Blade straightness

[rklee]

How straight should we expect a blade to be? I've often seen knife people look down the spine of the blade to check for straightness. But I think it's the blade itself they look at. I have a Gihei 210mm gyuto that has the blade veering to the left. The blade itself looks straight, but it's not straight in the handle. That surprised me. I'm a right-hander, so that angle might work in my favor.

P3060002.jpg (43.9 KiB) Viewed 278 times

[taz575]

Most of the tangs are burned in to the handle. Some tangs are a bit wonky and not even or straight, so what you see is fairly common. You can remove the handle, rasp out the inside of the handle and re install it straight if you want.

[Kekoa]

I had a Gihei with a bit of the same. I was dealing with a nerve problem in my arm and the knife was bugging it a little, the straightness may or may not have been contributing to why that knife was triggering the nerve, but I didn't suppose it was effecting use much, especially in a pinch grip. Yours looks a little more dramatic than mine was, but if you don't notice it in use it may be mostly aesthetic. Have you used it much and gotten any feel for it yet?

[rklee]

Thanks for the replies. I used it for awhile without even knowing it was crooked. So I'm sure it won't affect use (I use a pinch grip). Besides, I don't do a lot of cooking. I was just surprised and wondered if I was unlucky and got a bad one. So it seems I'm not the only one.