can't wait
C-Grind honyaki gyuto US passaround
- Thread starter SylvainM
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SylvainM
KKF Supporting Craftsman
Awesome. So you have full specs of the second knife? The second knife feels significantly thinner.Twice the pleasure
SylvainM
KKF Supporting Craftsman
Hi !
It is indeed thinner, 2mm-ish at the spine versus a bit more than 3mm fo rthe c-grind. This one shows my usual production basically, whereas the c-grind is more R&D. Happy to get feedback on both obviously
Steel is 125SC by the way.Enjoy !
Sylvain, thank you very much for including me in your passaround even though I’m relatively new around here. Thankfully, others before me have covered the more technical sides of your construction, so I decided to focus my testing on a range of different foods to better understand what these two knives do well, and where they can be improved.
Before I walk through my day-by-day task-specific impressions, you should know that I read your interview with Materially Speaking in advance of receiving the knives. Like you, I gave up a more traditional career in law many moons ago to work from home and care for the kids. It’s not as easy a transition as some would like to believe, but it’s a decision that I now count amongst the best I have ever made. I wish you nothing but good fortune in pursuing your passion.
I seized upon one quote from your interview that I found instructive as to your philosophy on knife-making and a clue as to why you selected these two bunkas for your passaround:
“So we’ve got one task, one knife, one knife, one task. You’re not going to take a usuba which is made to slice vegetables only, to cut your meat, but that just doesn’t exist. And I like this way of seeing things. I mean, it cannot apply to everybody, to all my customers because some of them just want a versatile, easy to use knife for the daily cooking. But when you go to chefs, et cetera, and you have the opportunity to build such specialty knives, it’s just like, wow, that’s why I’m doing this job really.”
It must be incredibly difficult to break into a craft where the most profitable form, the gyuto, is already dominated (and perhaps even over-saturated) by a group of Western and Japanese makers whose names alone command top value. I suspect that you hope to make the bunka your “specialty knife,” similar to the niche @martinhuber has carved out with the cleaver.
I believe that this is a worthwhile pursuit. I’ve noticed that Western makers are including bunka-type knives in their recent drops, see, e.g., Jonas’s latest drop at Isasmedjan, where two of the three knives offered fit that prototype. I own a Hinoura bunka, which I use infrequently, but will turn to more in the future now that I better understand its role. In my conclusion, I will try to translate what I’ve learned into tips you might use to build a better bunka. On to the cutting board:
Monday
Broccoli Rabe: Used large bunka to cut into 1 inch pieces. Satisfying thunk going through the pile, and cuts cleanly and thoroughly. However, handle feels light and blade wobbles a bit during cut. Still finished 3 lbs. of broccoli in a little over a minute.
Tuesday
Chives: Used small bunka to finely slice in a way I’d typically use a nakiri. Not enough feedback from blade, but the result was very good. Tested vis-a-vis my nakiri, and preferred nakiri. Sharpest cutting point too close to handle for task.
Grape Tomatoes: Point of bunka made a nice visual T for making even cuts
Shallots: Really shined. Release allowed for fine, neat cuts.
Iceberg lettuce: For wedge salad: Used large bunka, and it was made for the task. Geometry of the tip encouraged perfectly proportioned cuts simply by visualizing the stem as a clock and the blade as the minute hand. Cut through effortlessly to meet axis on opposite side. Trimmed brown spots nicely.
Wednesday
Ramps: Three lbs. worth. Pickling the bulbs and shredding the leaves for ramp butter. Large bunka. K-tip shined here again, allowing trimming close to the roots to shape the bulb. Geometry of k-tip is spot on, just like a compass. Main issue is that the knife cuts differently over different parts of the blade, so feedback is irregular. Cleanest, most responsive cutting is near handle, but middle of blade offers best food release.
Friday
Asparagus: Chopping, trimming 5 lbs. for canning. Easy job, but knife’s size was an advantage when trimming down stems to perfect size for jars. Easy to maneuver blade in setting up stalks for cutting.
Persian Cucumbers: Compared side-by-side vs. Bidinger B-grind to test food release. Significantly better food release than Bidinger, but cut less smooth, more thunky.
Onions: Struggled with horizontal cuts — stutters as it goes through the grind. You could cut yourself if not careful graduating pressure.
Roasted Red Peppers: Really struggled bc not heavy enough. Switched to cleaver.
Saturday
Sweet potatoes: Looked to try knife’s angular geometry to cut into interesting potato fries. Lacked the heft. Too much cracking. Switched to Eddworks gyuto.
Conclusion
This is a knife that you need to know and have a plan for. It’s a task-specific complimentary blade, not a workhorse. To build the Platonic ideal of the bunka, I would: 1) Keep the geometric plane of the blade — it is perfect!; 2) make both the blade and handle heavier; 3) focus on getting the perfect length to maximize angular cuts around the board; 4) eliminate the C-grind to minimize differential feedback; 5) pick manmade handle material such as Micarta or Suretouch which keeps the knife glued to the hand when moving it around the board. Since you’ve already nailed the geometry and F&F, with these small improvements, I believe that you could craft a bunka standard bearer!
