Pass around Ishikawa Santoku

See what's happening with current or completed "Pass Arounds". Forum members occasionally send knives or sharpening stones around to a hand selected group of participants for short term use and feedback/reviews.
J david
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Re: Pass around Ishikawa Santoku

Post by J david »

Thanks for the insight, Gladius. I understand your stance that this knife is not for everyone. I guess I should amend my recommendation to say if you like santokus, have a few, and want to try something different, give it a try. I probably have a more favorable opinion because I didn't have to fix all the problems as you did. The fact is, i did enjoy using the knife and feel like it did some things exceptionally well.
SanDiego
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Re: Pass around Ishikawa Santoku

Post by SanDiego »

I purchased an Ishikawa 120mm Santoku directly from Japan. The knife measures 128mm, 3mm at the handle with a blade height of 34mm. The small Santoku shape is excellent, fit and finish was rough, and the blade was perfectly straight. Master Ishikawa is a blacksmith, and the knife definitely needed to be "opened". I have encountered this before in some pretty expensive single bevel knives. The "opening" of a knife seems to be a Japanese thing - so if you do not like the idea of spending hours (days) "opening" a knife I would not suggest an Ishikawa.

My knife is supposedly white #2. If so, it is the toughest (best) white steel I have ever encountered. I started with stones (Shapton & Chosera), and quickly moved to a diamond resin stone. Tough steel (think the best Kenichi Shiraki B#1 or Keijiro Doi B#2) - coupled with some interesting geometrical modifications - made for a very enjoyable time. Initially I spent a couple days sharpening (opening) the knife, and I am very glad I choose the smallest size Ishikawa knife to start with.

I have been using the knife in the kitchen for a few weeks, and feel it is a wonderful knife. As to the backside sharpening - Master Ishikawa says in one of the videos that a single pass to cut off the burr is all that is needed on the backside, and I found that he is correct in this. For me, Master Ishikawa made a great small single bevel Santoku - very very nice - needing a good bit of work to open it.
milkbaby
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Re: Pass around Ishikawa Santoku

Post by milkbaby »

SanDiego wrote: Wed May 03, 2017 9:07 pm I purchased an Ishikawa 120mm Santoku directly from Japan. The knife measures 128mm, 3mm at the handle with a blade height of 34mm. The small Santoku shape is excellent, fit and finish was rough, and the blade was perfectly straight. Master Ishikawa is a blacksmith, and the knife definitely needed to be "opened". I have encountered this before in some pretty expensive single bevel knives. The "opening" of a knife seems to be a Japanese thing - so if you do not like the idea of spending hours (days) "opening" a knife I would not suggest an Ishikawa.

My knife is supposedly white #2. If so, it is the toughest (best) white steel I have ever encountered. I started with stones (Shapton & Chosera), and quickly moved to a diamond resin stone. Tough steel (think the best Kenichi Shiraki B#1 or Keijiro Doi B#2) - coupled with some interesting geometrical modifications - made for a very enjoyable time. Initially I spent a couple days sharpening (opening) the knife, and I am very glad I choose the smallest size Ishikawa knife to start with.

I have been using the knife in the kitchen for a few weeks, and feel it is a wonderful knife. As to the backside sharpening - Master Ishikawa says in one of the videos that a single pass to cut off the burr is all that is needed on the backside, and I found that he is correct in this. For me, Master Ishikawa made a great small single bevel Santoku - very very nice - needing a good bit of work to open it.
Thanks for another review, albeit for a different knife from the passaround knife.

For single bevels, it's also often noted that some work on the stones is usually needed on the front side to get the blade road flat. Did you feel your knife was any more or less wavy than other single bevels you've bought?
cjmeik
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Re: Pass around Ishikawa Santoku

Post by cjmeik »

My brief impressions, posted here: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=1268

Thank you, Mark, for your trust and generosity in sending this one out. Thank you, Ray, for babysitting.
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mauichef
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Re: Pass around Ishikawa Santoku

Post by mauichef »

Mahalo for the write up Chris.
SanDiego
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Re: Pass around Ishikawa Santoku

Post by SanDiego »

Milkbaby: Definitely more wavy.

My little Ishikawa excels at cutting - that is what it is all about. I imagine it is Blue #2 - which is the other steel that Master Ishikawa will use.

I also imagine that Master Ishikawa makes farm implements - that excel at cutting vegetation. Cutting is the key.

For the price I paid you get a plastic bolster, and a wood handle that needs a good bit of sanding.

