nice run this past weekend.. talking about rabbit holes...


----------



## aboynamedsuita

Nice rock collection


----------



## Badgertooth

That Nakayama aka pin was one of my favourites. Any current favourites amongst your (rapidly growing) collection. The on below the Natsuya with the kanji looks great as does the bright yellow one above the Nakayama Suita.


----------



## tgfencer

Mmm jnats. Lovely looking bunch. Any chance of a rundown list of what they all are?


----------



## Zweber12

To follow up from the stone post, first, what is in the picture:

Top row, from top to bottom:
Hakka
Nakayama Asagi
Nakayama Kiita
Nakayama Suita Lv4
Shoubudani Lv2.5
Nakayama Maruichi kamisori San Lv 4+
Atoma 140

Middle, top to bottom
Natsuya Lv3.5
Hideriyama Uroko Lv3

Bottom row, from top to bottom:
Naniwa Choseras: 400, 1000, 5000, 10000
Ohira Renge Suita Lv3.5
Ohira Renge Suita Lv3.5/Lv4
Shoubudani Asagi Lv5+

Above the sink:
Nakayama Aka Pin Lv3


Second, any favorites, yes, the aka pin and nakayaka suita are two amazing stones with incredible feedback; my fav for sharpening my Shigs. The Shoubudani Lv2.5 and Ohira Renge Suita Lv3.5 follow very closely. The Hideriyama Uroko Lv3 came from Morihei and carries very similar markings as Danzo and Badgertooth's stone in this post. More info on the individual stones can be found here.


----------



## Zweber12

Spring cleaning and maintenance; sharpening, camellia oiling and cataloging:


----------



## Zweber12

Mail call today and this rather unique 150mm Kanto-style KU Nakiri was dropped off. More details on the knife will follow in the next couple weeks.


----------



## aboynamedsuita

Man you've got quite the assortment of one of a kind shigs.


----------



## Customfan

Zweber12 said:


> Had a chance to take all the stones out for a nice run this past weekend.. talking about rabbit holes...



Oh my! I completely undertand, I just spent a nice chunk of time chasing the rabbit myself... nice assortment, you could realy get lost there and talk to all of the cast of characters of Alice in Wonderland!


----------



## ynot1985

That's the exact knife I got last year in Japanese... (I still have no idea what it was) ...Kanto style Nakiri.. do you use it like a normal nakiri???

damn you got the good handle.. mine only had the cheap plastic handle



Zweber12 said:


> Mail call today and this rather unique 150mm Kanto-style KU Nakiri was dropped off. More details on the knife will follow in the next couple weeks.


----------



## Zweber12

ynot1985 said:


> That's the exact knife I got last year in Japanese... (I still have no idea what it was) ...Kanto style Nakiri.. do you use it like a normal nakiri???
> 
> damn you got the good handle.. mine only had the cheap plastic handle



I think it's officially called a "Nakiri Higashigata," or "Kantogata Nakiri;" the knife tends to be taller towards the front and has a rounded heel.


----------



## Zweber12

Following-up on the sneak peek of the Kantogata Nakiri from last week, I was finally able to put the knife details and images on my site:








All the information and photos of the knife can be found here.


----------



## Zweber12

Posted yesterday on my IG, I was recently very fortunate to pickup this insane 310mm kitaeji takobiki:







All the measurements and photos of the knife *can be found here*.


----------



## Customfan

Wholy mackrel! That is a no no sense piece right there! Whorthy of the kraken itself... nice! :nunchucks:


----------



## Zweber12

Customfan said:


> Wholy mackrel! That is a no no sense piece right there! Whorthy of the kraken itself... nice! :nunchucks:



This one will be tough to top; I have some things in the mail that might come close! :thumbsup:


----------



## Zweber12

I recently picked up a couple Shigefusa KUs and are only slow to add them to the site. I do like these knives a lot for daily use, easy to clean and the shorter sizes I favor too. Here a 165mm KU Santoku:








All the measurements and photos of the knife *can be found here.*


----------



## Zweber12

Rounding up the KU additions, a 165mm nakairi, hitchhiking on the kato popularity at the moment.. lol.








All the measurements and photos of the knife *can be found her*e.


----------



## Zweber12

Posted this image on IG yesterday, I recently picked up this rare (?) Shigefusa knife, described only as a "hunting knife." If you have any additional information, please send me a PM or leave a comment. Images and measurements will follow!


----------



## Jacob_x

quite cool that


----------



## Zweber12

Zweber12 said:


>




Over the last couple days, I received help and feedback on this knife and with a decent certainty I can say that this is a (Japanese) tailor knife to cut cloth.


----------



## Badgertooth

That is such a cool thing to have


----------



## Zweber12

What is the average Shigefusa knife? I asked myself this question and dug into my current collection and simply averaged everything out from a total of 43 knives. Of course, it has my collection bias, nonetheless a fun average of averages. Note: all measurements are in mm:

Finish: Kasumi: 36%, KU: 10%, Kitaeji: 64%
Blade length: 210 
Bevel: Single: 40%; double: 60%	
Reality vs Advertised:	98.7% (is advertised blade length vs actual length)
Tot. Length:  356 
Handle to Tip Length:	227 
Heel to Tip Length:	210 
Weight: 205 gr
Height at Heel: 44.9 
At Handle: 6.2 
Above Heel: 4.1 
At Middle: 2.8 
1cm From Tip: 1.6 
At Spine: 2.8 
2cm: 2.3 
1cm: 1.8 
0.5cm: 1.0 
Handle Length: 130 
Handle Width: 25.4

There you have it, the average Shigefusa knife.


----------



## aboynamedsuita

Nothing average about FOURTY-THREE SHIGS! I remember when you hit 30 lol


----------



## Customfan

Interesting data, never quite seen it like that, thanks for compiling...


----------



## Marek07

aboynamedsuita said:


> Nothing average about FOURTY-THREE SHIGS! I remember when you hit 30 lol


Totally agree! You may be single-handedly responsible for the world wide shortage of Shigs. *;-)
*Then again, us Aussie folk might be partially to blame.


----------



## Zweber12

Marek07 said:


> Totally agree! You may be single-handedly responsible for the world wide shortage of Shigs. *;-)
> *Then again, us Aussie folk might be partially to blame.



Probably not for the most recent shortage, Eitan has been (nearly) single handedly responsible for that! ;-)


----------



## Zweber12

I have thing for Shigefusa petties, so I was delighted I was able to come across this 135mm yo handle, kitaeji petty:








All the measurements and photos of the knife *can be found here*.


----------



## Eitan78

Zweber12 said:


> Probably not for the most recent shortage, Eitan has been (nearly) single handedly responsible for that! ;-)



Nearly but not quite, you are still my role model sir!

I have been very lucky to be in the right place at the right time in most cases.

by the way, what's the minimum Shig count to obtain an Aussie passport these days?


----------



## Zweber12

Eitan78 said:


> what's the minimum Shig count to obtain an Aussie passport these days?



Lol, I think you qualify for honorary citizen by now..


----------



## fatboylim

Zweber12 said:


> Lol, I think you qualify for honorary citizen by now..



Which means New Zealand citizenship


----------



## jimbob

Hey hold on.....


----------



## Eitan78

Zweber12 said:


> Lol, I think you qualify for honorary citizen by now..



I guess I should start looking for a surfboard...


----------



## fatboylim

Eitan78 said:


> I guess I should start looking for a surfboard...



Na, just sheep herding attire, I hear it is still all the rage in NZ


----------



## Badgertooth

fatboylim said:


> Na, just sheep herding attire, I hear it is still all the rage in NZ



I like to be warm and dry when I'm herding an Aussie's boyfriend into it's paddock for the night.


----------



## fatboylim

Badgertooth said:


> I like to be warm and dry when I'm herding an Aussie's boyfriend into it's paddock for the night.



Touché!

Although to most bogan Aussies they would say, touchy (and yes we have droves of them)


----------



## Zweber12

Alrighty, before this thread derails in an all out nation insult forum, perhaps something to distract the minds. Picked up a "project knife" this morning, badly beaten up Usuba that will need some work. Poor sharpening, pitting, scratches all over, etc. Most interesting discovery is that underneath it all, a unique kitaeji pattern is seen. More to come for sure!

