First Sujihiki

Overall stats:
Weight - 239g
Balance right at the maker's mark. I honestly thought this one was going to end up a little handle heavy, and require some serious and creative adjustment.
Edge length - 323mm (12.7")
Heel to belly (flat part of edge) - 140mm (5.5"), but the upsweep from there is VERY gentle. What I did was watched hundreds of people cutting with suji on YouTube lol, and adjusted the curve of the belly to suit.
Overall length - 500mm (19.7")
Height at heel - 41mm (1.61")
Height at midblade - 33.8mm (1.33")
Height 5cm from tip - 21mm (.82")
This knife was a lot of fun to make. It's easily the longest kitchen knife I've ever made lol. There was a couple times I thought it might not make it...but it managed to pull through . Overall I'm very pleased with it. I feel this knife represents my goals with these knives, and hopefully upholds not only my aesthetic standards, but also my performance standards.

Blade: Aldo Bruno W2 (old stock).
Spine thickness is 2.41mm above the heel, 1.96mm midblade, 1.47 5cm from the tip, and 1mm 1cm from the tip.
Thickness 1cm above the edge is 1.21mm above the heel, 1.25mm midblade, 1.17 5cm from the tip, and 1mm 1cm from the tip.
Thickness 2cm above the edge is 2.03mm above the heel, 1.84mm midblade, and 1.45 5cm from the tip.
The blade seems to cut very well. It went through stacked skirt steak (for fajitas!) like nobodies business. The other things I've cut with it probably weren't a good judge of its intended purpose...but it handled general cooking tasks with ease.

Handle: Stabilized box elder burl, water buffalo horn, and nickel silver.
Length - 146mm (5.74")
Ferrule, width x height - 20.1mm x 20.08mm (.79"x.79")
Butt, width x height - 23.14mm x 23.99mm (.91"x.91")
I'm very happy with the handle. About the only thing I'd change is the color of the wood portion...as the piece I ordered looked grey in the pictures, lol. The idea was a pure monotone, but it came out so well that I decided to keep it .

So there we are folks, my first suji! Please feel free to critique. If there's anything you prefer (I understand much of that is subjective...but I'm still interested in opinions!) in a knife, or would change if the knife were for you...I'd love to hear it.

 

I prefer that to have been mine!

 

It was supposed to be Brad, lol! I'd never have made the thing if you hadn't poked me into it from Instagram =p. I clearly remember thinking 'This guy is nuts...' when you told me you wanted a 330mm suji =p.

 

I have this 300mm marko tsourkan prototype suji in my posession right now and I am super excited! I wouldve loved to try that out. Between then and now I have had a lot of different knives come and go. I would probably be a better judge now than I was then. The heel area gives me a little scare. I would like to see a straight downward angle on your heel areas. I think you make the sexiest hamon I have ever seen though Cris!

 

Thanks Brad!

A lot of people have voiced some concern on my preferred heel shape, but in practice none of my customers have mentioned it in their (obligatory!...if you buy a knife from me, part of the deal is you tell me EVERY little thing wrong with it after having used it for a month, three months, six months, forever!) feedback, lol. If it ever becomes an issue, I'll change it though. A bit sadly, I admit...it's very much a part of what makes my knives mine .

 

Very nice one. I really like the elegance of slicers, and this one looks great. A long time ago I had a 330 Watanabe suji that I traded away in a moment of insanity, but I like this one better because it is slimmer and not as wide at the heel. I kind of agree about the heel shape - or more precisely, the heel shape is fine but a little too elongated for my taste. If the knife went 1/2" deeper into the handle, all would be perfect. Just my 2 cts.

Stefan

 

I bought this knife a while back. Truly a GREAT knife.

 

Thank you for your critique Stefan! I've always loved your handles and have actually used some of the wood you sold through Myron on one of my knives. I've been back and forth with myself on the heel shape. It is very much in line with my aesthetics, but I've been considering ways to maintain the look, while improving the feel for certain chefs who feel the need for it to be shorter. As I've said, no one so far who has had one in hand has had an issue with the functionality of them. If I understand correctly though you'd shorten it more for aesthetic purposes. I may have to try one like that, and see how it looks complete.

Thanks Chuck!! I very much appreciate the kind words! Even more though...I'm happy that you're enjoying the knife. To hear that something I've made is pleasing to others in use is really the greatest compliment I could receive.

Thank you again for that!

 

Oh, now I found who did it.