Masahiro: where's the love?

[apparition13]

masahiro at japanesechefsknife.com (http://japanesechefsknife.com/MASAHIRO3.html#WIDTH:%20169px;%20HEIGHT:%2074px)

I've got a couple of their Deba's (Bessen series, 180mm and 90mm; I like the latter even better than honesuki for chicken) and a couple of stainless knives (a 180mm gyuto and a 270 mm sujihiki); all of which are very nice. They are supposedly the best selling knives in Japan, yet I never see anything posted about them. Good knives and reasonably priced; where's the love?

[Fred]

The major issue is that they have to distribution in the U.S. I might also mention that their product line is so broad that they have everything from true junk to some of the nicest knives in Japan. I have the shiroko kasumi cai dou. Excellent knife.

[KneeKnocks]

I own a couple as well: a 165 MVB hankotsu and a 180mm MSC gyuto, both purchased from the Knife Merchant years ago. JB Prince has also carried Masahiros for years; and JCK, of course, carries several lines. I think that's it.

They are indeed nice knives (at least, I like mine), and certainly the price is right. Nice blades, nice fit and finish. I liked them enough that I'd probably have a dozen or so of them today if I hadn't found a brand (which I shall not name) that I liked better.....

[Grouch]

[ QUOTE ]
The major issue is that they have to distribution in the U.S. I might also mention that their product line is so broad that they have everything from true junk to some of the nicest knives in Japan. I have the shiroko kasumi cai dou. Excellent knife.

[/ QUOTE ]I think Andy got this one today as a birthday gift (on the 3rd of April). He said fit/finish was pretty bad on KF.

[Fred]

Fit and finish are incredibly good. We're talking about different knives. The one I refer to is a $250 product.
Masahiro has a very broad line.

[Andy777]

The one I got was the high-end M3, I must have gotten a dud. Too bad for me /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif. The blade edges were rough all over but it did clean up nicely with sand paper and a dremel. The handle does leave a little to be desired. The metal bolster doesn't quite fit snug with the red oak so there are gaps where they meet.

[Fred]

Sounds like a dud. You think the steel is soft?

[Andy777]

The steel seems fine, I started to sharpen it yesterday but still don't have it where I want it. It's a good knife just lacked in the finish dept. It is super light 407g and 225x100mm in size. I did a straight chop with it for about 30 minutes and it was as sharp as when I started. I think I can give it a good home /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif.

[Fred]

I have three of them in stock. All of them are really nice in terms of fit and finish.

[Andy777]

Looks like my wife should have got it from you Fred /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif.

I realized I forgot to mention one thing about the steel that is pretty impressive. I sharpened it with the factory bevels it came with. they are a little under 12 degrees, now that says something about the steel if they stand up at that angle.

[bkrownd]

Yow, if you can notice the tiny difference between 12 and 15 degrees you must be a true geek. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Andy777]

When I sharpened it I found the proper angle and then used the thickness of my index finger finger under the blade as my guide. Today I was bored in my financial accounting class so I figured out the angle using the width of the blade and the thickness of my finger. I came up with 11.7 degrees. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[apparition13]

Andy777 wrote:[ QUOTE ]
The one I got was the high-end M3, I must have gotten a dud. Too bad for me /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif. The blade edges were rough all over but it did clean up nicely with sand paper and a dremel. The handle does leave a little to be desired. The metal bolster doesn't quite fit snug with the red oak so there are gaps where they meet.

[/ QUOTE ]

I noticed some handle fit issues with my stainless ones, but I'll take a perfect blade with slight handle fit issues over a perfect handle with blade problems (hence, no more french knives).