Get out your salt shaker! Another review!

I just got my Moritaka KS today! Normally I don't think it's a good idea to post a review of a brand new knife but I've used and sharpened enough Moritakas that I think it's safe; in this case I know the knives very well, I'm just basically looking at the geometry/profile.

As I mentioned in a review I worked up, I got off on the wrong foot a bit with the KS. Originally I wanted an Ultimatum but both the SS & Carbon were out of stock. Since I'm a fan of Moritaka and they're supposed to be basically the same grind I figured I'd buy it instead. But after I ordered the KS and before it arrived, the RU's were back in stock! Briefly I considered asking Mark if I could return it and get the Ultimatum but I decided against it for a couple reasons. First off I have really been wanting to try this one and secondly I'm gonna get a RU anyway when the M390 comes in. At any rate, I'm really glad I kept the Moritaka!

Right out of the box this is a dead-sexy knife! The handle has the nicest figuring/grain I've yet seen on a Moritaka. Fit and finish was great with a couple exceptions. The knife wasn't quite straight, which is really pretty common and not a big deal. The factory edge was pretty poor for a Moritaka. I don't care a whit about that as I always sharpen a new knife before use but someone that doesn't have 50 water stones might be a bit bummed by the the OOtB edge. The issue that was a bit irksome was a pretty noticeable "under-grind" of the heel. I'm not sure what a nOOb would have done with the knife; it would have been tricky to fix if you'd never seen it before. Of course, on the other hand I work on a lot of knives. I notice things that your average home cook doesn't, so maybe a casual user wouldn't have cared.

But once I knocked the heel down things stared to get really good. I sharpened it up with the following progression: Atoma 140 > Shapton 320 > Leather belt > Chocera 800 > Chocera 2k > Chocera 3k > Chocera 5k > "Snow White" > Chocera 10k > CKtG (JNat) Jyounsyunhonyama > Yaganoshima Asagai > 'Roo leather. Wow! As with other Moritakas and Aogami knives in general it took a spectacular edge. The convexity really eliminates nearly all the stiction. While it's no laser it's thin enough behind the edge to be a great cutter.

And certainly the profile is DEAD ON! I absolutely love the very large flat spot on this beauty. After one day of use I can tell this is the profile I've been searching for for years! It's about like my Akifusa but with a bit more knuckle clearance.

Aside from a couple minor QC items peculiar to this one specimen it's hard to imagine how this one could be improved upon. The KS is an awesome blade! As good as it is in it's own right it makes me even more excited to get my hands on an Ultimatum, which should be a very similar grind, in M390 and/or 52100.

The general caveats apply:  CKtG pays me $1 mil a year to love these knives, plus a company Koenigsegg Agera R.  Your swag may vary.

Hahaha!  I will have some tricks up my sleeve to get there first!  And if that doesn't work I'll pitch a fit, then pretend I didn't want that stupid knife anyways!
 

BTW, with under-ground at least you have the chance to fix it (if you don't eff it up).  Overground is a truly special breed of headache...
 

I think Dave doth protest too much about the Moritakas.  Or at least his luck has been worse than mine.  I've owned, used and/or sharpened quite a few of them and I've run across no more issues with them than any other handmade knife.  The rare issues I've seen have been fairly easy for me to fix, and they're really terrific knives.  The HT always seems to be great, and every one I've seen takes about as good an edge as I've seen on Aogami.  Of course, to each his own. 

The Masamoto really isn't a very good option is you want Blue, though.  All of them are White, IIRC.  It also costs half again what the Moritaka does.  The customer service of Moritaka is irrelevant if  you buy from CKtG.  I have every confidence that Mark will make sure you're taken care of in the rare event that you get a lemon.

I'm often torn; I love white for the ease of sharpening but blue seems to hold the edge longer for me, especially at work where we have poly boards.

I can't comment on Mr. Martell finds unfixable.  I can only say I haven't run across one yet that I couldn't fix.

I would agree that a Moritaka isn't what I'd recommend for somone's first J-knife.  The Moritaka KS is pretty badass, though.

It will minor enough that I didn't feel it was necessary to send back.  Obviously not everyone would feel the same.  One issue for me is that, in my experience, other makes of handmade knives exhibit the same rate of "quirks" as Moritakas.  If you're not comfortable with this fact, either stick to machine made factory knives of deal with a vendor that will support the product.  CKtG certainly falls into the latter group.  That said, I also think it's a good idea to learn how to fix some of this stuff yourself unless you are content to avoid getting off the beaten path.