# Tadafusa, what's the score?



## MrOli (Nov 14, 2014)

I am thinking one of these would make a good rehandling project, the SLD blades look nice and durable.

What is your experience with this maker? I see one of the site vendor caries them.


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## LarryC (Nov 16, 2014)

Don't have a definitive answer for you yet but I just ordered a 165mm Nakiri.... 

However the blade on mine is aogami with SS cladding (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Japanese-TADAFUSA-Blue-Steel-Nakiri-Knife-Nashiji-165mm-/381049788134).

Will keep you posted anyways!

Larry


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## SouthernMostSly (Nov 16, 2014)

I want to learn how to sharpen properly, so I just ordered the 210mm blue #2 gyuto. Should be shipped out on Monday.

http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/tuzukiya/item/t216-0042/

For $66 with shipping, if I chew it up like I did my poor little paring knife I won't be too upset.

I'm a newbie with the Japanese knives so I don't know how much I'll be able to comment on the performance but I will post photos so you can see the out of the box fit and finish.


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## Brad Gibson (Nov 16, 2014)

insanely inexpensive for the steel type.


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## MrOli (Nov 16, 2014)

Thanks gentlemen, I have the SLD Tsuchime on order from Rakuten.


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## MrOli (Nov 19, 2014)

Not too happy with the seller, only once the funds were received he came out with the news the Tadafusa would not be in stock for another 2-3 months. I am cancelling the order although it appeared in stock at the time.


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## XooMG (Nov 19, 2014)

Consider tossing a note to Bluewayjapan on eBay. He's a pretty solid vendor, quick and reasonable shipping. Not the cheapest deal possible, but none of the song and dance you sometimes get with Rakuten sellers.

They've got the blue steel (stainless clad) nashiji model in stock (item 231376559418) but might be able to hook you up with something else if you ask.


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## MrOli (Nov 19, 2014)

Many thanks for the info, I may wait after black Friday just in case there are great deals.


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## CoqaVin (Nov 19, 2014)

i wonder if it is possible to get this in 240?


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## SouthernMostSly (Nov 19, 2014)

MrOli said:


> Not too happy with the seller, only once the funds were received he came out with the news the Tadafusa would not be in stock for another 2-3 months. I am cancelling the order although it appeared in stock at the time.



Sorry to hear of the problems. I ordered the blue#2 nashiji, not the SLD tsuchime and EMS is showing it landed at JFK on Monday. It looks like the SLD tsuchime is only available in a nakiri and a santoku -- which one are you looking for?




CoqaVin said:


> i wonder if it is possible to get this in 240?



Here ya go....

http://www.tadafusa.com/img/product/tadafusa_new_catalogue.pdf

lol....I can not translate the above but it doesn't look like they have a 240mm gyuto. They have a mioroshi(?) in 240 but if Google is accurate, that is a thinner deba not a butcher knife. 

It looks like Tadafusa offers another Series in blue steel which has better handles with buffalo horn ferrules but no gyuto (butcher/chef) larger than 210 that I can tell. Wonder why? :scratchhead: ......or is it just my inability to read Japanese?


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## mark76 (Nov 19, 2014)

MrOli, since you seem to live in Europe. I don't want to plug this webshop directly again, since I'm no shareholder. But if you Google "Tadafusa mes" (mes being knife in Dutch), you should be able to find a Dutch site with a large selection of Tadafusas. In fact I bought one there myself last night. Reliable and good service.


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## MrOli (Nov 19, 2014)

I will give it a try, I am after the Tsuchime as I have a but of a hammered look addiction.

I wonder if any of the site vendors will do a Black Friday special, one of them definitely has something that caught my eye!


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## SouthernMostSly (Nov 23, 2014)

The Tadafusa I ordered from Rakuten arrived on Wednesday.  To my newbie eye, it's not too bad.

This is my first wa handled knife so it feels a little bulky and looks pretty basic but smooth, no gaps or rough spots. The choil and the spine seem rough, not smooth like my other knives. 