However, often the more you work on a knife the better it gets - which has been the case of my little Ishikawa Santoku.
snipes
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Re: Pass around Ishikawa Santoku

Post by snipes »

I had the opportunity to try out the Ishikawa Santoku this week. I used it on two separate occasions making dinner for the family. I’ll start by sharing my views on the knife’s aesthetics. I haven’t owned a santoku in a few years, but this one struck me as undersized in both length and height. The single bevel grind on the left hand side looks super cool and the kanji whether chiseled or heavily stamped is deep and crisp. I’m a fan of those aspects. The handle…what can I say other than IF the ferrule and handle are two separate pieces that’s the cleanest transition I’ve ever seen, bar none. As I sit here writing this, the woodgrain pattern runs perfectly between the two sections which makes me now believe it is a single piece that is somehow colored differently. Either way it’s a nice clean handle. The color is a bit muted for me and I like blue. I didn’t find the cladding overly reactive, nor the edges on the spine to be bothersome. Overall I find the fit and finish of the whole knife to be of very good quality as it arrived to me.

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The first meal was almond crusted grouper with grilled zucchini and fresh sweet corn (sorry no pics). I sliced the zucchini into rounds and a slight steering was detectable that I noted, but wasn’t overly bothered by it. I used the knife to take the corn off the cobs and here she excelled with the backside of the blade gliding down the cob. Using this type of motion made me see the merits of a single bevel when trying to remove an outer portion of something from the larger whole.
Overall I was left with an impression of curiosity after the first night’s use.

Cinco de Mayo

Well I would have been negligent in my duties if I didn’t leverage this opportunity to whip up something festive and put the visiting knife to work. I settled on my famous guacamole and fish tacos with mango salsa (not sure why the picture isn't rotating).

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The knife steered something fierce on the roma tomatoes and red onion. I dice these often and the differences were immediate and bothersome. Trying to keep the dice patterns consistent proved more challenging than usual due to the blade trying to work itself to the right. I also didn’t care for how she rocked on the smaller herbs and veggies. It’s like there was a bump or gap in the top part while rocking.
The strangest thing though was trying to half avocados. I typically run a knife around the perimeter length wise then twist the two halves apart. I did four avocados and not a single one had the initial cut lines line up after working my way around it. Each time I ended up with a 1/3 and 2/3 type of thing which never happens. I can only surmise this was due to the steering. Very odd.

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In the end, I learned that I did not care for this knife for my uses. I’m not sure who I would recommend it for unless someone was looking for a corn on the cob processor then I might go into battle with this little thing, otherwise the design just doesn’t work for my cooking.

On a positive note the tacos and guac were a big hit.

Thanks again to CKTG for allowing me to try this blade out and to Maui for shepherding this thing around.

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mauichef
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Re: Pass around Ishikawa Santoku

Post by mauichef »

Very informative write up and really great looking food mate!
From now on all pass round participants should be required to have a taste testing for the rest of us ;)
snipes
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Re: Pass around Ishikawa Santoku

Post by snipes »

I"m curious to hear other's thoughts on the knife. I haven't seen any comments on her since I shipped it off three weeks ago.
RonAZ
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Re: Pass around Ishikawa Santoku

Post by RonAZ »

A bit off topic but I have the Gyuto and wanted to give my thoughts on it. Mine was not the custom handle on the pass around and I found it to be mediocre. I had it replaced with a custom from Josh at Wabi-Sabi Woodworks here on the forums. Steering is a definite with the knife, but I've adjusted over time and it's much more controllable than it was initially. I mostly find it a problem on tall hard items, for example I used it on a 5-6in melon this morning. It wasn't the best tool but it wasn't disaster either. It was outstanding for peeling off the rind. I don't have issues with soft items like onions and tomatoes but YMMV. I like it for onions because the single bevel edge and weight are great for horizontal cuts, the but it took practice to control it. The big advantage of the knife is food release, it's outstanding. In addition to the single bevel aspect I've included a shot that shows the hourglass type grind on the bevel side. Not sure if the Santoku being reviewed here is significantly different but I had a lot of the same negative impressions common to several of the reviews. However, with use the problems got more manageable and the strong points became more obvious. It's not an all rounder type knife but it's got a permanent place in my knife block.
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snipes
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Re: Pass around Ishikawa Santoku

Post by snipes »

Thanks for the long term feedback Ron. That's helpful.
jmcnelly85
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Re: Pass around Ishikawa Santoku

Post by jmcnelly85 »

I like the profile on that gyuto, everything about this just screams... different
cedarhouse
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Re: Pass around Ishikawa Santoku

Post by cedarhouse »

Review is up: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=1656

I can't say the knife blew me away but I had a great laugh playing with the knife and writing the review. Hope ya'll enjoy!
Hmirchev
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Re: Pass around Ishikawa Santoku

Post by Hmirchev »

I'm curious what happened to this pass around O.o

Is it over?
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mauichef
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Re: Pass around Ishikawa Santoku

Post by mauichef »

Yes it ended a while ago.
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