# Metal master



## Seqmt (Oct 14, 2018)

Good evening KKF! 

Has any ordered from metalmaster recently? Are they still trading? I have ordered a few times in the past and have had decent communication and relatively good delivery times. 

I have been trying to get in touch via email and Instagram for over a month but haven't heard anything back from them. 

Are there any other reputable companies in Japan that can rival the prices of MM?

Many thanks,

Scott


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## nevrknow (Oct 14, 2018)

His eBay is gone also. Still waiting myself.


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## mikaelsan (Oct 14, 2018)

i have never gotten anything from there, i have however browsed the site from time to time, and it seems to me like it hasn't been restocked in a loong time, at least the knives ? Speculating he could slowly be getting rid of his last inventory and closing


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## Seqmt (Oct 14, 2018)

Well I'm happy to clear him out of some stones, if only he would reply!


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## Benuser (Oct 14, 2018)

End summer 2017, Metal master didn't deliver or give an explanation. Had to ask PayPal for refund.
Went to Stuart Tierney, toolsfromjapan.com
Serious and helpful guy.


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## esoo (Oct 14, 2018)

nevrknow said:


> His eBay is gone also. Still waiting myself.



Store still seems to be there:https://www.ebay.com/str/japanesetoolsmetalmaster


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## esoo (Oct 14, 2018)

I've had good success with 300mate https://www.ebay.com/str/japanesetoolswhetstoneforsword, but you have to watch that it can be a bit before he ships.


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## PalmRoyale (Oct 14, 2018)

kossy1123 is Metalmaster and I would never buy anything from Fujibato (300mate).


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## tgfencer (Oct 14, 2018)

PalmRoyale said:


> kossy1123 is Metalmaster and I would never buy anything from Fujibato (300mate).



I don't believe this is true. Metalmasters has its own ebay page that is seldom updated, just as rarely as his website (i.e maybe once or twice a year). I think I'm right in saying that kossy buys from some of the same kyoto wholesalers as metalmasters does, which is why sometimes the stones appear very similar.


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## Keith Sinclair (Oct 14, 2018)

I've covered his sites for years. Last couple he goes quite a while sold out before restocking. When he does restock it is not large amounts of each blade. Say a dozen VG10 Nashiji 240mm. When these sell out it is a long wait.


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## Xenif (Oct 14, 2018)

PalmRoyale said:


> kossy1123 is Metalmaster and I would never buy anything from Fujibato (300mate).


Sorry Palm but can you elaborate why 300mate is not a good choice? Ive bought stones and knives from MM earlier this year, no issues, but he hasnt updated his site since. His Ebay store was active and may still be but stock has dwindled down to practically nothing, think this may well mark the end of an era, I was kucky enough to catch the last train.


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## PalmRoyale (Oct 15, 2018)

Xenif said:


> Sorry Palm but can you elaborate why 300mate is not a good choice?


A friend of mine got screwed over by him and he refused to give him his money back so I will never buy a stone from him.


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## Badgertooth (Oct 15, 2018)

esoo said:


> I've had good success with 300mate https://www.ebay.com/str/japanesetoolswhetstoneforsword, but you have to watch that it can be a bit before he ships.



Complete and utter and total fraud. If you got a good stone it was blind luck. He found his way into our natural stone interest group on FB and started shilling his ******** stones. Avoid.


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## Seqmt (Oct 15, 2018)

Badgertooth said:


> Complete and utter and total fraud. If you got a good stone it was blind luck. He found his way into our natural stone interest group on FB and started shilling his ******** stones. Avoid.


Noted!


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## PalmRoyale (Oct 15, 2018)

Badgertooth said:


> Complete and utter and total fraud.


Ask anyone who knows a thing or 2 about jnats and they will all say to avoid Fujibato like the plague.


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## tgfencer (Oct 15, 2018)

Badgertooth said:


> Complete and utter and total fraud. If you got a good stone it was blind luck. He found his way into our natural stone interest group on FB and started shilling his ******** stones. Avoid.



Ugh, yes, all of this.