*Edit:* removed image link and displayed image on page 24


----------



## KimBronnum

Wow, Floris - this sounds like a fun project knife indeet &#128512;&#128077;


----------



## khashy

I really want to see the kitaeji but Photo doesn't display for me and the link says permission denied.


----------



## Zweber12

OK, seem there were some issue with the image, hereby a new try.

*Current knife condition:*






*Kitaeji Pattern:*





Several notes on this knife: the kitaeji pattern, not distinctly 'grouped' in 3 lines and larger distance between them and a blond ferrule.


----------



## valgard

It sure looks different... and beat up. You have some work to do :biggrin:. We are waiting to see the finished blade, it should be quite the transformation.


----------



## Zweber12

Short update on the progress I am making on the project knife. Got (and still getting) excellent help/tips from a fellow KKF'er on how to proceed with this restoration. So far about 15 hrs of work has been put in and still a long way to go! Love to hear your comments.


----------



## mikedtran

Looking good so far, can you talk a bit about process?

*
My route would have been:*
-Flatten with a very coarse stone
-Hand sandpaper from 200 through 1600
-Aoto or similar stone
-Suita
-Finger Stones



Zweber12 said:


> Short update on the progress I am making on the project knife. Got (and still getting) excellent help/tips from a fellow KKF'er on how to proceed with this restoration. So far about 15 hrs of work has been put in and still a long way to go! Love to hear your comments.


----------



## valgard

would like to hear details about the process too.


----------



## Badgertooth

Or emotively

- Anger 
- Denial
- depression
- Kasumi
- acceptance


----------



## fatboylim

Badgertooth said:


> Or emotively
> 
> - Anger
> - Denial
> - depression
> - Kasumi
> - acceptance



 that made me smile!


----------



## Zweber12

A lot of thanks have to go to nutmeg for his advice on how to tackle this project, without it I would probably be stick still in the anger phase. Foremost, this knife allowed to use my stones beyond a regular sharpening session, which was a great experience to become one with you stone(s) and really see what the qualities and downside are. Second, it required careful examination of the knife and drawing up a plan. Sounds easy, it is actually not. This usuba was abused beyond believe, sharpened in many different ways over time, even the Ura had a bevel. Luckily I own a NIB usuba, which served as a fantastic reference. So yes:

- Anger: I lost a couple hours, as I set a wrong bevel initially, which required a lot of work to correct. Still have anger for not getting a more crisp shinogi line.

- Denial: lots of denial going on, luckily I was watching House of Card season 5 while working on the knife, this helped me distract negative thoughts..

- Depression: ten hours into the project, I though I would never get to a stage that would be acceptable.

- Kasumi: at hour 15 I reached a level that started to look like my reference knife in terms of kasumi finish. Happiness set in, good timing, as I ran out of beer.

- Acceptance: so after about 20 hrs, I called it quits as the knife looked very decent with my nocie style. The image above is actually after about 15 hrs of work. Long weekend was over and work is picking up before the summer break.


----------



## KimBronnum

Really nice - Well done, Floris. You must have a special bond with this knife now &#128077;&#128512;


----------



## Zweber12

KimBronnum said:


> Really nice - Well done, Floris. You must have a special bond with this knife now &#128077;&#128512;



For sure! Still would like to make a few touch ups...


----------



## Zweber12

Having some fun this weekend:


----------



## Badgertooth

Those are unreal


----------



## Mute-on

You cut Spider-Man in half!!?!??!?
What were you thinking ?!
J


----------



## schanop

It is a bit big for little Sam. :hatsoff:


----------



## Zweber12

Mute-on said:


> You cut Spider-Man in half!!?!??!?
> What were you thinking ?!
> J



Nah, a work related accident, his small hands could not handle the awesomeness of the blade..


----------



## valgard

those cleavers are totally nuts


----------



## fatboylim

valgard said:


> those cleavers are totally nuts



And in super sharp steel, it's a mallet sized razor! Love it.


----------



## Zweber12

Finally got my project Usuba on my site!







All the measurements and photos of the knife *can be found here*.


----------



## mikedtran

You killed it! That usuba looks amazing now!

Any idea on when this blade was made?


----------



## Zweber12

Not sure, best guess judging by the handle, before 2000


----------



## Zweber12

Last week, this beauty knocked on the door asking for a new home, a 240mm kasumi yo-handled gyuto. I was kind enough to let it in:






All the measurements and photos of the knife *can be found here.*


----------



## Badgertooth

Drop dead gorgeous


----------



## valgard

Zweber12 said:


> Last week, this beauty knocked on the door asking for a new home, a 240mm kasumi yo-handled gyuto. I was kind enough to let it in:


You're such a kind soul... that knife is hot :fanning:


----------



## Zweber12

Rounding up the recent additions with this 105mm KU Ajikiri, with came with the Yo Gyuto i posted earlier. 






All the measurements and photos of the knife *can be found here.*


----------



## KimBronnum

I suppose you can expect a letter from the ***. emperor soon. Your Shige collection must be one of a kind in the whole world. Have you consideret building an annex for them? [emoji2] Amazing, Floris. I'm lost for words


----------



## KimBronnum

Why was the word "Japanese" was shifted with dots? &#128579;


----------



## Zweber12

KimBronnum said:


> Why was the word "Japanese" was shifted with dots? &#128579;



Lol, swearing is not allowed, Kim! Alternatively, the forum might have though you were posting a website?


----------



## aboynamedsuita

Probably because the first 3 letters can have a negative connotation as a slur?

Cute little Shig too you definitely find some rare ones not commonly seen


----------



## Zweber12

The other day i picked up this funky little Shiegfusa knife, a KU 150mm, single bevel. Name-wise, this either be a "little fish knife", or kaisaki, or mini yanagiba. 












All the measurements and photos of the knife *can be found here*.


----------



## Zweber12

Recently I was asked by a KKF member for a collection overview photo, I finally got around to take one. Enjoy.


----------



## riverie

Holy cow!!!!!


----------



## Panamapeet

I can die now...


----------



## Anton

And I thought I had problems 

But I love the single maker connection, that's something we'll never see again


----------



## Dinsdale

The 360 Yanagi looks familiar:doublethumbsup:


----------



## Zweber12

Dinsdale said:


> The 360 Yanagi looks familiar:doublethumbsup:



:doublethumbsup:


----------



## valgard

Damn! so impressive in a single frame


----------



## F-Flash

Is there some specific knives you are still looking for?


----------



## malexthekid

The picture isn't loading for me.... Nnnooooooo!!! I need to see.


----------



## TheCaptain

That almost looks like an art installation that needs to be in a modern museum.

I volunteer my house to be the gallery...


----------



## Zweber12

F-Flash said:


> Is there some specific knives you are still looking for?



Yes, for sure, I never stop dreaming:

*Kitaeji, Wa Handle*
-	Yanagiba, 240mm
-	Gyuto, 300mm
-	Fugubiki, 240mm
-	Deba, 165mm
-	Deba, 150mm
-	Deba, 135mm
-	Unagisaki (any length)
-	Kiritsuke (any length)
-	Garasuke (any length)

*Kitaeji, Yo Handle*
-	Gyuto, 270mm
-	Gyuto, 300mm
-	Petty, 150mm
-	Sujikihi, 300mm
-	Sujikihi, 270mm

*Kasumi, Yo Handle*
-	Gyuto, 270mm
-	Gyuto, 210mm
-	Gyuto, 180mm
-	Petty, 135mm
*
Kasumi, Wa Handle*
-	Petty 150mm
-	Petty 135mm

Anyone with one of these knives can contact me for a fair offer!


----------



## Zweber12

Several folks have asked me recently if I could do an update on the Shigefusa pricing post that I did here back in March. Several interesting pieces have hit the market between March and now and, I guess, there is a need for context.

Okay, so first some info about the data set. My excel file now contains 270+ Shigefusa transactions between 2011 and YTD 2017; its a mix of KKF and 3rd party vendors, with 2/3rd of the transactions of the last 3 years. Simple explanation for that is: thats when I started keeping record. Lastly, the data set is all public information.


