Overhyped/ underrated knives

What do you think are overhyped/underrated knives and why?

 

Underrated. : Kochi from Jki , the migaki I had was the best cutter I used
Takeda : used to be cool with the price and AS back in the day , with the price close to customs and new hatchet grind now I will spend my $ wiser

 

Underrated: Takamura R2
Overrated: Kiyoshi Kato

Both are only informed from a single knife, so take it with a few grains of salt.

 

i definitely do not feel that takeda is overhyped in anyway, if anything i think takedas are actually very undervalued nowadays because many people do not seem to understand what makes the grind a joy to work with. most american customs i see around the forums cost atleast double what takedas go for also. i think the dt itk is the most overhyped knife around. i tried numerous ael b itks and wasnt impressed with edge retention, or the way it felt on the stones.

 

I don't know what that is.

 

DT stands for Devin Thomas. American knifemaker that makes very nice knives with good geometry.

Squirrel. im a owner of 2 takeda gyutos both had extrem wedges or pointy shoulders witch i sent back to takeda for regrind. thay wedge truw everything that was in the harder way like raw potatos or carrots once the shoulder on the bevel reached the part i was cutting i had to use force and it split it. I must be one of them guys that dont understand what the joy is unless i should use them to split lumber with when the winter is coming. Please explain for me what the joy is with a wedging takeda.

 

ive never used the takedas youve owned but i will say that i think the wedging complaints i hear about takeda are exaggerated. usually takeda has one shoulder on one side with a slightly shorter bevel and it sticks out more (fat shoulder) then on the other side a taller bevel with a less abrupt shoulder. the fatter shoulder is the reason some might feel resistance when cutting food but takeda more than makes up for this buy offering better food release than any other jknife ive used( ive used close to a 100). maybe takedas just dont make much sense for home cooks? as a pro chef i will say that takeda geometry makes prep alot more efficient.

 

I had some time to play with Magnus Takedas. I think that HT is very good but these knives just don't cut. I am not sure how can you enjoy cutting with knives like that. They are wedging in everything.
Once I tried to make knives and they are cutting the waaaay better than Takeda.

takeda grind:

 

magnus's takedas dont have the stock geometry...

 

As I understand it: Magnus only had a knife with a certain profile made for him, the grind however was all Takeda's work with no imput from Magnus.

I don't own a Takeda or have weilded one so I can't really tell anything about the perfomance of them though.

 

magnus mentioned that he sent his custom back to takeda for regrinding/thinning.

 

Both my Takedas came straight from Japan after mail contact with Shosui. I have one i designed the profil on (my 240 gyuto) but stil has the takeda grind. and also a regular 270mm gyuto.
After sending them back to Shosui i askt him what was going on with the poor grinds. his defence was that he has a new guy on the grinding wheel.


Both have been to Shosui back in Japan and he regrind them himself and things are much better now.

 

im more than happy to admit takedas arent for everybody, im just not sure why anybody would consider them to be "overhyped". already 3 people have expressed that they do not enjoy them, atleast ootb.

 

There is many more people which don't like new Takedas. There is big thread about it on other forum. Thinning Aogami Super with good HT is not fun as well.

 

im aware alot of people dont get/like takeda grind. which again begs the question, how are they overhyped? also, heat treat shouldnt matter when it comes to thinning, youre just removing the soft iron cladding.

 

Is this a Takeda Thread?

 

I have had 5 Takedas and all were ground to perfection. I had the opportunity to hand pick them with Takeda sans help at the NYCKS show.
What does that means to the general public? don't really know but enough reports have been made that some type of QC problem seems to exist.

 

In a way I want to say vintage carbon Sabatiers are under rated. I'm thinking specifically of TI 4 star elephant nogents. People see the finger guard and the "soft" steel and immediately say not for me. You can work around the finger guard and once sharpened up they are wicked sharp. And the edge lasts a decent time too as long as you are slicing push/pull cutting and not whacking the board. Easy to refresh with a rod. I've got a lot of $400 knives that aren't as nice to use as my Sab.

 

I am pro , hands on exec chef , running a restaurant and a big 2 catering facilities , not a home cook. Huw bought my Takeda who is also pro chef and sold it within couple days. Not every chef has same preferences in knives

 

I'm not touching overhyped, but underrated goes like this:

Butch Harner - still, many refuse to believe how incredibly his knives perform.

Murray Carter - a lot of people refuse to pay for one, but will get two mediocre cutters for the same price as one of Murray's. save your time and money and try a Carter.

Pierre Rodrigue - people seem to have gotten onto other trendy makers, while ignoring one of the very best values in the custom market.

Itinomonn - he isn't Kato, but that's a good thing. Itinomonn's prices seem to have gone up, which might be hurting the way his knives are perceived.

Henckels - seriously, I get stuck using them at work sometimes, and they are still much better than the junk a lot of people use. It's cool to write them off, but they whack through food just fine, and keep coming back the next day. Do they fall through food, or take a great edge? Nah, but they honestly don't suck at everything.

Zwilling Kramer - very very good cutters with fantastic handles. The 52100 takes an awesome edge to boot.

Bloodroot Blades - still unknown to many around these parts, and written off for their use of recycled materials. However, David and Luke put out an amazing product. Their knives have terrific grinds, and very clean craftsmanship. As more people's names get called from their waiting list, we'll see more and more terrific reviews.

For what it's worth, I won't be buying another Takeda until they go back to the old grind....