I look forward to reading the impressions of other users.
Before I walk through my day-by-day task-specific impressions, you should know that I read your interview with Materially Speaking in advance of receiving the knives. Like you, I gave up a more traditional career in law many moons ago to work from home and care for the kids. It’s not as easy a transition as some would like to believe, but it’s a decision that I now count amongst the best I have ever made. I wish you nothing but good fortune in pursuing your passion.
I seized upon one quote from your interview that I found instructive as to your philosophy on knife-making and a clue as to why you selected these two bunkas for your passaround:
“So we’ve got one task, one knife, one knife, one task. You’re not going to take a usuba which is made to slice vegetables only, to cut your meat, but that just doesn’t exist. And I like this way of seeing things. I mean, it cannot apply to everybody, to all my customers because some of them just want a versatile, easy to use knife for the daily cooking. But when you go to chefs, et cetera, and you have the opportunity to build such specialty knives, it’s just like, wow, that’s why I’m doing this job really.”
It must be incredibly difficult to break into a craft where the most profitable form, the gyuto, is already dominated (and perhaps even over-saturated) by a group of Western and Japanese makers whose names alone command top value. I suspect that you hope to make the bunka your “specialty knife,” similar to the niche @martinhuber has carved out with the cleaver.
I believe that this is a worthwhile pursuit. I’ve noticed that Western makers are including bunka-type knives in their recent drops, see, e.g., Jonas’s latest drop at Isasmedjan, where two of the three knives offered fit that prototype. I own a Hinoura bunka, which I use infrequently, but will turn to more in the future now that I better understand its role. In my conclusion, I will try to translate what I’ve learned into tips you might use to build a better bunka. On to the cutting board:
Monday
Broccoli Rabe: Used large bunka to cut into 1 inch pieces. Satisfying thunk going through the pile, and cuts cleanly and thoroughly. However, handle feels light and blade wobbles a bit during cut. Still finished 3 lbs. of broccoli in a little over a minute.
Tuesday
Chives: Used small bunka to finely slice in a way I’d typically use a nakiri. Not enough feedback from blade, but the result was very good. Tested vis-a-vis my nakiri, and preferred nakiri. Sharpest cutting point too close to handle for task.
Grape Tomatoes: Point of bunka made a nice visual T for making even cuts
Shallots: Really shined. Release allowed for fine, neat cuts.
Iceberg lettuce: For wedge salad: Used large bunka, and it was made for the task. Geometry of the tip encouraged perfectly proportioned cuts simply by visualizing the stem as a clock and the blade as the minute hand. Cut through effortlessly to meet axis on opposite side. Trimmed brown spots nicely.
Wednesday
Ramps: Three lbs. worth. Pickling the bulbs and shredding the leaves for ramp butter. Large bunka. K-tip shined here again, allowing trimming close to the roots to shape the bulb. Geometry of k-tip is spot on, just like a compass. Main issue is that the knife cuts differently over different parts of the blade, so feedback is irregular. Cleanest, most responsive cutting is near handle, but middle of blade offers best food release.
Friday
Asparagus: Chopping, trimming 5 lbs. for canning. Easy job, but knife’s size was an advantage when trimming down stems to perfect size for jars. Easy to maneuver blade in setting up stalks for cutting.
Persian Cucumbers: Compared side-by-side vs. Bidinger B-grind to test food release. Significantly better food release than Bidinger, but cut less smooth, more thunky.
Onions: Struggled with horizontal cuts — stutters as it goes through the grind. You could cut yourself if not careful graduating pressure.
Roasted Red Peppers: Really struggled bc not heavy enough. Switched to cleaver.
Saturday
Sweet potatoes: Looked to try knife’s angular geometry to cut into interesting potato fries. Lacked the heft. Too much cracking. Switched to Eddworks gyuto.
Conclusion
This is a knife that you need to know and have a plan for. It’s a task-specific complimentary blade, not a workhorse. To build the Platonic ideal of the bunka, I would: 1) Keep the geometric plane of the blade — it is perfect!; 2) make both the blade and handle heavier; 3) focus on getting the perfect length to maximize angular cuts around the board; 4) eliminate the C-grind to minimize differential feedback; 5) pick manmade handle material such as Micarta or Suretouch which keeps the knife glued to the hand when moving it around the board. Since you’ve already nailed the geometry and F&F, with these small improvements, I believe that you could craft a bunka standard bearer!
I look forward to reading the impressions of other users.
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Oh man…I got no writing skills…I don’t even know if I will be able to write something like this with the help of ChatGPT…
Will drop it off tomorrow morning. I “upgraded” us to a Tetogi box. Perfect fit.
Hockey3081
Senior Member
Knives arrived to me today!
