For Sale - Hiromoto AS western to wa conversions!

Last week I was going through some boxes that I had left over from our move last summer and found two Hiromoto gyutos in my "box 'o shame". I was puzzled at first by this as I know that they don't belong to a customer and seeing as how they were still wrapped in painter's tape I wasn't sure what the deal was. Upon inspection it appears that I must have screwed up on rehandling these knives (and replaced them at a loss) and then (maybe at a later date?) I tried to grind the bolsters off to convert them to wa but screwed that up too and just gave up. So I thought about this for a bit and then decided to finish the conversions and see if I can make them work. I also figured that while I was making some rare birds I might as well dress them up nicely and went with premium handles as well.

I made the handles similar to one another (I used the same materials and construction) but shaped them slightly different. One has a true oval and the other has a modified oval (flats on both sides on the ass end). I'm curious which one you think looks better?


Specs:

Date of Manufacture - (Likely) pre-2010

Blade Length - 240mm (although Hiros run a bit short)
*Note - Both blades are thin but the knife with the modified oval handle is VERY thin, even up near the spine. Both knives are ground a little wonky as they were started back when I had a bit less skill than I possess today.

Style - Gyuto (western converted to wa)

Handle - Wa (1 - oval, 1 - modified oval) two toned amboyna burl, marbled buffalo horn ferrule, copper & G10 spacers

Box - Yes


Price - $425 (each) plus shipping
*If interested please PM with your zip (postal code), country, and Paypal email address.

Thanks,
Dave


Presenting the amboyna sisters......
(more pictures to follow)

 

Here's the oval handle.....

 

Here's the modified oval handle....

 

i like the modified one more... but both are striking

 

Holy crap, Dave, just stunning!!! If only! GLWS.

I like the modified more.

 

I know that most of you old hands know the deal with what I've done here so this explanation is for the newer members who might not be up on what the deal is with these Hiromotos.....

Hiromoto AS (Aogami Super steel) knives have been popular for good reason. They have a great carbon core steel that sharpens well and holds the edge for a decent time and come at a great price point for value.

They are clad in a stainless steel which basically makes them nearly maintenance (and reaction) free - the best of both worlds. There has been, however, five complaints heard - the blade is a little too thick, rough tang/handles, rough spine/choil, not sharp enough out of the box, and only available in western (except for the 300mm gyuto and I think a sujhiki).

Here I've removed all issues by first thinning the blade to laser-esque dimensions, then rounding over the spine/choil, to be followed by etching the blade for effect to show the carbon core vs the stainless cladding as well as the lamination line between them - this also serves to reduce reactivity issues. The bolster was ground off and the tang reduced to make an allowance for a wa handle conversion thus removing the western handle and rough tang/handle issue. This conversion makes these knives very rare, there's maybe only a handful in all the world.

The sad part is that the man who makes these knives is now very old and has discontinued producing them so the day is coming, if not already here, where these knives will never be sold again.

I could not duplicate what I've done here for this price if you sent in your knife and asked for the same thing.

My hope is that they'll be sold to someone who appreciates them for what they are.

 

Thanks for all the kind words and the feedback on which handle configuration you prefer.

 

Define, "ground a little wonky"

 

Great query Lance!

won·ky

1. crooked; off-center; askew.
   "you have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth"
   • (of a thing) unsteady; shaky.
     "they sat drinking, perched on the wonky stools"
   • not functioning correctly; faulty.
     "your sense of judgment is a bit wonky at the moment"

I mentioned the wonky-ness because the blades are not as I would grind them today but are like how I used to do them when I didn't have the skills to understand and grind the way I do now. This basically means that they're not perfectly tapered and the thinner one (the one with the modified oval handle) is slightly askew in it's grind. If I thought this condition was a problem for use I wouldn't be selling them, they're just not as good as I can do currently, not bad though.

Thanks for your question.

 

You got me thinking about the price Lance and you know what I had considered everything except the fact that these are like 2nds so let's drop the price down to $375 (plus shipping) for each of them. That's a far fairer deal.

 

I love those handles lol If i didnt seriously need to catch up on my other two knives (used the petty again tonight, that thing is a little machine) i would jump on the modified one.. love the looks of these

 

Thanks Dave. I was just curious about what made them different than what you do now. Do you think it would hamper sharpening by someone who is a novice with the slight skew?

 

No not at all because the edge isn't skewed, it's more like the spine is wavy on the thin one.

I need to mention that what might drive you crazy as new sharpener is how you'll likely scratch up the finish of the blade and it'll show up big time on these knives. Just something to consider.

 

I've got a few people interested in the modified handled knife and all comments so far have been that people prefer the look of this over the straight oval. I wish everyone could hold them both side by side and see if this would change opinions. I personally find the oval more comfy but I agree with everyone about the look being better on the modified.

 

The oval handled knife is SOLD

 

The modified oval handled knife is SPF

 

Both knives SOLD

Thanks!

 

wow they didn't last long, although we all kind of knew that would happen lol

 

Really like what you do with these knives Dave

 

Thanks guys