Kanetsune kitchen knives

[conw]

A while back I posted about chef knives/kitchen knives wondering where I could get a decent quality, carbon steel or super-steel knife for a reasonable price that's ground and heat treater properly. I still can't figure out why companies like Spyderco don't have a $40-50 workhorse out that would appeal to knife aficionados but that's not what this thread is about.

Anyway I finally got a knife from Kanetsune, the Kc124. It's got San Mai construction (sandwiched steel - a stainless 410 exterior with a core of Hitachi Blue Aogami, more on this in a sec) and 11.6" overall.



It's available on Amazon for $63.

Unfortunately I haven't really used it that much yet but it was sharp out of the box with a functional edge, which it held for a while (my girlfriend left it out with some stuff on the blade, which caused me to resharpen) before I reworked it with my Spyderco Sharpmaker starting with the diamond stones.

It took a very impressive edge. I like the profile a lot and would guess that while it's a bit more acute than the 30 degrees of the sharpmaker, as thin as it is, the micro-bevel I ground should work well for a while.

Downsides - not really a downside but the Blue steel will take a patina/discolor easily, and needs to be kept with a light coat of oil. The handle is simple (not crude, just simple - it's not art, it's a functional knife), because you get what you pay for. Kanetsune has a full line with all kinds of fancy handles but this one works for me.

Current impression - perfect size, perfect balance (for me), excellent feel in the hand, should really be a great performer and versatile. For the price what's not to like?

 

[Sam1911]

Blue steel will take a patina/discolor easily

Wow, you aren't kidding. I've got some cleanup to do on my Spyderco Mule in that steel, and it was stored on the top shelf of a dry closet!

 

[Owen Sparks]

According to my wife, the juice in raw onions is hard on stainless and should be washed off immediatly. I have a couple of German J. A. Henckels knives and my wife uses Austrailian made Furi kitchen knives. We wash them by hand rather than risk a potential ding in the dish washer. We also have a couple of expensive ceramic knives that are still new in the box because we don't have a way to sharpen them.

 

[hso]

Everything should be washed off immediately.

Watch a sushi chef some time. They keep a damp cloth folded nearby and are constantly wiping their knives as they work. This is different from their dribbling water on them to help them slide through more smoothly.

 

[Jason_G]

Downsides - not really a downside but the Blue steel will take a patina/discolor easily, and needs to be kept with a light coat of oil.

Not much alloying metal for stain prevention in the "paper" steels. There's a little chromium in the blue, for better wear resistance, I think, and the white has even less alloying elements. Those steels were made to emulate the best Japanese hand-made charcoal steels of antiquity. I'd keep it coated in food grade mineral oil.

Those steels are tough to get outside of Japan.

That price seems like a steal, BTW.

Jason

 

[conw]

Jason, I agree regarding the price. The company has a lot more knives in similar materials for a lot more money but the main difference appears to be fancier finishes (damascus, acid etch, etc) or relatively trivial features like handles that required a lot more handiwork (and make it cost more).

Overall it's really been great so far. It took an amazing, hair-popping (actually I think they jumped off in fright when they saw it coming ) edge with very little effort on the sharpmaker and I imagine it will rarely need to be touched up.