First question I always get is: do prices increase? Yes, they do and they have been accelerating in the past 3 years:







The data is for Wa Handle only, Single & Double Bevel mixed:
· Kasumi: 7 year CAGR is 7%, CAGR of the last 3 years: 11%
· Kitaeji : 6 year CAGR is 4%, CAGR of the last 3 years: 6%
· Kurouchi: 6 year CAGR is 8%, CAGR of the last 3 years: 20%


Second question I get is: is this knife a fair/good/bad/outrageous/insane deal?
This question is multifactorial, emotional and rational at the same time, only thing I can do here is give you the box plots with whiskers:






How to read? Simple, take the price in USD, divide by the length of the knife in mm. This will give you a $ price per mm. The blue dot is the Mean, whiskers give min/max max values recorded, box itself is 50% of values. 


The third most asked question: _Can you help me price my Shig_, or _What price did the last xx sell for_?
Yes, I can help you with this, just shoot me an KKF pm. If you want a custom answer, same process.


----------



## FoRdLaz

Zweber12 said:


> Several folks have asked me recently if I could do an update on the Shigefusa pricing post that I did here back in March. Several interesting pieces have hit the market between March and now and, I guess, there is a need for context.
> 
> Okay, so first some info about the data set. My excel file now contains 270+ Shigefusa transactions between 2011 and YTD 2017; its a mix of KKF and 3rd party vendors, with 2/3rd of the transactions of the last 3 years. Simple explanation for that is: thats when I started keeping record. Lastly, the data set is all public information.
> 
> 
> First question I always get is: do prices increase? Yes, they do and they have been accelerating in the past 3 years:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The data is for Wa Handle only, Single & Double Bevel mixed:
> · Kasumi: 7 year CAGR is 7%, CAGR of the last 3 years: 11%
> · Kitaeji : 6 year CAGR is 4%, CAGR of the last 3 years: 6%
> · Kurouchi: 6 year CAGR is 8%, CAGR of the last 3 years: 20%
> 
> 
> Second question I get is: is this knife a fair/good/bad/outrageous/insane deal?
> This question is multifactorial, emotional and rational at the same time, only thing I can do here is give you the box plots with whiskers:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> How to read? Simple, take the price in USD, divide by the length of the knife in mm. This will give you a $ price per mm. The blue dot is the Mean, whiskers give min/max max values recorded, box itself is 50% of values.
> 
> 
> The third most asked question: _Can you help me price my Shig_, or _What price did the last xx sell for_?
> Yes, I can help you with this, just shoot me an KKF pm. If you want a custom answer, same process.



Awesome info. Thanks for your time and effort!


----------



## valgard

Incredibly useful and well organized info as usual Floris. I love the nerdy graphs xD.


----------



## valgard

Those whiskers are very biased to higher values lol.


----------



## QCDawg

U r amazing Floris. There again, u set the market on most of the data &#128514;


----------



## Zweber12

valgard said:


> Those whiskers are very biased to higher values lol.



True, though the knives in each category have different dimensions; length, type etc. The price per mm is just a simple calculation and certain unicorns can heavily distort the data set.


----------



## Zweber12

Got a few messages over the last weeks from folks asking for updates on my website. I know, the last update was somewhere in June and I have acquired several knives since. With the launch of a redesigned site, these knives will be featured in full detail. The latter will be somewhere this fall, or check out my IG account to get your weekly Shig fix!


----------



## Zweber12

Small update, did start the redesign of the website, progress is slow though a preview below. A lot more focus will be put on photos:


----------



## Eitan78

Zweber12 said:


> Small update, did start the redesign of the website, progress is slow though a preview below. A lot more focus will be put on photos:



Awesome work Floris!
Superb!
next step is opening the shigefusa museum for the community.
[emoji1]


----------



## Zweber12

Eitan78 said:


> Awesome work Floris!
> Superb!
> next step is opening the shigefusa museum for the community.
> [emoji1]



The invite is in the mail!


----------



## valgard

Awesome Floris, I need a badge as first one to visit the museum lol. 



Zweber12 said:


> Small update, did start the redesign of the website, progress is slow though a preview below. A lot more focus will be put on photos:


----------



## nevin

Zweber12 said:


> Small update, did start the redesign of the website, progress is slow though a preview below.



Floris, I urge you to have a roadshow around the world with your Shigefusa's collection!


----------



## Zweber12

nevin said:


> Floris, I urge you to have a roadshow around the world with your Shigefusa's collection!



A "Zweber12 pass-around;" as long as the next recipient pays for S&H, I am in. Still have plenty of holidays left this year.. :doublethumbsup:


----------



## nevin

Zweber12 said:


> A "Zweber12 pass-around;" as long as the next recipient pays for S&H, I am in. Still have plenty of holidays left this year.. :doublethumbsup:



How can we only pass around the knives without meeting the famous celebrity?


----------



## Zweber12

Not one of the most brilliant of images, though a shot of a Shigefusa Kasumi Kiritsuki, 270mm. Once I have my new site up an running, I will document this knife in more detail!


----------



## Mute-on

Thats a beautiful blade!


----------



## Zweber12

Two more photos of recently acquired knives, wish I had more time to dedicate to cataloging and updating the website.

*Shigefusa kasumi Kiritsuke, 270mm* 







*Shigefusa kitaeji Mioroshi Deba, 240mm*


----------



## Zweber12

Rounding up an exceptional week with this one, a Shigefusa Kitaeji Sujihiki,270 mm, yo handle:


----------



## valgard

OMG


----------



## fatboylim

Holy smokes batman!


----------



## Mute-on

valgard said:


> OMG



Yeah, ummm, what he said.

Seriously, Floris?


----------



## Marek07

Zweber12 said:


> Rounding up an exceptional week with this one, a Shigefusa Kitaeji Sujihiki,270 mm, yo handle:


Your "exceptional week" = a couple of years to us mortals! Very, very nice.


----------



## Zweber12

I finally got around to take new photos, enjoy!


*This image captures 3 of my favourite knives, 2 kitaeji Fugubikis, 270 & 300mm and a kasumi Fugubiki 270mm.*






*No need for an introduction:*






*Kitaeji Kamagata Usuba, 210mm*






*Kitaeji Yanagiba, 270mm, NOS:*


----------



## Zweber12

One more:


----------



## Zweber12

Not everything I collect is Shigefusa, one of the other highlights, a Yoshiaki Fujiwara Kikuryu Gyuto, 240mm


----------



## malexthekid

Zweber12 said:


> One more:


I love the grain and colouring on that handle


----------



## valgard

GTFO [emoji91]


----------



## StonedEdge

valgard said:


> GTFO [emoji91]


+1


----------



## Zweber12

Still in the process of taking new photos for my site, here a recent one from a 195mm kasumi Deba. Several nice features are the NOS handle and the chiseled kanji on a kasumi single bevel:


----------



## Chicagohawkie

Wow! That museum knife collection keeps growing! Whats next!?


----------



## Eitan78

Beautiful deba!


----------



## QCDawg

180 gyuto 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/J55Ahb9RyJJJ0lIn2


----------



## QCDawg

Hey! https://photos.app.goo.gl/yVTMxJq4o46NW7v83


----------



## Zweber12

A couple recent close up pictures from the Shigefusa kanji:


----------



## Eitan78

QCDawg said:


> 180 gyuto
> 
> https://photos.app.goo.gl/J55Ahb9RyJJJ0lIn2



Lovely! [emoji1]


----------



## Zweber12

Chicagohawkie said:


> Wow! That museum knife collection keeps growing! Whats next!?



I've been lacking behind in updating my website, a bunch of knives are still not listed. The latest are are a pair of 240mm mioroshi debas, kasumi and kitaeji.


----------



## QCDawg

Eitan78 said:


> Lovely! [emoji1]



I know, right?


----------



## Zweber12

Recently added a 240mm Shigefusa kasumi mioroshi deba to the collection, completing a pair:


----------



## valgard

beauties Floris! Very nice as usual.


----------



## Eitan78

Zweber12 said:


> Recently added a 240mm Shigefusa kasumi mioroshi deba to the collection, completing a pair:



Beautiful pair [emoji7][emoji7]


----------



## Zweber12

A few more photos from this weekend:
*
Shigefusa Kitaeji Gyuto, 270mm:*




*
Shigefusa Kasumi Sujihiki, 300mm:*


----------



## valgard

that 270 is a beast


----------



## Zweber12

I posted these images in another thread as well; handle of a 135mm yo petty:


----------



## Zweber12

So this took 'forever' to finish, my new site is online and fully up to date: kitaeji.com.


----------



## valgard

[emoji122][emoji122][emoji122]


----------



## Tler

This thread is such a pleasure to watch a collection grow.


