Shibata Kashima

Robstreperous
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Shibata Kashima

Post by Robstreperous »

Mine arrived about 45 minutes ago. First time I've ever felt compelled to start a review before I've spent a lot of time with a knife. My initial impression:

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More to follow but this thing is like moving from roller skates to a rocket.
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Kit Craft
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Re: Shibata Kashima

Post by Kit Craft »

Robstreperous wrote: Sat Jul 29, 2017 8:57 am Mine arrived about 45 minutes ago. First time I've ever felt compelled to start a review before I've spent a lot of time with a knife. My initial impression:

Image

More to follow but this thing is like moving from roller skates to a rocket.
Looking forward to this one!
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Re: Shibata Kashima

Post by easilver »

Mine arrives Thursday!
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Ed in L.A.
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Kit Craft
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Re: Shibata Kashima

Post by Kit Craft »

easilver wrote: Sat Jul 29, 2017 12:27 pm Mine arrives Thursday!
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Do we get a review from you too? :mrgreen:
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Re: Shibata Kashima

Post by Robstreperous »

OK. I'm done with my maiden runs with this knife. Oh my gosh is it good.

When I was about 8 or 9 years old one of my dad's friends took me out for a drive --- in a big block Corvette -- to a pylon course --- and I got to ride shot gun for a lap. For sake of reference what was I used to riding in? One of those giant honking GM station wagons.

What I remember --- and the way my dad tells it is I got out of the vette and all they could see was helmet, eyes and smile... I had no idea what performance like that felt like --- and I loved it. That's kind of the way it was for me with this knife today. All smiles.

It's not like this is the first laser I've ever tried. Goko, KK Tsuchime, Kanehide, Takedas of a couple of different profiles .....but this thing is in an entirely different class.

Onion, peppers, carrots, zuchinni ---- The knife just drops. Tomato --- out of the box edge cuts with no hands both before and after my prep. Celery --- tried a little rocking for a change --- The tip is a joy. Cutting the ribs? Great feedback but they yielded as much resistance as a popsicle in a pizza parlor. Drop... drop..... drop...

Alright, so now I'm at the spot where I've got to find something wrong with this knife.

Fit and Finish

- Gorgeous crepey, manta ray skinish, brushed pear blade face. Nice little wiggle line (cladding line?) in between the main grind and just before the cutting edge. Sort of reminds me of the effect one of my favorite actresses creates leaving a room.

- The spine is nicely rounded. The handle is one of the nicest rosewoods I've used. Pretty octagon wa. Not too thick. Nice color, nicely sanded, not even any small voids. Perfectly sealed. If I try really hard I can feel the transition to the ferrel but for all intents and purposes it's a smooth transition.

This is a well finished pretty knife to look at. Ain't no problems here.

So C'mon... there's got to be something wrong with this knife right? Well.. seriously I haven't actually found anything yet so I've started picking over it with a fine tooth comb. Here's a couple of areas for investigation. Seriously? Look at how picky this is.

- The choil is not overly exposed and I have not cut myself with it or anything. But I did have a diced celery cube impale itself on it. Maybe it needs a little relief?

- While push cutting it showed some signs of stiction. Veggies were sticking to it. But with the shorter blade height stuff tended to stack and fall off and out of the way. I've used worse for sure... but if I'm pecking at it to find things wrong maybe an area to pay attention to.

- It's a very, light feeling knife. How's this thing going to hold up to monster sweet potatoes or celery root? How can something this light really perform this well. There's got to be a catch.

- I haven't tried chopping with it much yet. What's going to happen -- it really is very light.

- Not much of a flat spot although it is definitely a flatter profile. I'm wary of this. It's brother the Kotetsu had me leaving accordion cuts all over the place. Did not experience that today with this knife.

- It's forward balanced - about an inch past my pinch. I'm not used to this what's going to happen?

- Ok. Here's something. Under 20X maginification I spotted a few microchips. Mostly on the sweep toward the tip.

That's it man and I mean seriously.... the worst thing I can say about it is that maybe under 20X magnification I spotted some microchips on the OOTB edge and a couple of maybe this might possibly be something(s) to look into? Seriously?

Wow this was one amazing maiden run and ... man... can this thing cut.

So after all that what else can I say? I usually don't fall in love with a knife like I'm diving into the deep end of a pool head first. I usually go in an inch at a time. See how it feels and then go in a little further and then after a while decide yes, no or indifferent. But the Kashima?

I'm in up to my neck already and it feels nice.....


More to follow. Need to find an excuse to make sweet potato something tomorrow.......
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Kit Craft
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Re: Shibata Kashima

Post by Kit Craft »

I almost forgot this was a 245mm knife because I was wondering how you had such a forward weighted blade in a laser, duh. Anyway, nice write up and thank you for taking the time to share with us. I too have tried my share of lasers but none like those you listed so I think maybe something along the lines of this particular knife will feel familiar. If it comes out in a sub 230, I might have to give it a try. If it comes out in a sub 210 I will give it a try, no questions asked. :)

Hope it treats you well for a long time.
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Re: Shibata Kashima

Post by Robstreperous »

Kit Craft wrote: Sat Jul 29, 2017 8:58 pm If it comes out in a sub 230, I might have to give it a try. If it comes out in a sub 210 I will give it a try, no questions asked. :)