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## dwalker (Oct 15, 2018)

I recall seeing some pretty convincing screen grabs showing a stone listed for sale on a website then later listed for sale by 330mate with some new pretty stamps (which were not on the stone in the original listing) for a nice markup. I might be confusing him with someone else, but I think this is correct.


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## Badgertooth (Oct 15, 2018)

dwalker said:


> I recall seeing some pretty convincing screen grabs showing a stone listed for sale on a website then later listed for sale by 330mate with some new pretty stamps (which were not on the stone in the original listing) for a nice markup. I might be confusing him with someone else, but I think this is correct.



Different operater but equally egregious. It’s a Russian fella who has operated under the Yourtogiya moniker on IG. He is restamping stones with highly desirable stamps and boosting the absolute **** out of the pictures. He was caught out and has been confronted on it by me whereupon he feebly responded that he’d been framed! He has since changed his IG moniker to Togiya_180 and I would urge you all to let your wallets do the talking by supporting Jon, Maxim and other reputable sellers.


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## daveb (Oct 15, 2018)

Not sure a thread titled "Metal Master" is the place to dump on any and all vendors that provide dubious service.

Any cursory search of MM will show that while pricing is attractive, service is ambivalent at best. First such thread dates to 2011. But no one (to date, to my knowledge) has not received goods that were paid for nor has anyone complained about a substandard product. The others provide an interesting tangent but may be confusing to someone new to the game.


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## esoo (Oct 16, 2018)

esoo said:


> I've had good success with 300mate https://www.ebay.com/str/japanesetoolswhetstoneforsword, but you have to watch that it can be a bit before he ships.



So seeing the above comments, I'm just going to comment that I've only bought a number of Shapton/Naniwa from 300mate. For that he was fine. As to the rest, I humbly accept the comments of the community.


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## dwalker (Oct 16, 2018)

daveb said:


> Not sure a thread titled "Metal Master" is the place to dump on any and all vendors that provide dubious service.
> 
> Any cursory search of MM will show that while pricing is attractive, service is ambivalent at best. First such thread dates to 2011. But no one (to date, to my knowledge) has not received goods that were paid for nor has anyone complained about a substandard product. The others provide an interesting tangent but may be confusing to someone new to the game.


Sorry, didn't mean to pile on. And for clarity, I have purchased dozens of stones from MM and have always been satisfied.


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## Matus (Oct 16, 2018)

@daveb , this has turned to be a rare, but very important discussion - maybe it would be possible to re-name the thread (after checking with the OP) or simply moving the part of the threads that do not belong here to a separate thread? Amount of fake stones and scammers is growing and we should share the informatin around here to warn others.


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## Benuser (Oct 16, 2018)

daveb said:


> Any cursory search of MM will show that while pricing is attractive, service is ambivalent at best. First such thread dates to 2011. But no one (to date, to my knowledge) has not received goods that were paid for nor has anyone complained about a substandard product.


I did not receive what I paid for, nor got any explanation, and had to ask PayPal for a refund.


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## daveb (Oct 16, 2018)

Missed that one, sry.


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## HRC_64 (Oct 16, 2018)

i think the non MM comments could be put in another thread, there was a similar issue that came up with those parties in another thread as well. maybe merge all of the "fraudulent Jnat vendor" dicussions out into a new thread.


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## Xenif (Oct 16, 2018)

Guys I just started a new thread for this discussion

https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/index.php?threads/38819/


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## Seqmt (Oct 16, 2018)

Thank you for all your contributions! I am happy for you to change the name of this topic or merge with the new one. There is some very valuable info on here for folk like myself that are very new to the world of the natural stuff it is incredibly useful.


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## Ruso (Oct 16, 2018)

I had success with MM all the times I bought trough him (3 times). But lately all the Tanakas a Out of Stock and it was like that for quite a while. He must be closing or taking a break. 
It's a pity, he was a great source for some stones and especially cheap but amazing Tanakas with $7-free shipping.


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## krx927 (Oct 17, 2018)

Benuser said:


> I did not receive what I paid for, nor got any explanation, and had to ask PayPal for a refund.



