# Heiji chukabocho SS



## mlau (Apr 7, 2016)

Sorry for the delays guys.
I got the knife two and a half weeks ago, and put it through it's paces.

Last October, I ordered this as a birthday present. I asked Heiji to make it extra thin ground, and patterned off a Sugimoto #6. Chanop was one person that heavily influenced me.

It came in late March.


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## TheDispossessed (Apr 7, 2016)

WE NEED THOSE PICS......


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## mlau (Apr 7, 2016)

Sorry for the delays guys.
I got the knife two and a half weeks ago, and put it through it's paces.

Last October, I ordered this as a birthday present. I asked Heiji to make it extra thin ground, and patterned off a Sugimoto #6. Chanop was one person that heavily influenced me.

It came in late March.

My first impression is that this is one heavy beast of a knife. My normal chukabocho is 298 g. This "extra thin" Heiji is 525 g. I even contacted Heiji to inquire about a refund since this felt so huge!

I tested this for week, and it was a bit cumbersome and heavy. My muscles weren't too developed. The handle would cut into the web of my hand.

The second week, the weight was fine. The blade is extremely nimble, but has authority. It is extremely well balanced. The handle still digs into my hand.

Third week--the Akitada Hontanren chukabocho came in from Japan woodworker. These were listed as 340 g, and are in clearance. Japan woodworker accidentally sent two. These were noticeably thicker behind the edge and more poorly balanced than the Heiji. The choil a were extremely sharp too.


Anyways, onto the actual review:
1. Blade: 9/10
The blade cuts like a Heiji should. It sharpens like excellent white steel and holds an edge well. Food release is not an issue, as it has the Heiji recurve forged subtly into it. Choil is nicely rounded
Only downside--this is the "extra light" version #6. It weights as much or more than some #7 chopper versions. Don't get the regular weight version!

2. Handle: 6/10
I've been using a Chinese cleaver since I was 10. A Chinese cleaver handle should not have sharp edges, and should encourage a good pinch grip.
This is a slab handle that has no gaps or checks. It is solidly riveted and (I'm assuming epoxied) in place. This is a nice peice of gaboon ebony (and I should know, as a luthier).
Downside--the whole handle has just a slight chamfer. There are a bunch of hot spots. While this may look nice, it makes it a poor user. This is one of the most uncomfortable handles that I've used, and I suspect that Heiji has never used a chukabocho. (In contrast, his gyuto handles are extremely comfy).
However, I plan to reachable the handle with hand planes, rasps and spokeshaves. There's plenty of meat to fix this.

3. Saya. 3/10
I also ordered a saya from Heiji, since I tend to be too busy. It's cedar. It smells nice. The lamination looks properly glued. That's about all I can compliment on the saya.
In contrast to the saya that I make, this one is ill fitting, roughly finished, and generally pisses me off that I paid $85 for this.
The retention is nonexistent. It looks like some guy gouged out the inside of this saya for a nata, and resized it for this chukabocho. The slot is 6-7 mm wide, but the blade is 4 mm at the base of the blade. There is a solid 2-4 mm of slip all across the inside! There is no friction fit. The knife slides in and out loosely goosey...until you actually try to remove it normally.
When you try to sheathe/unsheathe the knife, it will snag---either on unfinished cedar or huge beads or residual glue. This sheathe will snag when the knife is halfway out...which is dangerous.

Knife review overall. 8/10
This is an expensive knife. I paid around $525 for the knife, $85 for saya, $28 shipping, $27.8 for PayPal.
If I had to do it again, I'd probably order the knife without the saya. I'd also consider making my own handle instead.

This is a very worthy knife, but a bit crude and rough around the edges. The saya sucks.

Pics to come, not sure how to upload them?
The forum interface says that I need to link to a url to share these?


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## Pensacola Tiger (Apr 7, 2016)

mlau said:


> Pics to come, not sure how to upload them?
> The forum interface says that I need to link to a url to share these?



Refer to this thread:

http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/showthread.php/10093-How-do-I-post-an-image


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## mlau (Apr 7, 2016)

On a side note, I reviewed the sticky under the support section.
I understand that the moderators may want to minimize server memory load (aside from paying vendors)

However, this is the most cumbersome, inconvenient, stupid way to post pictures that I've ever seen on any forum!

It'll probably take me at least 25-40 minutes to upload these pictures via the dropbox workaround.---update; still very cumbersome (4-5 steps), but 3 minutes to upload.


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## mlau (Apr 7, 2016)

Knife weights


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## mlau (Apr 7, 2016)

Unboxing


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## mlau (Apr 7, 2016)

Choil shot. This is incredibly thin behind the edge imho!
This was about half as thick behind the edge as the Akitada hontanren #1 from Japan Woodworker (no pics).


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## mlau (Apr 7, 2016)

Spine shot. Nice distal taper


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## mlau (Apr 7, 2016)

Balance is approximately 2 in from handle.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/63j8chqmeen767n/IMG_2773.jpg


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## TheDispossessed (Apr 7, 2016)

mlau, thanks for the detailed write-up. however, the pics aren't working for me....
cheers
matteo


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## Pensacola Tiger (Apr 7, 2016)

mlau, you are inserting the URL of the Dropbox page, not the URL of the image. Right click on the image and copy the image address, like this:


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## schanop (Apr 7, 2016)

Use ?raw=1 to embed in img tag. Nice chukka, Matt.