Hope it treats you well for a long time.
Thanks man... and I think you might be in luck...

http://www.chefknivestogo.com/kar2gy22.html
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Kit Craft
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Re: Shibata Kashima

Post by Kit Craft »

Robstreperous wrote: Sat Jul 29, 2017 9:02 pm
Kit Craft wrote: Sat Jul 29, 2017 8:58 pm If it comes out in a sub 230, I might have to give it a try. If it comes out in a sub 210 I will give it a try, no questions asked. :)

Hope it treats you well for a long time.
Thanks man... and I think you might be in luck...

http://www.chefknivestogo.com/kar2gy22.html
Man, that was fast! Thanks for the heads up!
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Re: Shibata Kashima

Post by MisoSatisfried »

Nice! What are your thoughts vs the Kotetsu?
I'm Dave. I don't take myself too seriously and you probably shouldn't either.
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Re: Shibata Kashima

Post by Robstreperous »

MisoSatisfried wrote: Sun Jul 30, 2017 2:01 am Nice! What are your thoughts vs the Kotetsu?
Good knife. Pure cutting ability very similar to the Kashima. Obviously the tips are different -- both are extremely well done and give excellent feedback. For some reason I don't recall stiction being an issue with the Kotetsu -- good sign for the Kashima.

Overall I liked the Kotetsu very much. For me though, the heartbreaker with it was the profile. I had a very difficult time adjusting my technique to it's "limited dead flat spot ever so very gradual sweep from the heel" and just kept leaving accordion cuts.

I will say this though. The Kotetsu performed well enough for me in all areas I would have been willing to continue to modify my technique to learn how to use it better.
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Re: Shibata Kashima

Post by Julito »

Sounds like what youre saying is that it is an improvement over kotetsu, unless the length is a dealbreaker.
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Re: Shibata Kashima

Post by Robstreperous »

^^^ For me I suppose you could call the Kashima an "improvement". It more closely aligns with my natural technique.

So many other people love the Kotetsu my accordion cut issue is clearly a fault of mine and not the knife's.

They're different knives meant to do similar tasks in slightly different ways.
Last edited by Robstreperous on Mon Jul 31, 2017 7:23 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Kit Craft
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Re: Shibata Kashima

Post by Kit Craft »

Robstreperous wrote: Sun Jul 30, 2017 2:06 pm ^^^ For me I suppose you could call the Kashima an "improvement". It more closely aligns with my natural technique.

So many other people love the Kashima my accordion cut issue is clearly a fault of mine and not the knive's.

They're different knives meant to do similar tasks in slightly different ways.
I am not sure that I would fault you or the knife in what seems like a simple mater of taste. For example, I tend to like my gyuto and petty to have more of a suji profile. :? As such a lot of knives and I do not get one well.
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Re: Shibata Kashima

Post by Robstreperous »

Can't believe I'm writing this. But I am.

Looks like my beloved Anryu just met it's match on sweet potatoes.
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Re: Shibata Kashima

Post by dv/dt »

A laser that's good on root veggies? If that's the case, I definitely have to try one. Love my HD2, but it's not a knife I'd use for a sweet potato casserole. That's what the Anryu is for.
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Re: Shibata Kashima

Post by Robstreperous »

I'm not kidding. It took a guillotine and glide but OMG! This thing is sick.
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Re: Shibata Kashima

Post by pd7077 »

Well, I guess I know what my next knife purchase is going to be :o
--- Steve
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Re: Shibata Kashima

Post by gladius »

dv/dt wrote: Sun Jul 30, 2017 3:41 pm A laser that's good on root veggies? If that's the case, I definitely have to try one. Love my HD2, but it's not a knife I'd use for a sweet potato casserole.
------
The Shibata Kotetsu Bunka is also super with root vegetables.
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Re: Shibata Kashima

Post by dv/dt »

gladius wrote: Mon Jul 31, 2017 5:49 pm
dv/dt wrote: Sun Jul 30, 2017 3:41 pm A laser that's good on root veggies? If that's the case, I definitely have to try one. Love my HD2, but it's not a knife I'd use for a sweet potato casserole.
------
The Shibata Kotetsu Bunka is also super with root vegetables.
Just trying to wrap my mind around the concept. I have a couple of lasers, and I don't think either of them would be worth a damn on a sweet potato. Might have to try them just for kicks, but I'm not holding my breath. I wanted to try a Kashima anyway, this just adds to the mystery.
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Re: Shibata Kashima

Post by Igalor »

dv/dt wrote: Mon Jul 31, 2017 5:59 pm
gladius wrote: Mon Jul 31, 2017 5:49 pm
dv/dt wrote: Sun Jul 30, 2017 3:41 pm A laser that's good on root veggies? If that's the case, I definitely have to try one. Love my HD2, but it's not a knife I'd use for a sweet potato casserole.
------
The Shibata Kotetsu Bunka is also super with root vegetables.
Just trying to wrap my mind around the concept. I have a couple of lasers, and I don't think either of them would be worth a damn on a sweet potato. Might have to try them just for kicks, but I'm not holding my breath. I wanted to try a Kashima anyway, this just adds to the mystery.
lasers are very good against hard produce, just make sure to keep your knife square to the cut, listen to it, and be careful
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