Kaiju II

[ChefKnivesToGo]

I've been thinking about this for a while now and I spoke to Kosuke but we have not firmed anything up yet. We plan on talking about it soon but I want to share the idea with you folks and see if you like it.

What if we could make a new version of the Kaiju that would be sharpened to imitate the same grind without doing it by hand for hours in order to lower the price point? I'm guessing about $350. We would need to figure out the process but I'm betting it could be done and if we pulled it off they would be available to a much larger audience and in better quantities. It may require Kosuke to fund some new equipment and to find a sharpener willing to work with us but I think it would be a fun adventure for 2022. Maybe we come up with a plan and pre-sell the knives or do a Kickstarter for deposits so everyone doesn't have to fight over them and we would get a firm idea of the quantities before we started production? I also thought it might be good to do a tweener size at about 225mm but again I'm just dreaming right now. We could also try and come up with a natural stone finishing process that was less time-consuming to give it a similar look.

Seems like it would be popular. Please feel free to add some ideas and I'll try and come up with a plan and then I'll take it to Kosuke and we'll try to work on it.

For those that are new, this is the knife. There were hardly any made because of the time it took to make them.
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/konosukekaiju.html

[Jeff B]

Any Fujiyama coming in at $350 is going to be very popular. I think it's a good idea if you can make it happen.

BUT I WANT THE ORIGINAL!

[XexoX]

Sounds great. Sir Jeff can wait for the rare unicorn, I'll take one of these. I like the idea of the tweener size too. Please keep us posted.

[LaVieestBelle]

I do like the idea.

Though I never pulled the trigger, I have been looking hard at the Kaiju ever since missing out on that small run of "beefier" Kono B2s that preceded the Kaiju. The run that came out in the late spring/early summer of 2020....

Something like this possible offering would give me the chance to play with and enjoy what I suspect (hope?) would be a similar geometry at an easier price point.

Absolutely, I would get in line for one. Xexox, I'm right behind you.

[silylanjie]

I think this is a good idea. I'm also down for the kickstarter idea of funding (deposit) the project first.

[Cutuu]

Looove this idea!! Here is my 2 cents. Please add some nice distal taper to the package. A thicker workhorse style heel with nice distal taper to a thin tip would be something different and an awesome Kaiju 2.

[MajorMajor]

Yes please!

[Lcarrasco]

I would definitely be in!! Especially the 225 size. That would be perfect. Where can I send the deposit?

[Santas_101]

I’d like it, but if they could do it in that vintage Swedish Carbon so that in imitates tamahagane that would be awesome. Would that be possible?

[salemj]

I'll admit I've been perplexed by the original Kaiju. I tried a T-F and found it to be a great cutter, and all of my other experience tells me that variations in the geometry aid performance (to a point), so I found it very odd that the Kaiju was painstakingly sharpened to flatten the geometry as much as possible so that it could be cosmetically polished by stones. To me, this implied that the geometry of the knife would be problematic when cutting many foods, causing a lot more blade stick than necessary. (Of course, I recognize that many people buying these knives buy them as museum pieces or resale items and probably never cut anything with them, but Konosuke specifically markets them as optimal precisely because they are easier to maintain for flattening and thinning due to the hand-polishing of the geometry.)

I imagine that a cheaper version, using a different process (perhaps one that uses buffers rather than hard, flat, natural stones) would actually provide the best of both worlds: a knife that has the necessary subtle blade road variations that aid performance, but that also has the look and feel of a knife that is hand-finished with a particular polish and aesthetic. I would be more interested in a knife like this, and I also agree that a 225 size would be nice.

I'm curious how others feel about my comments...

[FisherMAn1298]

I recently bought some natural stone powder in an attempt to put that type of finish on some of my knives. Like prepaid idea, takes the question mark out of who gets one. Fine idea!

[BoostedGT]

Seems like a great idea, count me in!

[clifton]

Sounds great. Subscribed.

[taz575]

Are the Kaiju truly flat ground?? I know with the swords they use the hard stones to give a convex surface to the blade and they do the same with single bevel kitchen knives, too. I don't think it is accurate to assume a hand stone finish means flat ground. I think that is why they are so time consuming to hand polish if it is a convex bevel. Hand polishing a true flat bevel would be much easier and quicker. There are ways to machine grind a nice convex bevel and then it is a matter of using the correct hardness stones and techniques to polish the surface.

[gladius]

Are the Kaiju truly flat ground?? I know with the swords they use the hard stones to give a convex surface to the blade and they do the same with single bevel kitchen knives, too. I don't think it is accurate to assume a hand stone finish means flat ground. I think that is why they are so time consuming to hand polish if it is a convex bevel. Hand polishing a true flat bevel would be much easier and quicker. There are ways to machine grind a nice convex bevel and then it is a matter of using the correct hardness stones and techniques to polish the surface.

Though thin behind the edge, it does appear to have a convex grind...

[salemj]

Sorry—never meant to imply a flat grind. I didn't express this well and shouldn't have just substituted geometry for grind. My point was that the finish polishing – according to Konosuke – is designed to remove all surface imperfections so that it is easier to thin and polish the blade using stones. My interpretation of this is that they essentially remove many of the small waves and undulations that naturally occur in most hand-forged knives, including the Fujiyama series. So, by "flat" I'm referring to the consistency of the curves cross the blade road and not to the type of grind. Put another way, my understanding is that these blades are designed so that there are no discernible high or low spots if you try to polish them with stones, which is simply not the case for many, many hand-forged Japanese blades.

I mentioned T-F because his philosophy is precisely the opposite in this specific regard...perhaps to a fault given that high and low spots in his blade roads (i.e., under and over grinds) are sometimes seen as problematic. Nonetheless, his stated philosophy is that it is precisely the small variations in the grinding process that aid performance with food. I've found this to be the case when using different knives by different makers, just as I've found that over-flattening a grind (meaning removing all high and low spots but maintaining a convex) can sometimes result in food sticking more to the blade...at least in my opinion—this is admittedly a difficult thing to know for me and with my very limited experience.

Anyways, I'm not trying to "knock" the Kaiju, but I am (sort of) trying to raise what I think is an important issue about blade performance for further evolutions of this knife. I wish I owned a Kaiju for fun, but I purposely never tried to buy one because it is not a knife I could see myself using comfortably, nor did I feel that it was designed for cutting performance. I do think it was designed to show off a mastery of craft and a certain aesthetic, both of which I admire greatly. But perhaps to this end, the only person I remember ever saying much about the actual performance of the Kaiju was Omega (not that I was scouring the web), and even that was based on minimal use. I'd love to hear more about the knife as a performer, but my guess is that many of the few that exist are being carefully maintained as works of art—something I totally respect and appreciate. So, for me, it begs the question.

[taz575]

Ah, ok. That makes more sense now! I think the rougher surface finish has a bit to do with less sticking, not necessarily the highs/lows. Surface texture can vary with different stones and finishes a lot. Nashiji finishes seem pretty non stick overall, which F-T uses a lot.

[Chefspence]

Take my money whenever you want, sounds perfect for me!

[trfrttf12]

Take my money whenever you want, sounds perfect for me!

Same.

[XexoX]

Please forgive my ignorance, but who or what is F-T?