Been waiting for this one. Pretty much echoes my experience with the takamura r2, what a great knife. Other knives may have this quality or that but for raw cutting performance i just always find myself coming back to it.
I have the chromax gyuto and it’s amazing but this santoku beats it out hands down for raw cutting performance. I have a bunch more of these mini knife reviews on the channel. Search around and see if there’s something you like!
Yes for the chromax versions! Heat treat is always critical but especially on white steel with nothing to hide behind so definitely taking note of your recommendation!
I've got a sharpening question. Why can you use lower grit diamond stones to get a sharp edge, but you need higher grit ceramic stones? For instance, the ultra sharp diamond set with 300, 600, 1200 is great. But 300 grit is waaaaaay too coarse to begin sharpening with for ceramics. Most people say start with 1000 ceramic at the lowest, then go to 2000 & 5000 (or whatever progression is preferred). Are diamonds just more fine, even at lower grits? Just wanted clarification on something I've never seen an answer to.
I guess I'm not sure what experience you're going off for the 300 grit ceramic stones as being too coarse to sharpen with. I have videos on my channel using shapton pro 220 and 320grit sharpening a kitchen knife. In my experience they aren't really that different in a meaningful way in regards to the edge at those grits. I think many beginner videos suggest starting at 1K so a new sharpener doesn't do too much too fast and make a major mistake
Bit late to the party but I personally had quite a few problems with micro chips. Loved the grind and the handle was fine. Even at 18° per side I had micro chipping. So I had to go with other knives. Now I almost exclusively use Aogami Super and Silver 3, which are both very nice. Would be amazing to see japanese makers use more modern steels like CPM Cruwear, Magnacut, etc.
I experience the same microchipping with the factory 11-13dps edge as well but honeslty don't notice them in use. Easily detected if I run my fingernail over the edge but they're pretty minor. Sharpen out with a 3K chosera with a few extra minutes if needed. AS is always awesome of course! I adore Cruwear and think it would be such a perfect steel that leans hard towards sharpeners and good performance with enough corrosion resistance to be head and shoulders over basic carbon steels.
@@EngineersPerspective701 I don't really think Cruwear brings enough upgrade for the price it would cost over something like AS. At least not in the kitchen, where high hardness and edge stability seems to be the best to focus on. Tho, Cruwear is my favourite steel and I agree that it would be perfect for kitchen knives. And yea while the chips are not noticeable in use, those little steel fragments are somewhere and I do not like the idea of them being in my food.
For a thin knife, it doesn’t exactly sound whisper sharp. Could just be the sound recording device. I wouldn’t recommend it for the professional cook unless you’re doing amuse bouche or the Garde manger station, where you take more time with your cuts. I wouldn’t recommend this to the average line cook or prep cook either. By the end of the day you’ll have several microchips, otherwise.
100% makes sense. It’s a pretty niche knife realistically but I do love it. Even in my use gets a lot of microchips but I can sharpen them out with a 3K Chosera in 5-7min and don’t notice them in use so it doesn’t bother me.
Beautiful knife and fantastic video! How would you compare this knife to your Meglio gyuto? I know Brandon is not a fan of SG2, but what are your thoughts on the steel overall? Also, do you enjoy cutting and food prep more with this knife or your Meglio? Thanks again for more kitchen content!🎉
I absolutely adore the Takamura. It’s for sure a better cutting experience over the Meglio it it’s a different class of knife and much more delicate. The Meglio is a more versatile knife that has a super high quality cutting feel that meets or exceeds your Miyabi, Shun, Tojiro. So it’s a little apples to oranges there. I love the way SG2 takes an edge, how it breaks down over time but it can’t handle the super low angles. Less than 14-13dps and I get chips if varying sizes. My Takamura is at 11dps and I have microchips in my edge. I only notice them by running my finger nail along the apex so zero affect on cutting. It just something I’ll live with I think. Now I have my Meglio at about 14dps so I can’t say for sure how it will do lower but Magnacut should be FAR superior to SG2 in this category. Able to hold these lower angles and not even blink. To have such stability yet stainless and carbide volume is where Magnacut cannot be matched. If I could only own one knife I’d choose the Meglio. If I already have a daily driver I love then the Tak.
@@EngineersPerspective701 Thanks for your response Justin. One quick follow up question, have you thought about thinning your Meglio and putting an 11 dps edge on it? It could be an insane laser. That might take away some of its versatility, but it would be fun putting MagnaCut to the test!
@@dr.g7980 I think Magnacut deserves a thin edge like that! However to your point it would likely give up that versatility I bought the knife for. Also they didn’t so super hard on the heat treatment so I’m not sure what 61HRc Maganacut can do from an edge stability point of view. Will 11pm cause it to roll? Doubt it but I just don’t know!
That 11 degrees is pretty insane. You should really be using a rubber board for these knives or you're going to get some microchips no matter how careful you are. Rubber boards can be a pain to clean though. IMO, this design pushes it too far. It's too delicate for the marginal gain in performance.
You’re 100% right, it does microchip. But does that matter? I honestly am surprised how little if at all I notice it in use. Only can tell when I run my finger nail along the edge. I can usually remove 90% of them with just 5min on the Chosera 3K so they’re really minor. All that said, I do agree it pushes SG2 too far. But just barely which I kind of love. This is exactly what Magancut was designed for and probably a better fit for this knife. Regardless I’m extremely happy with the knife. I’d say the cutting performance is a little more than marginally better. Noticeable by anyone but not night and day over other good Japanese knives. And depends on what you’re cutting.