Same for me! He never reacted on any email I sent to him!


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## Badgertooth (Nov 5, 2018)

And to get this back on track, I’ve never had any issue with MM and stones have arrived on time and were of a high quality


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## nevrknow (Nov 5, 2018)

Finally got an email saying he was sick. Weird tho. Unless you're in a coma it seems like you could get through a few emails in a day.

I guess it hits home when the refunds start flowing back out of your bank account.


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## Seqmt (Nov 5, 2018)

nevrknow said:


> Finally got an email saying he was sick. Weird tho. Unless you're in a coma it seems like you could get through a few emails in a day.


When did you receive an email? I'm still waiting!


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## nevrknow (Nov 5, 2018)

5:05 am. Eastern standard Time USA


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## Xenif (Nov 5, 2018)

I noticed he added a few stones (a suita, and a bunch of hideriyama tomae) recently-ish but didnt add it to the "update" section


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## ThinMan (Nov 5, 2018)

He posted on IG yesterday for the first time since April.


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## alex1921 (Nov 7, 2018)

On eBay kossy1123 isnt metalmaster but the same russian guy as mentioned above. He has been changing his name/picture but still the same person.


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## Ruso (Jan 24, 2019)

Just wanted to provide an update on Metal Master. Ordered 2 Tanaka knives 3 month ago, never received the package. Seller never replied. Luckily Pay-Pal refunded me the money. 
So be aware. I did not have issues buying from him before, but will not buy again.


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## mikaelsan (Jan 25, 2019)

i ordered a 210 vg10 tanaka just before new years eve, sent the 6'th with ems, came to Denmark the 8'th, because he took some days off around new years it said. My experience was not that bad, the two weeks the package spent in customs however, felt so long

oh and i was surprised, i thought people were just being picky with the handles when they talked about the cheap ones from metal master. But this is the first handle i have ever sanded down, and almost all my knives came with a small step between the ferule and handle. Took it to the belt grinder before doing anything else with it


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## Benuser (Jan 25, 2019)

Benuser said:


> End summer 2017, Metal master didn't deliver or give an explanation. Had to ask PayPal for refund.
> Went to Stuart Tierney, toolsfromjapan.com
> Serious and helpful guy.


Metal Master is just unpredictable, if not unreliable. 
Even after the PayPal refund, a serious man would have contacted to explain what went wrong, and apologise. Just as simple as that. No such a thing. 
Stay away from that guy.


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## Chefgibson (Feb 3, 2019)

I received my first finisher from him with prompt service and no issues. Beautiful stone! As towards answering emails and DM, I think you may be SOL


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## nevrknow (Feb 3, 2019)

Got my last stone in 3 weeks. This was last week. Hit and miss.


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## Marek07 (Apr 28, 2019)

Reviving this thread to update my experience with MetalMaster.

I have in turn worried about him, bought & received from him, cancelled an order after several weeks (refunded through PayPal) and bought & received from him again.

My last purchase was on 2 December 2018. Three days later, I received notification that my order had been shipped. However nothing arrived so I contacted him several times with only one response in January: "_please wait. im sorry. takeshi_". I continued trying to contact him without success another few times until 2 March 2019 when I finally lodged a PayPal dispute. PayPal found in my favour on 17 March - 3.5 months after my purchase. They did not receive a response from MetalMaster.

Perhaps I've been unlucky but I am done. Nothing about his prices or items can justify the lack of communication or non-shipment. There are many other options available including the excellent supporting vendors on this forum who will happily engage with you and advise on your choices. At times, his prices might seem attractive but come with additional encumbrances. Personally, I'd give MetalMaster a very wide berth. YMMV.


Note: an older thread with more opinions on MetalMaster can be found here:
https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/threads/metal-master-a-good-website-to-order-from.35368/


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## Jville (Apr 29, 2019)

Marek07 said:


> Reviving this thread to update my experience with MetalMaster.
> 
> I have in turn worried about him, bought & received from him, cancelled an order after several weeks (refunded through PayPal) and bought & received from him again.
> 
> ...