----------



## Tler

Great site as well, I'm very happy that these pictures on this thread and your site will stay up (unlike other threads where the pictures are no longer viewable, leaving a lot to be desired).


----------



## Zweber12

valgard said:


> [emoji122][emoji122][emoji122]





Tler said:


> Great site as well, I'm very happy that these pictures on this thread and your site will stay up (unlike other threads where the pictures are no longer viewable, leaving a lot to be desired).



Thanks guys, pleasure to provide as much info as I can for the enjoyment of all!


----------



## Zweber12

Will reposting a few new knives of the next couple days, one is a kasumi nakairi, 165mm. A unique trio here:


----------



## Zweber12

A recent addition, a 270mm kasumi Takobiki, stellar knife!


----------



## zetieum

man. You are crazy............and I love it.


----------



## valgard

kinda take it for granted but that's another beauty!


----------



## FunkyLuxury

Zweber12 said:


> A recent addition, a 270mm kasumi Takobiki, stellar knife!



Absolutely gorgeous. Guess you could part with a Yo Gyuto now :clown:


----------



## Zweber12

FunkyLuxury said:


> Absolutely gorgeous. Guess you could part with a Yo Gyuto now :clown:



:biggrin: If I would have gotten a dollar for each inquire over the last couple months for selling a gyuto (any kind), I can almost retire by now..


----------



## FunkyLuxury

Zweber12 said:


> :biggrin: If I would have gotten a dollar for each inquire over the last couple months for selling a gyuto (any kind), I can almost retire by now..



I do not doubt that at all. I'll be drooling over your IG posts until I find one for myself, and long after I suspect.


----------



## Zweber12

A few more photos of recent acquisition, a kasumi Nakiri (165mm) and a kasumi Mukimono (180mm):


----------



## nevin

Holy... look at that Mukimonos pattern!


----------



## Zweber12

A before and after spa picture of kasumi yo gyuto:


----------



## Mute-on

nevin said:


> Holy... look at that Mukimonos pattern!



+1

That is some of the craziest Kitaeji I think Ive seen yet! 

WOW!

J


----------



## Zweber12

A recent addition to the collection, a long awaited Kasumi Gyuto, 270mm:


----------



## Zweber12

.. and a recent kasumi gyuto 240mm.. the little brother of the one above!


----------



## HRC_64

Profile on 270 shig looks amazing, don't know why specifically...
Just seems understated and all in balance


----------



## inzite

HRC_64 said:


> Profile on 270 shig looks amazing, don't know why specifically...
> Just seems understated and all in balance



shig 270 has an awesome profile and geometry, it's taller than the others which makes it wedge less since the lower convex is not as low and more tapered and the profile has a very long flat spot.


----------



## Zweber12

I recently passed the 400 recorded Shigefusa sales in my database, so I thought is would be time for an update and provide you again with some interesting stats. The first disclaimer, these are sales that are publicly available, either from KKF, social media or known resellers. If you come across a sale, let me know and I will record the item in my data base. When reporting, any sale outside of KKF is simply listed as “3RD” or third-party sale.

*First some data facts:*

Time period: June 2011 – today
Recorded sales: 411
Total sales value: $288.000 USD
Highest price: Kitaeji Hamokiri ($2308 (2013)
Lowest price: Kurouchi petty, $150 (2012)
Finish: Kasumi (47%), Kitaeji (37%), Kurouchi (16%)
Bevels: Double (65%), Single (35%)
Handle: Wa (92%), Yo (8%)
Top 5 knives: Gyuto (145), Yanagiba (54), Nakiri (34), Petty (34), Deba (32)
Sales Outlet: KKF (62%), 3rd (38%)

*
So, then a couple questions:*


a) _Dear Zweber12, I want to sell a Shig, how do I price it?_ 
Answer:Well, I do not have a definite answer for you, though these box plots should give you a good idea of the price ranges and median. I can also provide you the entries for a specific knives. Just send me a DM. 













Shigefusa Pricing - Box Plot



__ Zweber12
__ Jul 23, 2018







b) _The latest [insert knife & finish] prices are insane, unbelievable. _
Answer: Yes, maybe, not really. Below two graphs of Kitaeji only sales. There is a high variability as you can see in the graph that plots each average price per mm vs a time stamp. There is simply a higher demand for these knives, but as the normalize “avg price per mm/year" shows, there are cycles and dips.














AvgPrice_Kitaeji_July2018_1



__ Zweber12
__ Jul 23, 2018


















AvgPrice_Kitaeji_July2018



__ Zweber12
__ Jul 23, 2018







So if you got specific Shig pricing questions, drop me a line!


----------



## valgard

HRC_64 said:


> Profile on 270 shig looks amazing, don't know why specifically...
> Just seems understated and all in balance


love how this one looks


----------



## Zweber12

For those who follow me in Instagram know that a couple days ago I had to opportunity to visit the Shigefusa workshop and meet Mr. Iizuka san, his wife and two sons, Masayuki san and Yoshihide san. Not many words describe the honor be able to visit and the whole experience in itself; nothing short of a dream come true! Got a lot of questions answered around knives in my collection and was able to see some of the knife making processes in person. Simply stunning!

View media item 31103
View media item 31102


----------



## ThinMan

Very cool.

Still working on getting my first Shig ...


----------



## Xenif

Wow thats amazing, for a super Shigefusa fan like yourself; must be a most precious and memorable momment. Very happy for you, living our collective knife boy dream. I recently acquired my first Shig, influenced by your posts [emoji14]


----------



## Mucho Bocho

Did you ask him about what he thinks about the global craze for his knives? I'm sure they have always been taught after, carny not to the extent they are today. He looks like a cool guy, like to see some more pics and videos if you have them.


----------



## nakneker

oops


----------



## valgard

nakneker said:


> View attachment 42183
> My second Shig, 210 with a Matt DeLosso handle. My other one is a 188,


Nice knife but you know this is @Zweber12's personal gallery thread right? There is a separate thread for showing your new knives.


----------



## nakneker

valgard said:


> Nice knife but you know this is @Zweber12's personal gallery thread right? There is a separate thread for showing your new knives.


My bad, I’ll try and delete it. New here and should have read it closer. My apologies.

Couldn’t delete so I erased it.


----------



## Zweber12

Several people have contacted me already about my recent trip for additional information. If you ever make it Sanjo, I can highly recommend contacting Mr. Yasushi Kawakami from the N.G.A. (Niigata Guide Association; niigata.guide.association[a]gmail.com; 070-1554-0902). He helped us out brilliantly and completely tailored our itinerary for the day.


----------



## nevin

Zweber12 said:


> Several people have contacted me already about my recent trip for additional information. If you ever make it Sanjo, I can highly recommend contacting Mr. Yasushi Kawakami from the N.G.A. (Niigata Guide Association; niigata.guide.association[a]gmail.com; 070-1554-0902). He helped us out brilliantly and completely tailored our itinerary for the day.


Great info! Thanks for sharing! 

I wonder now how many people will going to visit them on a daily basis ;-P


----------



## Zweber12

Posted this image on my IG yesterday; a three year pursuit/quest to acquire this particular knife, a 300mm kitaeji yo. Any suggestions for which wood to use on the handle, let me know in a comment below!


----------



## Anton

Something simple, a nice piece of striped black ebony, which is mostly black

Or rosewood with a super dense burl that doesn't take away from the blade - i have some I can send you pics of. 
Also, the right boxwood burl/red block.


----------



## Badgertooth

Zweber12 said:


> Posted this image on my IG yesterday; a three year pursuit/quest to acquire this particular knife, a 300mm kitaeji yo. Any suggestions for which wood to use on the handle, let me know in a comment below!



The most basic, understated, dark wood you can find. Maybe heavy like ebony to counter some of the blade weight. Absolutely stunning Floris


----------



## Zweber12

Starting off the weekend with an, IMHO, absolute Shigefusa unicorn: 300mm single bevel gyuto:


----------



## Zweber12

I recently added a 180mm kasumi yo gyuto to the collection with a beautiful cocobolo handle made by Dan Pahlberg. Once I have time I will take a better photo of the knife.


