Knifes

You cannot go wrong with Hattorri!!!! I'm not sure about the other, but I have several hattorri knives and am extremely pleased. I would have to get a second mortgage on the house, but would love to have ALL hattorri. Good luck, there's always Cutco, I hear their knives won't chip :talk:

seems u really like the japanese knives yes?

well, how about kasumi? its got the japanese blade but a german handle. thats the only way i can describe it. very sharp, high quality, etc etc.

japanese knives are thinner than german so if yo are used to using a german knife and use ajapnese knife in a similar manner you will get chipping. the hattori and blazen are very similar actually ryusen makes the hd series for hattori. japanes knives are very capable of western cusine it just takes a little adjustment with the edge angles to to be able to abuse them like a german knife. The steel in a japanese knife is much much harder so it is more brittle than a german knife, a wustof or henkels will bend and deform which can be re shaped with a steel but a japanese knife will not bend it will break.

which knife

hi

if you are still looking then you have to decide between sharpness (hardness) and toughness.

the hattori is the same central core steel as the tojiro senkou - VG10 from Takefu Special Steel; the Blazen is a powder steel from Hitachi S S - so less likely to chip and capable of higher sharpness its made by Ryusen who also make the Hattori.

Alternative is to get a powder steel blade that uses either a Daido or Kiobe Steel -they have the capacity for higher levels of toughness

has anyone used a takeda?

I have a Hattori FH 270 gyuto and a Blazen 270 gyuto (from Epicurean Edge). Both are beautiful knifes! The FH is different from the HD in that it is a single steel blade, whereas the HD is a clad blade like the Blazen. I agree w/ everything posted above re: Japanese knifes and steel. The Blazen is made from SG2 powdered metallurgical steel, which has a very fine uniform grain structure, and is slightly harder than the VG10 of the Hattori. I've been told the Blazen will take a slightly sharper edge and hold it longer than the Hattori. I've also been told that how Hattori uses VG10 is as good as it gets - it's not really about how hard the steel is, it's about how it's treated. That's nearly splitting hairs - both knives will take a sick edge, plenty sharp for home culinary needs, probably sharper than any western knife you've seen. Techniques needs to be adjusted for Japanese knives or any one of them will chip. So far I haven't chipped mine...

 

Which is better? Hard to say... both are excellent. The FH w/ single steel feels very different cutting that the Blazen w/ clad steel - the single steel has more life and feedback. Some people describe clad knives as wearing a condom - I wouldn't go that far in a comparison of the Blazen though. The Blazen feels much more solid and stable, the FH more nimble. The Blazen has a slightly beefier handle, the FH a finer more elegant handle - both handles match their blades well. The Blazen is heavier, taller, a tad blade heavy, and rather stiff (not stiff like a German knife); the FH very light, handle weighted, and more flexible. Not having measured them I dare say the Blazen is thinner at the spine. If I had to pick one and use only that one for the rest of my life, I would be very happy with either, but if it came down to it, I would pick the Blazen. I didn't think I'd like the Blazen as much as I do until I saw it person.

 

The good folks at EE told me that unless you go to high-end custom knives, the Blazen they sell is their top-of-the-line yo-stainless-gyuto. They said it will retain it's sharpness 6-7 times longer than a Wusthoff or Henkles knife.

 

I think the Blazen and Hattori are two of the best western-handled stainless steel knives on the market - and you can't go wrong with either.