Geeze, thats a terrible experience. I wouldnt be dealing with him anymore either.


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## Matus (Apr 29, 2019)

I am wondering whether he is more concentrating on his business via buyee. There he can not afford not to ship an item as buyee would kick his ass.


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## Benuser (Apr 29, 2019)

Marek07 said:


> Reviving this thread to update my experience with MetalMaster.
> 
> I have in turn worried about him, bought & received from him, cancelled an order after several weeks (refunded through PayPal) and bought & received from him again.
> 
> ...


Too familiar, I'm afraid.


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## chinacats (Apr 29, 2019)

Matus said:


> I am wondering whether he is more concentrating on his business via buyee. There he can not afford not to ship an item as buyee would kick his ass.



Do you by chance have a link?


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## zizirex (Apr 30, 2019)

Marek07 said:


> Reviving this thread to update my experience with MetalMaster.
> 
> I have in turn worried about him, bought & received from him, cancelled an order after several weeks (refunded through PayPal) and bought & received from him again.
> 
> ...



Yup, i’ve tried to buy the 15K stone from him on Feb 5th, after 1 month there is no response. On March I did a refund from PayPal and there is still no email from him.

Did he die or something?


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## Matus (Apr 30, 2019)

chinacats said:


> Do you by chance have a link?



His username is kossy1123 (so I was told).


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## chinacats (Apr 30, 2019)

Matus said:


> His username is kossy1123 (so I was told).



Thank you!


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## chinacats (Apr 30, 2019)

zizirex said:


> Yup, i’ve tried to buy the 15K stone from him on Feb 5th, after 1 month there is no response. On March I did a refund from PayPal and there is still no email from him.
> 
> Did he die or something?


 You requested a refund after 15 days? You obviously didn't read any of these threads beforehand...15 days? I've waited longer for things from bst...


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## Jville (Apr 30, 2019)

chinacats said:


> You requested a refund after 15 days? You obviously didn't read any of these threads beforehand...15 days? I've waited longer for things from bst...


Thats longer than 15 days. Thats like 24 days.


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## chinacats (Apr 30, 2019)

Lol...


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## inferno (Apr 30, 2019)

i'd say if it takes longer than 4-5 workdays for my shizzle to arrive the supplier can go f themselves. jck takes about 3-4 days with regular japanese post. no customs no vat either.

my synth parts arrives next day at lunch from the uk. 

stuff from the US takes 3 days. 

from inside my country 1 day.

dictum and finetools can be slow sometimes. then i fukn complain!!

either the shop has their sh1t down or they simply dont. if they don't i simply refuse to buy from them. life is too short for this bs.


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## zizirex (Apr 30, 2019)

chinacats said:


> You requested a refund after 15 days? You obviously didn't read any of these threads beforehand...15 days? I've waited longer for things from bst...



I asked refund after 1,5 month, but in 1 month I've emailed him 3 times, but no response. I ask refund from PayPal, even from PayPal there is no response from him, Paypal automatically refunds it in the end.


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## chinacats (May 1, 2019)

Or you could just wait and get your stuff when it gets there...or pay someone else more and get it quicker...i guess i don't understand what the problem is... I've ordered numerous times, i always wait (usually less time than people state) and then my **** shows up...i save money and get it slow...it's not like people here don't have another knife to use in the meantime


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## Keith Sinclair (May 22, 2019)

Have not ordered ordered this past year. Plenty in the past no problem. Do not know what is going on has not restocked knives in ages. The last batch of Nashiji vg10 blades looked a lot like the ginsan blades James sells. Thinner grinds and more refined Nashiji finish.

The older MM nashiji ginsan and VG10 had a little thicker grind and rougher nashiji. Horn D handles. These MM gyuto's where good cutters and a great bang for the buck. 

Do not care for the plastic collar handles on these last batches. Putting a cheap handle on a nice blade just to cut cost does not make sense. 

Even though James Nas ginsan lite blades have gone up in price they are still good blades for the coin.


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