Author Topic: KAI Wasabi Black Knives  (Read 5043 times)

hans

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KAI Wasabi Black Knives
« on: December 01, 2016, 01:15:20 AM »
So it seems I may be starting to get into kitchen knives as a hobby. I recently started sharpening and grabbed a set of Wasabi Black knives to practice on/use. I picked up the 6.5" Santoku and Nakiri and the 4" paring knife pretty cheap on Cyber Monday. The Santoku and Nakiri are not too bad for about $25 a piece, the paring knife blade is OK but the handle seems very wrong on it; much too long. The edges were all pretty sharp out of the box, can easily slice paper. The corners definitely need a bit of rounding though for the pinch grip that I use, way too sharp. The handles are very plasticy feeling even though I thought I'd read they're mixed with bamboo. They're not that bad but they definitely feel cheap. The Santoku also had a tiny bit of rust marks so even though these are some kind of Stainless they aren't quite as good as other knives. The handle on the paring knife is a D shape kind of thing but pretty sharp of an ledge, the other two are just oval shaped and I found those more comfortable.

Still, for $25-ish they'll be good sharpening practice knives and I think I'll probably also use them as traveling knives when we go places and I need to bring along some knives. This is my first Nakiri knife so I'm trying to decide if I like them enough to use them more often than the Santokus that I currently favor. So far I like them but I'm not they'll end up being more of a go-to knife. I think the Santoku (non-granton) and paring knife are a pretty solid combo for a minimal "set" of knives, but with the handle on the Wasabi I wouldn't recommend it that one.

My plan is to try and re-handle one of them and see how that turns out too, maybe an octagonal wa style. I think throwing some nice hardwood handle on there might make them nicer to use.

I'm planning on using these as the daily knives for a bit and see how well the edges hold up etc.
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KnuckleBuckett

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Re: KAI Wasabi Black Knives
« Reply #1 on: December 01, 2016, 05:56:21 AM »
Ipe wood handles?

hans

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Re: KAI Wasabi Black Knives
« Reply #2 on: December 01, 2016, 09:56:09 AM »
Good suggestion, I was thinking walnut/maple since I generally like the contrast and woods but haven't really decided. Some Claro Walnut with Birdseye Maple I think would make a good combo.
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hans

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Re: KAI Wasabi Black Knives
« Reply #3 on: December 01, 2016, 12:02:18 PM »
I like the same kinds of wood on guitars too.

Guitar hobby has slowed quite a bit after the wife moved in a few years ago, getting a dog and the pinball hobby. Not enough time for everything. :(  I did recently buy a banjo though so...
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