ZBlog, the blog of zknives.com

Finally I got one :) 9" long monster blade, weighs almost 2lbs. Made out of the famous INFI steel, 58-60HRC. That's the knife that can take tremendous beating, and dish out tremendous damage too. Very nice knife and superbly ergonomic handle. Cut, chop, pry whatever you need.

Friday, March 6, 2009 17:01:14

Watanabe just contacted me :) My 210mm Miroshi Deba is ready and shipping from Japan today. I should have it soon. Aogami steel, 63-65HRC. Super! One thing is, I don't coos that much fish, interesting what am I gonna use it for, but I'll figure something out, or start eating more fish.

Friday, March 6, 2009 00:46:40

Finally got time to post a mini-review. Very good stone, especially for removing deep scratches by other, more coarse stones such as DTM 8XXC or Shapton 220 grit glass stone. All is good, almost perfect with it. Cuts fast, doesn't wear down quickly, but this is a sponge, not a whetstone :) When you soak it in the water first, it bubbles for a solid half an hour. Then, during sharpening it takes a lot of water to keep going. Still, one of the best and well priced whetstones.

Friday, March 6, 2009 00:32:24

I got two new ones today. Busse Nuclear Muskarat and Phil Wilson small Chef's knife. Nuclear Muskarat is a small fixed blade, made of Busse proprietary INFI steel of course. Not a production blade, custom shop. Really thin for Busse. Makes it that much interesting. Fit and finish are just excellent. Phil Wilson's custom kitchen knives are really highly regarded in US, and they are top notch craftsmanship too. This one is made of CPM154 steel, 61HRC, thin, high performance cutter, just like he does it with other knives.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009 18:25:11

Finally my custom chef's knife is ready. Relatively small knife, made of CPM154 steel. More like an experimental piece, but safe to let non-knife people for short term use, under supervision :)

Tuesday, March 3, 2009 14:37:27

After last two weeks of Busse acquiring/trading operations I've ended up with three(!) new Busse knives. Jerry is my favorite combat knife maker after all. Won Nuclear Muskrat on 02/09 Ganza, got HG55 LE(Limited Edition) and finally the new, Fusion Battle Mistress. That's quite a load for a one week. Next couple weeks will be busy, but good kindda busy ;)

Monday, March 2, 2009 19:51:07

Finally, after few months of waiting got the word from Shigefusa. He started making my Kitaeji (damascus) gyuto! It's been a long time since I have placed that order. Actually little more than 3 months. I hope in a month or two I will get my new beauty. Shigefusa is one of the highest regarded knife makers in Japan. Really hard to get his knives here in US. Can't say it's cheap either, but it is really worth the price and wait. I still have to wait, but they've started making it, that's already a good news :)

Monday, March 2, 2009 19:38:28

Today ordered new, white steel Ikkanshi Tadatsuna(Tadatuna) made Usuba Kamagata, or Kamagata Usuba. Called both ways. Anyway, Takeshi - aframestokyo.com has great respect for that maker and so do other folks on knifeforums.com. Good enough a reason to try the new knife. Why not, always fun. Besides, I don't have usuba, and last year Tadatsuna stopped making knives out of white steel, because one of the blacksmiths left. They may renew production, but for now it's a rarity. I'm hunting for his 270mm white steel gyuto, it's the thinnest I've ever seen. No luck so far. But, this one is a welcomed addition to my collection.

Monday, March 2, 2009 19:27:28

Parties are good, hangovers are bad... Considering that last night's party went till 3am or so, I have a pretty bad hangover today. Oh well, I'll live. Not in the mood to do serious stuff anyway. Just did a few fixes, grammar checks and other updates. That utility hunter is one of the best cutters I've ever seen, and as such, remains in my favorites top list since I've had it.

Sunday, March 1, 2009 21:47:56

Phil Wilson made it few months ago, picked it up on BAKCA show. CPM-125M knife, the only one in my collection. I've used it several times, pretty intensive cuting. Well, it's a superb cutter from a very exotic steel too. Unfortunately, looks like CPM-125V was discontinued. No other makers is willing to work with it either. Too hard and wear resistant, literally eats through the belts. Originally designed for dental equipment, but turned out too hard to make equipment out of it. Makes a very good knife though. Anyway, there will be new steels and there will be new knives :)

Friday, February 27, 2009 20:39:46