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Ive had crooked handle installs at every price point from a variety of makers including Konosuke(twice), Kato (both of them), Y. Ikeda honyaki to name a few. None of them bothered me. If I'mpaying for a fancy handle, I think I would probably be a little more particular.

Especially holding the knife in a pinch grip I couldn't tell you if the handle was crooked or not, and don't care.

That looks so crooked haha! I guess I have a bit more experience with handles tho... Also TF are probably the worst handles I've seen on jknives wa or western.

When it comes back it will have something else wrong with it... This is pretty par for TF, hopefully you knew that before you pressed buy.

So, after reading this whole thread - and the half a dozen other comments here and there over the year I've been on this forum - is TF all that? I mean, even the grinds seem to get some TLC from not-too-few users. So what's the big deal? Heat treat? Looks? (that little niche for the finger really is pretty cool, I admit). Will someone edumacate me?

Altadan wrote: ↑Tue Jun 12, 2018 11:27 pm So, after reading this whole thread - and the half a dozen other comments here and there over the year I've been on this forum - is TF all that? I mean, even the grinds seem to get some TLC from not-too-few users. So what's the big deal? Heat treat? Looks? (that little niche for the finger really is pretty cool, I admit). Will someone edumacate me?

The best way to buy a TF is to see the knife in person either from a reseller or from his shop in tokyo. If you have a good one it's simply excellent in terms of pure cutting performance, edge retention and ease of sharpening. The edge retention of mine rivals R2 but is much sharper.

Fujiwara-san is a nationally recognized craftsman and a renowned swordsmith. His blades are fantastic but at times suffer from fit & finish issues. All the ones I own are fine quality and great cutters.

https://youtu.be/cfAlTd7B_Lc?t=13

I got a lot of pushback when I dumped his knives but I couldn't deal with the problems and complaints and returns. At the end we were resharpening them and polishing the spines and popping off the handles and reinstalling them. It was too much. All of it was minor stuff and the knives usually cut really well.

The one consistent strength I read about with TF is the heat treatment, and in the three I used the steel was very nice. Beyond that the knives will need a little to a lot of care. Of the three I tried, the grind on one was inconsistent and fat. On all three the fit and finish were mediocre to absolutely appalling, as in core steel sticking a millimeter out of the cladding steel on the heel and a recession in the spine that badly, badly needed to be sanded down to prevent heinous rust issues. Joe went to great lengths completely regrinding his TF and apparently got it into a great spot, but to be blunt he could have done that with anything. So the draw to TF is that they are a modest to extreme DIY project where you are collaborating with the smith. If that is up your alley, by all means buy a TF for the steel, but otherwise I would favor so many other makers first if the goal is just to get a great knife.

Lepus wrote: ↑Wed Jun 13, 2018 11:10 am The one consistent strength I read about with TF is the heat treatment, and in the three I used the steel was very nice. Beyond that the knives will need a little to a lot of care. Of the three I tried, the grind on one was inconsistent and fat. On all three the fit and finish were mediocre to absolutely appalling, as in core steel sticking a millimeter out of the cladding steel on the heel and a recession in the spine that badly, badly needed to be sanded down to prevent heinous rust issues. Joe went to great lengths completely regrinding his TF and apparently got it into a great spot, but to be blunt he could have done that with anything. So the draw to TF is that they are a modest to extreme DIY project where you are collaborating with the smith. If that is up your alley, by all means buy a TF for the steel, but otherwise I would favor so many other makers first if the goal is just to get a great knife.

I have both arrived - and can subscribe - to this assessment quite fully

Lepus is dead on. A 200mm gyuto I got from him had about 2mm depression in the spine where the core steel was beneath the cladding, and also had a small hump in the transition at the profile. Even with that issue on the edge, it was a beast of a knife just begging for board time. After a passaround with another TF gyuto, I sent it to Ken Schwartz who transformed that knife into a masterpiece. I sold it on the classifieds, which I don't regret because I don't care for gyuto's under 210mm, but if I did, I would have been all over it.

The only constant I have seen in the TF knives that I have handled is the rustic finishes (nashiji or maraborishi) and the heat treat (less obvious to quantify/appreciate it). I still have a 150mm petty that I use for trimming meats and breaking down chickens and some smaller work. I'm not popping joints and I take my time, but I am skimming bones at times, and that thing doesn't blink. For white at that HT, it's pretty impressive. I think I paid $55-60 for that petty handleless, and it is probably the best 'deal' I have in my collection.