It was sharp out of the box (at least to me) but I have a feeling it could be better with a little work. Chopped up a bunch of veggies. I was able to get the carrots paper thin though there was some sticking but that could be due to my greenhorn knife skills.


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## Karnstein (Nov 25, 2014)

Looks like a nice catch for a small price... or a great start for a DIY handle project... how tall is the knife at the heel?


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## SouthernMostSly (Nov 25, 2014)

Karnstein said:


> Looks like a nice catch for a small price... or a great start for a DIY handle project... how tall is the knife at the heel?



lol....not sure since Brother-In-Law I (classically trained chef) and I had the same thought as you -- handle project. Brother-In-Law II is a hobbyist woodworker in his off time (he swears it allows him to relax) so I mailed it off to him to see what he could come up with. I haven't decided on which stone to start off with, so I'm in no rush.......Chosera, Shapton.....Shapton, Chosera......Chosera, Shapton.....?? 

The small outlay allows us all (me and BIL II) to use this as a teaching moment. If BIL II decides he wants to play with it for a while, and I finally make a decision on a stone in the meantime, I can always order another without any angst about breaking a budget, right? ;-) 

*** MrOli -- my apologies for hijacking your thread. I was posting photos for you to see the Tadafuse from Rakutan but also for feedback since I did not want to cluster up the board with another Tadafusa thread.

FYI -- out of curiosity I checked, the vendor I used can not get an ETA on availability for the hammered SLD until after the New Year either.


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## Karnstein (Dec 11, 2014)

MrOli said:


> Not too happy with the seller, only once the funds were received he came out with the news the Tadafusa would not be in stock for another 2-3 months. I am cancelling the order although it appeared in stock at the time.



Had more luck... Decided to try out a tadafusa and see how well it pairs up with a cheap peeling knife and my ashi hamono 210 Petty as a traveling knife kit, that doesn't takes up too much space in my luggage and wouldn't break my bank account if it gets lost. 

Went for the S-43 165mm santoku (sld core, hammered finish). Found a rakuten store carrying some nashi finish tadafusas, claiming that they could deliver other tadafusa lines too. Contacted them, some mails and a PayPal payment later the knife is now on its way to Germany with DHL. According to tracking it already passed customs, so it should arrive at my home either this weekend or early next week. Shipping and the stupid PayPal exchange rate incl. I paid 50 so far (60$ was the number on the bill) . If they are honest with the value stated on the parcel total cost including tax will bring that number up to 60, which is still half what the Dutch knife store incl. Shipping would have billed me. 

Oh and I am pretty sure tadafusa is the maker behind the Kohetsu SLD line the "store one should not name" sells ... With a120$ price tag for the santoku. The marking on the picture of the Nakiri of that brand is identical to the one on the
tadafusa Sld ,unless my eyes betray me.


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## MrOli (Dec 11, 2014)

Good stuff, let us know what it is like. I still went for a hammered knife after the refund but it was a Yoshikane...quite a beast!


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## Karnstein (Dec 13, 2014)

It's here ... delivery was super fast (shipped on Wednesday in Japan, arrived at my home in Germany on Friday) using DHL Express. Only small hiccup: customs was done by DHL and not the German customs office at the airport. Not only that DHL billed my 10 EUR for that service, they also managed to miscalculate the tax fee to such a degree that even a one-eyed drunken monkey would have spotted the error ( should have paid ~11.5$, their calculation came up with ~29$). Going to get my money back, but it will take some paper work I could do without... 

Anyway, even with the robbery "custom assistance" fee it's still a steal both in terms of what the knife seems to deliver (hadn't had much time to play around with it) and what I would have paid, if I had ordered through a european dealer.


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## MrOli (Dec 13, 2014)

Very original finish on that blade, it looks great!


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## Charon (Dec 31, 2014)

I've been asked by a few friends what would be a good chef knife? I thought the nashiji santoku would be great. How does it compare to a hiromoto as?


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## CoqaVin (Dec 31, 2014)

wish the Tad came in 240 size , to be a prep monger


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