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## mlau (Apr 7, 2016)

My usual Chukabocho.





The Heiji "ultra light" version


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## mlau (Apr 7, 2016)

Thanks guys.

I guess that I'm just fumbling along here.
I actually tried posting an update with essentially what Pensacola was saying...but got locked out due to the time limitation.
I stand by my earlier statement that this is pretty clumsy.

The knife is a keeper.
However, the saya is horrible.


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## mlau (Apr 7, 2016)

Oh,

If you guys want, I may make a simple tutorial on saya making.
I've been glomming onto the various posts on this forum (especially Marko's advice), and see no reason why you can't make a pretty decent saya.

If you have a chisel, a knife, a small saw, and a plane/sandpaper, you'll be set.

-Matt


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## Dardeau (Apr 7, 2016)

It is weird that the saya is no good. All four Heijis I have owned have had really nice sayas.


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## mlau (Apr 7, 2016)

Maybe it's a matter of expectation?

If I'm paying over $50 for a saya, I want it to fit like a glove.
I may not care if it's a little ugly, but it should work.

If I'm paying over $80 for a saya, it should fit like a glove and be well finished.
I'm not expecting Marko Tsourkan level quality, but it shouldn't have loose cedar fibers and such.
And the blade should *not* flop out 1/2-2/3 of the way and be exposed.

On the saya that I make, the knife can be held in place purely with the friction fit of the saya.
Every surface is planed smooth. There are no sharp edges, and the saya should follow the form of the knife.
I finish with a mix of camellia oil and paraffin wax burnished with the end grain of an Alaskan yellow cedar block.
And I'm just a hack!


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## Dardeau (Apr 7, 2016)

No I think you are justified. All of mine friction fit well and I'm surprised that yours doesn't.


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## mlau (Apr 7, 2016)

Update-- I decided to alter the handle.
A few mods that *greatly* increase comfort:

1. Round out the lower "square" corner of the area of your second phalanges.
I found using a mujingfang palm smoother to work very, very well for this application.
For the tight area by the choil, I used a very sharp carving knife from pinewood forge (nothing like seeing curly end-grain shavings of ebony).

2. Taper in the opxposing side just a smidge. You want there to be natural support for your third phalanges--especially the pinky area.
3. On an end view, this will look sort of like a "D" handle.
4. Carve off the corner by the thumb and radius. I recommend carving a concave ramp to naturally support your thumb and forefinger.
Note: I think that I slightly overdid it, but it has still ended up greatly more comfortable.


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## jimbob (Apr 8, 2016)

I have one due in about 2 months. Asked for it on the lighter side but only if that meant a few mm less in length and or height. Didn't want to mess with his grind. Should be interesting to see what comes but I'm starting to realize discrepancies in weight don't matter as much as overall performance, as long as it's under 600!


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## SolidSnake03 (Apr 8, 2016)

Would love to see a before and after pic of the handle work you did


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## berko (Apr 8, 2016)

> I'm starting to realize discrepancies in weight don't matter as much as overall performance, as long as it's under 600!



i find a chuka in the ~400g range to be much more comfortable then in the ~550g range.


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## TheDispossessed (Apr 8, 2016)

Slight derailment but my chuka is the only knife i occasionally regret selling. It was a togiharu carbon, which was surprisingly good for the price if you can get over the too rounded profile.


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## IndoorOutdoorCook (Apr 8, 2016)

Nice review! Heiji chuka was my unicorn, but now I'm going to keep on looking.


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## mlau (Apr 9, 2016)

IndoorOutdoorCook said:


> Nice review! Heiji chuka was my unicorn, but now I'm going to keep on looking.




For what it's worth, it's a very worthy unicorn still...it's still on my short list.

After 20 minutes of rounding off the handle with a $30 hand plane and a sharp knife, the knife is *extremely* comfortable. 

The blade is extremely well made, and has a profile that I doubt that you'll surpass (unless maybe you get a Shigefusa). I've used quite a few chukabocho (not the Sugimoto in question), and this feels right. Heiji really nailed it on the elusive "feel" of a great blade. If he could drop 150 g from the knife, it'd be completely perfect (but not realistic). 

His steel and heat treat are completely unique to him, and is the only high performance semi-stainless that I'd consider buying for my own use. If you've ever used a nice kanna before with top quality jigane, you'll know the sweet feel of the steel against a good J-nat stone. There's really nothing like it on the market.

The handle is also roughly in the same dimension as a Sugimoto 6 OMS (as requested)--it's just a squarish slab that greatly benefits from some rounding off. I think that this is a Japanese thing in general, as they don't tend to use Chukabocho in regular cooking. I guess they make it off a generally accepted template.

I do not regret buying this chukabocho at $525.
However, I still think that the $85 saya is a piece of crap.

I would be perfectly happy if this was my only chef knife (along with a good paring knife). If somehow this was stolen, I would buy another one immediately.


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