----------



## rebornhj

Did you have to set up an appointment before the Shigefusa workshop visit?
If I have to travel to Japan in the future, I really want to stop by at Shigefusa. I really appreciate their work


----------



## Zweber12

rebornhj said:


> Did you have to set up an appointment before the Shigefusa workshop visit?
> If I have to travel to Japan in the future, I really want to stop by at Shigefusa. I really appreciate their work



The owner of the hotel I stayed at helped me out with the arrangements, i did not ask them for the details. The guide mentioned in a post above was helping out with the transport and translations. (I can recommend contacting him when you are in Sanjo, or planning on going, super guy and has a wealth of regional knowledge!)


----------



## rebornhj

Zweber12 said:


> The owner of the hotel I stayed at helped me out with the arrangements, i did not ask them for the details. The guide mentioned in a post above was helping out with the transport and translations. (I can recommend contacting him when you are in Sanjo, or planning on going, super guy and has a wealth of regional knowledge!)



I really appreciate you for passing that information along. You're the best!


----------



## Zweber12

I've started a new series of photos, here the first two that were posted on my IG as well:

*4 Kasumi Gyutos:*
View media item 31149*
6 Kitaeji Gyutos & Petties:*
View media item 31150


----------



## Zweber12

I do own a very small number of 'other' kitchen knives besides my Shigefusa collection, which include these three: WH, STD and Kikuryu:

View media item 31151


----------



## valgard

That Kikuryu tho [emoji7].


----------



## Zweber12

One more image from the recent photo series, a quartet of 240 gyutos.

View media item 31156


----------



## Zweber12

Two more recent shots I also posted on IG:

View media item 31165
View media item 31164


----------



## mfishsauce

Absolutely gorgeous collection! Thank you for sharing


----------



## Daizone

This is crazy lol. The definite shig database. Is there anything they have made that you don’t own?


----------



## Zweber12

Daizone said:


> This is crazy lol. The definite shig database. Is there anything they have made that you don’t own?



Knife type wise there are a few knives, like a hamokiri, though finish wise, the list is a bit longer if you think kitaeji/kasumi/kurouchi & wa & yo.


----------



## Daizone

What is the current unicorn shig you are looking for?


----------



## Zweber12

I think this is a relative unique Shigefusa kasumi nakiri. KU versions appear regularly for sale, occasionally a kitaeji one, but I have never seen a kasumi version:


----------



## Zweber12

Daizone said:


> What is the current unicorn shig you are looking for?



Several Yo handled knives to complete series.


----------



## Zweber12

Took this detailed kanji photo over the weekend.. amazing to see the deformation of the metal and when looking closely, you can make out the sequence of the chiseling. 

View media item 31180


----------



## Zweber12

A personal request was make to do a side-by-side of a Shigefusa Fugubiki and Shigefusa Yanagiba, hereby the images for KKF as well: 

View media item 31182
View media item 31181


----------



## Zweber12

For all the Turkey carving Forum Members, a Shigefusa Kasumi Sujihiki: Happy Thanksgiving!

View media item 31189


----------



## Daizone

Just wondering do you have any leftie single bevel shigs? Just kind of wondering what is out there for lefties.  And typically what is the markup for a lefty version?


----------



## Zweber12

Daizone said:


> Just wondering do you have any leftie single bevel shigs? Just kind of wondering what is out there for lefties.  And typically what is the markup for a lefty version?



Hi Daizone, I am a 'rightie,' thus never focused on acquiring left handed Shigefusa knives. Regardless, yes, there are left handed single bevel blades out there, sporadically you can see a few pop up. The last one publicly sold (at least i was able to recorded in my data set) was in April of this year. There is a slight mark up, but I have to say this is marginally given the recent price fluctuations.


----------



## Zweber12

Posting this here as well, a nice graph showing the sales popularity of the different Shigefusa Gyutos, both Wa & Yo handles, Kitaeji and Kasumi. Data comes from the data set I keep, n=181













Gyuto Sizes



__ Zweber12
__ Nov 30, 2018


----------



## Hanmak17

Zweber12 said:


> For all the Turkey carving Forum Members, a Shigefusa Kasumi Sujihiki: Happy Thanksgiving!
> 
> View media item 31189



Very Nice!

I'm curious if you have ever seen a Yo handled Kitaeji Suji


----------



## valgard

Hanmak17 said:


> Very Nice!
> 
> I'm curious if you have ever seen a Yo handled Kitaeji Suji



You mean like these?

http://kitaeji.com/knives/Shigefusa_Kitaeji_Sujihiki_Yo_270mm/index.html


http://kitaeji.com/knives/Shigefusa_Kitaeji_Sujihiki_Yo_240mm/index.html


----------



## Hanmak17

valgard said:


> You mean like these?
> 
> http://kitaeji.com/knives/Shigefusa_Kitaeji_Sujihiki_Yo_270mm/index.html
> 
> 
> http://kitaeji.com/knives/Shigefusa_Kitaeji_Sujihiki_Yo_240mm/index.html



Yes just like those, beautiful. Curious if you know how many of these exist? Seem like true Unicorns. 

Also love to get your opinion on performance? They look nice but will they "cuuttt"


----------



## Zweber12

Hanmak17 said:


> Yes just like those, beautiful. Curious if you know how many of these exist? Seem like true Unicorns.
> 
> Also love to get your opinion on performance? They look nice but will they "cuuttt"



How many exist? Hard to say, but i am pretty confident the answer is 'very little.' Do they cut? God yes, I use my 270mm kasumi several times a week and its a delight to use; chicken, beef, you name it, the knife will slice through with great ease.


----------



## Zweber12

I received an interesting question this morning: "A_re people selling more Shigefusa knives after Thanksgiving to fund Christmas purchases?_" I took a look at number of Shigs sold and its total value (in USD) and came up with this hybrid graph:













Value_sum



__ Zweber12
__ Dec 5, 2018






Based on the above, would say, no, there is already a large lead up of sales starting mid summer, where i do not see a significant enough uptake in November and December to confirm the inital question. One comment i could make, we do see a larger number of knives sold compared to the value. IMHO could indicate the sale of 'cheaper' (if such a word exist nowadays for Shigefusa knives) items, such as KU.

However, the data above shows all Shigefusa sales, including those of known re-sellers. Shigefusa themselves have their production schedules and these are taken into account tin the numbers above. The assumption here is that 10 knives finished in December, will hit the market around the same period and thus be recorded (if i can find them and add the sales to my xls.) So simply put, i took out the sales from the known re-sellers, then i get this graph:













Value_sum2



__ Zweber12
__ Dec 5, 2018






A completely different picture and with some confidence, i could say, yes, a higher numbers of knives are sold/come on the market from non known re-sellers post Thanksgiving.


----------



## Zweber12

Posted this one on my IG today as well: Shigefusa Kitaeji Gyuto, 270mm

View media item 31207


----------



## Zweber12

View media item 31214
one of my favorites, a 270mm fugubiki.


----------



## Zweber12

A recent addition to the collection, a 270mm gyuto:


----------



## Zweber12

Part of a new series of photographs:






More new images can be found HERE and HERE


----------



## Panamapeet

Zweber12 said:


> Part of a new series of photographs:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> More new images can be found HERE and HERE


Incredible!


----------



## Zweber12

After 891 days between the first kitaeji yo I purchased (240mm) and last one 270mm; the series is now complete!


----------



## Xenif

Zweber12 said:


> After 891 days between the first kitaeji yo I purchased (240mm) and last one 270mm; the series is now complete!


Wow .... This .... [Lost for words] ..... 
Congratulations! What a sight to behold


----------



## Panamapeet

Zweber12 said:


> After 891 days between the first kitaeji yo I purchased (240mm) and last one 270mm; the series is now complete!


There is only one shig lord


----------



## ACHiPo

Zweber12 said:


> After 891 days between the first kitaeji yo I purchased (240mm) and last one 270mm; the series is now complete!


Pretty amazing collection!


----------



## Kai Wang

Amazing!!!


----------



## Kai Wang

Zweber12 said:


> After 891 days between the first kitaeji yo I purchased (240mm) and last one 270mm; the series is now complete!



Do you have shigefusa kasumi yanagi 300mm!? If you have what is the weight of the knife?!


----------



## Anton

Kai Wang said:


> Do you have shigefusa kasumi yanagi 300mm!? If you have what is the weight of the knife?!


you can probably google search this quite easily, in fact took me longer to type than to look it up...


----------



## Zweber12

Kai Wang said:


> Do you have shigefusa kasumi yanagi 300mm!? If you have what is the weight of the knife?!



I never owned a 300mm kasumi, though did own a 270 which was 151 grams. My kitaeji 300mm yanagiba weights 203 grams, whilst the 270 kitaeji NOS is 185 grams, and non NOS version 137. If you google, you might end up on my site, kitaeji[.]com; you can find all the knife measurements of my current (and past) collection.


----------



## Kai Wang

Anton said:


> you can probably google search this quite easily, in fact took me longer to type than to look it up...



So, you don’t know. But it is okay. I just found out it is around 160 to 180g.


----------



## Kai Wang

Zweber12 said:


> I never owned a 300mm kasumi, though did own a 270 which was 151 grams. My kitaeji 300mm yanagiba weights 203 grams, whilst the 270 kitaeji NOS is 185 grams, and non NOS version 137. If you google, you might end up on my site, kitaeji[.]com; you can find all the knife measurements of my current (and past) collection.



Thank you very much for your information. Friend of mine has one. It is very light. The weight of his is 155 G. But he has been used for a long time. We just want to find out the original weight


----------



## Zweber12

Kai Wang said:


> Thank you very much for your information. Friend of mine has one. It is very light. The weight of his is 155 G. But he has been used for a long time. We just want to find out the original weight



Weight varies, JNS had 300mm kasumi yanagiba listed for 190 grams.


----------



## Zweber12

One more of a set of photos that i took over the weekend:


----------



## F-Flash

Are these getting handles?


----------



## Zweber12

F-Flash said:


> Are these getting handles?



Eventually, still need to decide on the wood and get it all organized.


----------



## Zweber12

Interesting stat from my excel on Shigefusa sales. As I am nearing nearly 600 entries, hereby an overview of most recorded/sold knives over the past 5 years:

Type Size Finish Total Entries
Gyuto 240 Kasumi 56
Gyuto 210 Kasumi 51
Nakiri 165 Kurouchi 27
Yanagiba 300 Kitaeji 24
Santoku 165 Kurouchi 22
Yanagiba 300 Kasumi 22
Gyuto 210 Kitaeji 19
Gyuto 240 Kitaeji 19
Gyuto 270 Kasumi 17
Petty 150 Kurouchi 15


----------



## Zweber12

A recent photo I took, a set of sujihikis (240, 270 & 300mm):


----------



## Zweber12

Not sure I posted this before, a 270mm kasumi Kiritsuke:


----------



## Luftmensch

The previous post put this thread back on my radar...

Did you get the sujihikis new or used? The bevels on the 240 and 300mm come up high on the tip. The other interesting thing is the length-to-height at the heel. The 240 is the tallest, the 270 is the shortest and the 300 is inbetween! Strange how the ratio is changing... (I am assuming the photo is not a composite with different aspect ratios?).


----------



## Zweber12

Luftmensch said:


> The previous post put this thread back on my radar...
> 
> Did you get the sujihikis new or used? The bevels on the 240 and 300mm come up high on the tip. The other interesting thing is the length-to-height at the heel. The 240 is the tallest, the 270 is the shortest and the 300 is inbetween! Strange how the ratio is changing... (I am assuming the photo is not a composite with different aspect ratios?).




Hi, to answer your questions, the kitaeji sujis were aquired new. For all knife measurements, please visit the link in my signature and select the knife you are interested in. The photo is a composite, shot the three knives individually from the same distance and lighting, then PS'ed them into one image.


----------



## Luftmensch

Thanks @Zweber!

Ahhhh.... The composite sounds like a pretty faithful representation. Your zwebsite  is awesome....

Length | Height, Blade at Heel | Length, Handle to Tip
240mm | 38.9mm | 242mm
270mm | 35.8mm | 269mm
300mm | 40.2mm | 323mm

Definitely. The 240 is oddly tall or the 270 is oddly short. I would have assumed heel height has a linear relationship (or at least monotonic) with length. But who am I to judge ? Interesting!


----------



## Zweber12

Luftmensch said:


> Thanks @Zweber!
> 
> Ahhhh.... The composite sounds like a pretty faithful representation. Your zwebsite  is awesome....
> 
> Length | Height, Blade at Heel | Length, Handle to Tip
> 240mm | 38.9mm | 242mm
> 270mm | 35.8mm | 269mm
> 300mm | 40.2mm | 323mm
> 
> Definitely. The 240 is oddly tall or the 270 is oddly short. I would have assumed heel height has a linear relationship (or at least monotonic) with length. But who am I to judge ? Interesting!



Zwebsite.. nice one, will remember this one for a long time! Yes, there's indeed a difference, then again, these are handmade knives, right?


----------



## nevin

Zweber12 said:


> Not sure I posted this before, a 270mm kasumi Kiritsuke:


That's sexy!!!


----------



## Zweber12

A couple shots I recently posted on my IG as well:


----------



## ACHiPo

Very nice photos of cool kanji!


----------



## krx927

Indeed nice pics.

Looking at all the pics you are posting, are you actually using any of the Shigs you have? I do not see any usage marks on any of them...


----------



## Zweber12

krx927 said:


> Indeed nice pics.
> 
> Looking at all the pics you are posting, are you actually using any of the Shigs you have? I do not see any usage marks on any of them...




I do (sujis, gyutos, petties, deba, etc) though simply not all. Some of the photos are 'old stock' an taken a while back, others are of the same knife, different angles, backgrounds, like the 270 yanagiba kanji of the previous post.


----------



## Dxtreme

Zweber12,

You have a kick-ass collection probably the most complete in the world !! Questions, 

What do you think of Kato ? 

What do you think about Kato vs Shigefusa?


----------



## Zweber12

During the last 10 days, i received a few inquiries about prices on yo handled Shigs, so thought I put together the below graph to answer these questions. The info is based on the public sales of 37 yo handled Gyutos (16 kitaeji, 21 kasumi) dating back to 2013. What the graphs shows is "time of sale" vs "average $ per mm." The latter variable is simply the price of the knife divided by the advertised length. It's not an exact science, though provides a usable variable over time. 














YoGyutos



__ Zweber12
__ Apr 2, 2019


----------



## Zweber12

A couple photos of the 'non Shigefusa' knives in my collection:


----------



## Panamapeet

Zweber12 said:


> A couple photos of the 'non Shigefusa' knives in my collection:



... amazing. I should have put that Kikuryu in my bag!


----------



## valgard

Zweber12 said:


> A couple photos of the 'non Shigefusa' knives in my collection:


[emoji7][emoji7][emoji7][emoji7]


----------



## Zweber12

Spipet said:


> ... amazing. I should have put that Kikuryu in my bag!



There is always a "next time.."


----------



## Jlc88

Super interesting thread. Love the graphs


----------



## Zweber12

Jlc88 said:


> Super interesting thread. Love the graphs



Thanks, I do my best!


----------



## Zweber12

The other day I got a question about, the most expensive Shigefusa ever sold. Frankly, I do not know exactly, I can only go with information publicly found, or give to me by direct sellers, or buyers. Nonetheless, hereby the Top 12 'most expensive' Shigefusa knives with a minimum selling price of over $2000 USD, ranked:













Top_12



__ Zweber12
__ May 17, 2019


----------



## Panamapeet

Interesting information! I love that you keep these statistics


----------



## Zweber12

One of the most requested price is for Shigefusa Gyutos. Below a graph showing the USD per mm development over the last 7 years, n=214 with n=90 for 2018 and 2019 alone.













Gyuto_mm



__ Zweber12
__ Jun 3, 2019


----------



## Unique98

Wow. All the stats are professionally described. Honestly never seen anyone done sth like this before. Very interesting!


----------



## Zweber12

Last time I posted this graph, the N used was a mere “350” recorded Shigefusa sales, the graph below represents 670+ knife sales. So what are you looking at, simply put, the average $ per mm, box plotted with the high and lows for the different finished (Kurouchi, Kasumi, Kitaeji), (S)ingle bevel and (D)ouble bevel, with handles: (Yo) and the non-listed are automatically Wa.


What are some of the major changes since the last posts? Simply put, the average did creep up a bit, mainly due to several high-end sales (i.e yo kitaeji gyutos). We clearly see that with upper whiskers shooting up or creeping towards the $10/mm+ territory.


Enjoy, if you have any questions, shoot me a message.













Graph



__ Zweber12
__ Jun 12, 2019


----------



## Panamapeet

Zweber12 said:


> Last time I posted this graph, the N used was a mere “350” recorded Shigefusa sales, the graph below represents 670+ knife sales. So what are you looking at, simply put, the average $ per mm, box plotted with the high and lows for the different finished (Kurouchi, Kasumi, Kitaeji), (S)ingle bevel and (D)ouble bevel, with handles: (Yo) and the non-listed are automatically Wa.
> 
> 
> What are some of the major changes since the last posts? Simply put, the average did creep up a bit, mainly due to several high-end sales (i.e yo kitaeji gyutos). We clearly see that with upper whiskers shooting up or creeping towards the $10/mm+ territory.
> 
> 
> Enjoy, if you have any questions, shoot me a message.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Graph
> 
> 
> 
> __ Zweber12
> __ Jun 12, 2019


Amazing that you keep such detailed statistics! What do the blue dots and horizontal bars in the boxes represent?


----------



## Zweber12

Celebrating >750 Shigefusa knife sales records in the xls, a good time for an interesting graph: development of the average $ per mm for all knives over time, including a moving average. To my best efforts I tried to calculate a CAGR, which came to about 10.3% over a period of 9 years. 













Moving Average



__ Zweber12
__ Aug 23, 2019


----------



## Darren Perkell

Gorgeous


----------



## Seth

I love pivot tables...


----------



## Zweber12

Lost of graphs posted lately, time for a few photos again, will be posting them on IG later this week:


----------



## Jville

Have you had the cleavers for awhile or are they new acquisitions?


----------



## Zweber12

Jville said:


> Have you had the cleavers for awhile or are they new acquisitions?



I've had these since 2016


----------



## Jville

Zweber12 said:


> I've had these since 2016



I kind of figured something like that. I always wanted to get my hands on a shig cleaver. How do you like the performance?


----------



## Zweber12

Quietly I have been tracking Kato sales over the last year plus and with a decent "n" it's time for a price comparison.

First off, what is in the xls file so far? Mind you, these are only the gyutos:













Kato_Gyuto_DB



__ Zweber12
__ Oct 2, 2019






As a comparator, added Shigefusa Kasumi gyutos, mind you that the below box plot is an average price per mm in USD. The "n" for Shigefusa kasumi gyutos is 150 knives. I left out damascus, kikuryu and yo handled Kato gyutos. So, what does the data show? Well have a look yourself:













Kato_Shig_Gyuto_Plot



__ Zweber12
__ Oct 2, 2019






Hype? Opportunistic sales? Rarity? Bubble? Let me know your thoughts!


----------



## Mute-on

I should have been buying Kato Ku instead of Shig .... oh well, too late now


----------



## Luftmensch

Zweber12 said:


> Hype? Opportunistic sales? Rarity? Bubble? Let me know your thoughts!



Volume?

As I understand it... Shigefusa has three people in the workshop (Tokifusa-san and _two_ sons). Yoshiaki Fujiwara ... only Kato-san??


----------



## Zweber12

I'll leave these here for your enjoyment, a 240mm Yoshiaki Fujiwara Kikuryu gyuto:


----------



## Zweber12

A few more for your enjoyment. The 240mm Yoshiaki Fujiwara Kikuryu gyuto from above and a 240mm western Yoshiaki Fujiwara gyuto Tamahagene Watetsu gyuto with a tamamoku cedar handle made by @danpahlberg.


----------



## Zweber12

About 2.5 years ago, I posted a collection overview (link here), time for a update:


----------



## Darren Perkell

Amazing!


----------



## krx927

Indeed amazing 
Been on kkf and j knives for s long time but still I do not recognize all of them.

Do you care in naming all of them?


----------



## valgard

krx927 said:


> Do you care in naming all of them?



I can do that!

Shigefusa!


----------



## Zweber12

krx927 said:


> Indeed amazing
> Been on kkf and j knives for s long time but still I do not recognize all of them.
> 
> Do you care in naming all of them?



Alphabetically:

Shigefusa Kitaeji Ajikiri, 125mm
Shigefusa Kasumi Chukabocho, 230mm
Shigefusa Kitaeji Chukabocho, 230mm
Shigefusa Kitaeji Deba, 150mm

Shigefusa Kitaeji Deba, 180mm
Shigefusa Kitaeji Fuguhiki, 240mm
Shigefusa Kitaeji Fuguhiki, 270mm
Shigefusa Kitaeji Fuguhiki, 300mm
Shigefusa Kasumi Gyuto, 180mm
Shigefusa Kasumi Gyuto, 210mm
Shigefusa Kasumi Gyuto, 240mm
Shigefusa Kasumi Gyuto, 270mm
Shigefusa Kitaeji Gyuto, 180mm
Shigefusa Kitaeji Gyuto, 210mm
Shigefusa Kitaeji Gyuto, 240mm
Shigefusa Kitaeji Gyuto, 270mm
Shigefusa Kitaeji Gyuto (Yo), 180mm
Shigefusa Kitaeji Gyuto (Yo), 210mm
Shigefusa Kitaeji Gyuto (Yo), 240mm
Shigefusa Kitaeji Gyuto (Yo), 270mm
Shigefusa Kitaeji Gyuto (Yo), 300mm
Shigefusa Kitaeji Gyuto (Yo), 300mm (SB)
Shigefusa Kasumi Gyuto (Yo), 180mm
Shigefusa Kasumi Gyuto (Yo), 210mm
Shigefusa Kasumi Gyuto (Yo), 240mm
Shigefusa Kasumi Honesuki, 165mm
Shigefusa Kasumi Kiritsuke, 270mm
Shigefusa Kitaeji Mukimono, 150mm
Shigefusa Kitaeji Nakiri, 165mm
Shigefusa Kitaeji Petty, 135mm
Shigefusa Kitaeji Petty, 150mm
Shigefusa Kitaeji Petty (Yo), 135mm
Shigefusa Kitaeji Petty (Yo), 150mm
Shigefusa Kasumi Petty (Yo), 150mm
Shigefusa Kurouchi Santoku (SB), 165mm
Shigefusa Kitaeji Santoku, 185mm
Shigefusa Kasumi Soba Kiri, 246mm
Shigefusa Kitaeji Sujihiki (Yo), 240mm
Shigefusa Kitaeji Sujihiki (Yo), 270mm
Shigefusa Kitaeji Sujihiki (Yo), 300mm
Shigefusa Kasumi Sujihiki (Yo), 300mm
Shigefusa Kasumi Sujihiki, 270mm
Shigefusa Kitaeji Takohiki, 310mm (NOS)
Shigefusa Kasumi Tomoe-Kuri-Kogatana, 200mm (_For Sale_)
Shigefusa Kitaeji Usuba, Kakugata, 210mm
Shigefusa Kitaeji Usuba, Kamagata, 210mm
Shigefusa Kitaeji Yanagiba, 240mm
Shigefusa Kitaeji Yanagiba, 270mm (NOS)
Shigefusa Kitaeji Yanagiba, 300mm
More images and knife measurements can be found on my website in the signature link.


----------



## Luftmensch

Zweber12 said:


> Alphabetically:
> 
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Ajikiri, 125mm
> Shigefusa Kasumi Chukabocho, 230mm
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Chukabocho, 230mm
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Deba, 150mm
> 
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Deba, 180mm
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Fuguhiki, 240mm
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Fuguhiki, 270mm
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Fuguhiki, 300mm
> Shigefusa Kasumi Gyuto, 180mm
> Shigefusa Kasumi Gyuto, 210mm
> Shigefusa Kasumi Gyuto, 240mm
> Shigefusa Kasumi Gyuto, 270mm
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Gyuto, 180mm
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Gyuto, 210mm
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Gyuto, 240mm
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Gyuto, 270mm
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Gyuto (Yo), 180mm
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Gyuto (Yo), 210mm
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Gyuto (Yo), 240mm
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Gyuto (Yo), 270mm
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Gyuto (Yo), 300mm
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Gyuto (Yo), 300mm (SB)
> Shigefusa Kasumi Gyuto (Yo), 180mm
> Shigefusa Kasumi Gyuto (Yo), 210mm
> Shigefusa Kasumi Gyuto (Yo), 240mm
> Shigefusa Kasumi Honesuki, 165mm
> Shigefusa Kasumi Kiritsuke, 270mm
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Mukimono, 150mm
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Nakiri, 165mm
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Petty, 135mm
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Petty, 150mm
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Petty (Yo), 135mm
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Petty (Yo), 150mm
> Shigefusa Kasumi Petty (Yo), 150mm
> Shigefusa Kurouchi Santoku (SB), 165mm
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Santoku, 185mm
> Shigefusa Kasumi Soba Kiri, 246mm
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Sujihiki (Yo), 240mm
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Sujihiki (Yo), 270mm
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Sujihiki (Yo), 300mm
> Shigefusa Kasumi Sujihiki (Yo), 300mm
> Shigefusa Kasumi Sujihiki, 270mm
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Takohiki, 310mm (NOS)
> Shigefusa Kasumi Tomoe-Kuri-Kogatana, 200mm (_For Sale_)
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Usuba, Kakugata, 210mm
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Usuba, Kamagata, 210mm
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Yanagiba, 240mm
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Yanagiba, 270mm (NOS)
> Shigefusa Kitaeji Yanagiba, 300mm
> More images and knife measurements can be found on my website in the signature link.



Serious question: Is there anything left? You seem to have covered the different profiles and finishes! I suppose there are always the rare and 'one-offs'...


----------



## Runner_up

Man, western-handled Shigefusa gyutos have such a unique look. So cool seeing your collection


----------



## Zweber12

Runner_up said:


> Man, western-handled Shigefusa gyutos have such a unique look. So cool seeing your collection



Thanks, much appreciated!


----------



## Zweber12

Luftmensch said:


> Serious question: Is there anything left? You seem to have covered the different profiles and finishes! I suppose there are always the rare and 'one-offs'...



I asked myself that question many times before. Last time this question came up i decided to sell quite a few knives and focus more on small(er) sets, e.g. debas, sujihiki, yanagiba, fuguhiki and gyutos. This 'evolvement' one can clearly see in the 2017 vs. 2019 photo.


----------



## nevin

That's hell of a collection!


----------



## Anton

That’s a market altering collection


----------



## Zweber12

Last year, a major shift in my collection took place to create a bit more focus. During the year, I 'only' added 1 Shigefusa knife to my collection via a trade and sold a total of 14. The year started out hopeful with the addition of the below 150mm kitaeji deba; more knife photos and specs can be found on my website.


----------



## Zweber12

A couple more macro images of the 150mm deba from above:


----------



## LucienJ

It’s gorgeous


----------



## Zweber12

Finally got around to take a few more photos for my website:






A nice measurement comparison of 5 Kato gyutos can be found here.


----------



## Eitan78

Where is the 240 Damascus


----------



## Zweber12

Finally finished cutting the dividers for 6 kiri boxes that I had ordered over a year ago!


----------



## AFKitchenknivesguy

Unreal


----------



## jeffscot

you need a case to display them in now!


----------



## camochili

Amazing collection.


----------



## Southpaw

Hey do you ever see lefty versions of single bevels?


----------



## Eitan78

Southpaw said:


> Hey do you ever see lefty versions of single bevels?


Yes they do


----------



## Southpaw

Eitan78 said:


> Yes they do


Well that would really tie my collection together would it not?


----------



## Eitan78

Southpaw said:


> Well that would really tie my collection together would it not?


If you are a lefty I suppose every single bevel will, shigefusa is definitely one to have.


----------



## Southpaw

Eitan78 said:


> If you are a lefty I suppose every single bevel will, shigefusa is definitely one to have.


Lol it was a poor attempt at a Lebowski reference. I’ll try to keep my eyes out more for them


----------



## Luftmensch

Southpaw said:


> Lol it was a poor attempt at a Lebowski reference.



Yeah? Well... You know, that's just like... Ahhh... your opinion, man.


----------



## Zweber12

Southpaw said:


> Hey do you ever see lefty versions of single bevels?



As Eitan said, they do exist, but are very rare. Last two sale I recorded in my files date back to last 2018 and were a set of kasumi yanagibas.


----------



## Zweber12

Very happy to add this little baby to my growing Kato Gyuto collection, a standard KU, 240mm, originally bought from Morihei by the previous owner. More Kato Gyutos can be found here


----------



## Zweber12

It's been a while since I last posted a Shigefusa pricing update; by now I've passed 1080 recorded Shigefusa sales.

If you are familiar with the previous pricing posts, you will recognise the boxplots. The y axis show the price per mm in USD, (D) denoted double bevel, (S) Single and (Yo) the yo handled knives. 








More interesting it the graph below. Has the market lost appetite? COVID-19 fire sales? The average price per mm for all knives (green lines) still shows an upward trend. 






Volume wise, i can say that 2020 will top 2019 if the trend continues. And yes, KKF is still the best place to buy a Shigefusa knife, 53% of all my recorded sales come from KKF and about 25% from Yahoo Auctions, the remainder are you trusted resellers. For obvious reasons, I am not able to capture all sales, thus if you like to submit a sale, please send me a message!


----------



## Zweber12

It’s been a long, long time since I posted anything related to pricing of Shigefusa knives, as a matter of fact, nearly 2+ years. Time to give a brief update.

*Introduction*
For those not familiar with this type of data; I collect (as best as I can) ‘mostly publicly’ sold Shigefusa knives. The data comes from a combination of vendor websites, KKF’s BST and auctions, while occasionally I receive sales data from you. Thank you for that, and I encourage you to do so; data submissions are 100% confidential. As of this writing, my file includes sales 1379 entries and 447 entries have been made between Jan 1 2020 and Jan 2021.

*The Stats*
Since we are talking about entries, the first graph illustrates the breakdown between finish (Kurouchi, Kasumi and Kitaeji) over the years. An interesting question could be, is the decline in ’20 and ’21 due to the pandemic, or was 2019 the height of Shig sales? Any other reasons possible, like decline in production, pandemic hoarding, or simply poor record keeping on my side? Spoiler on the latter, no, my vigilance actually increased. Please chime in with comments below!







The graph below is more or less a similar representation of the above, only this time in a fancy pie chart with actual numbers. The data only covers ’20 and ’21:






Another fancy pie chart, though answering the question you had, how do those number related to knife type? Throughout the years, a gyuto, yanagiba and santoku (the latter often in Kurouchi) have been the most ‘popular’ knives to be sold & bought.






Related question to the first chart, okay a decline in numbers, does it affect the price? (Demand and supply?) Well, yes, though in line with the trend seen in previous years. I chose kitaeji gyutos vs all kitaeji knives as I have a decent sample set available to make a sensible comparison.






Next one is interesting too. Where can you best start to find a Shigefusa knife? This is by far the most frequently asked question I receive via email, or a derivative like ‘I am looking for a western handled kitaeji unicorn’. (good luck btw…). It’s confirming a trend I have seen for the last couple years, Yahoo Actions JP is on the rise. Initially ‘the worst kept’ KKF’s secret, now probably the best place to check out along with BST. Use services such as Buyee or Noppin to do the bidding and shipping to your location and if you really cannot figure it out, these are the top users whom sold 70+% of the knives I found on Yahoo in descending order of listings (# of listings omitted): pikmin777pikmin, suika_9, mitsuaki_5, romantoromansu, yakanna95, hf_metal_engraving, zqfqzl6998, yoko_1_2_3, hakozaki_risaku, nojqvm8383








Now that this is out of the way, let’s move on to the second most asked question: where can I find a cheap Shigefusa. Well, those do not really exist, now do they? We can reminisce over a glass of cognac and talk about the ‘good old times’ when I picked up that 270mm kitaeji gyuto for $750 USD in 2013 (and yes, an actual entry), or when the market wasn’t destroyed by flippers. Reality boys and girls, but I digress. To continue the storyline of the previous graph, both KKF and any other source (whether this is an auction or any vendor) were pretty much on par. Below you can see the average price per millimeter of all knives by year and sales location. (Price per millimeter my own scientific invention to be able to make comparisons across knife types, length and finish.







So that’s it for now, if you have any requests for graphs, or simply want a price spot check on your Shig, let me know.


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## Bensonhai

Nice collection there


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## Hanmak17

Bensonhai said:


> Nice collection there


It is THE ultimate collection of Shig's...LOL


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## Philip Yu

1.Where to find? I have a source in Japan myself. 2. Sales are finally reflecting steel shortage. 3. Great to see you get Shiggy Wit it!


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## SundayGourmet

Beautiful knives. I've been searching for a Kitaeji myself and the search continues to this day.


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## kantdooku

Would like to have a shigefusa in my collection aswell


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