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ScoobyWan
85
Feb 23, 2018
knives arrived a couple days ago and alt they are very good looking I am somewhat disappointed with the quality of the blades as they have a slight bend in them which is really frustrating on a knife of this price. I am including photos where you can see both the nakiri and the gyuto have a slight curve along the length of the blade.
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Kavik
5531
Mar 27, 2018
ScoobyWanOh dang.... That slight curve in the gyuto might be able to be carefully bent back to straight (but at this price?! No...) That twist in the nakiri though...that's ridiculous 😳🤪🤯
At the very least that nakiri should've been sent back. But ideally, neither one of those should've left the factory
ScoobyWan
85
Mar 27, 2018
KavikI was able to return them for a refund.
Kavik
5531
Mar 28, 2018
ScoobyWanVery happy to hear that was the outcome!
Without knowing you, or your experience, some new users are talked into accepting some crazy stuff and chalking it up to "normal inconsistencies in forged blades ". I'm glad to see that wasn't the case here.
Have seen the attempts myself first hand twice. Once with something that was cheap enough that it wasn't worth shipping back, so I just used it for grinding and patina practice....but was told basically it happens, I can try fixing it myself if I want, but it's not a flaw (bent blade AND core steel was so badly misaligned there was barely anything but cladding at the tip) 🙄
And then an obvious grind issue on a $250+ knife from a very well known company, where the heel was over-ground, leaving about 2" unable to contact the board without forcing past the flat of the belly. For that one they tried telling me it was intentional, so the heel won't dig the board.....only it wasn't like this on anyone else's knife that I talked to. When I pushed they said I could sharpen it out, but I wasn't about to take over a mm of this brand new knife, so I pushed harder and had it returned.
Just a PSA to fellow MDers, always be wary if your gut tells you something is off, and utilize the help that's out there in the forums if you need it
jsolar
71
Sep 3, 2018
KavikI do have to say its quite common to have the very end of the heel be slightly bellied. i cant remember exactly why a lot of hand forgers do it. but i believe its to help prevent chipping on harder or more brittle steels.
But yea this QC is outrageou and why i almost always have gotten my knives from CKTG. When you order something you can request them to pull it outa the box and check it out before shipping it out. you can also ask them to sharpen them before shipping out if you believe its necessary.
That and they do a lot of product reviews on youtube ao you can get a better idea of the product before you buy it. Like this. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=L4bW-iIF80s&feature=youtu.be
Kavik
5531
Sep 3, 2018
jsolarYeah, it's common to have the very end of the heel taper in slightly....it helps keep the heel from digging into the board if someone over-rocks their cuts, which causes wear on the board as well as risking chipping if you twist at all while lifting for the next cut.....I'm not arguing that part, but it should only be the very end, like MAYBE half an inch. For 2" of the heel to not make board contact was clearly a manufacturing flaw that they were trying to pass off as being normal.
And, sorry to break it to you, but the conversation I was referring to was with CKTG, with the owner himself actually, in regards to one of his personal in house knife lines. No company is above questionable QC or occasional shady business practices. It got dealt with in the end, but it never should've taken as much work as it did to just say I wasn't satisfied and wanted a refund... Too many people would've been convinced they were wrong, the maker must be right, and would've kept the knife. And for that reason I won't buy their stuff any more, which is unfortunate, but it was a matter of principal at that point.
jsolar
71
Sep 3, 2018
KavikThats really interesting to me cause ive hand nothing but great experiences with cktg in the past. They really went out of their way to assist me.
Kavik
5531
Sep 3, 2018
jsolarYeah, that was kinda my point, any company can be hit or miss from one transaction/issue to the next. I had had good experiences with them on a few occasions before that issue...but the way he handled that one way outweighed the good for me.
Only kitchen knife type retailer I've ever had 100% complete satisfaction with in every single order and communication has been Jon over at JapaneseKnifeImports. That guy is a rare find. He once actually talked me into a (much) lower priced knife than the one I was looking to buy after we talked a bit about my experience level and needs. Lost himself money on that sale, but I ended up with a knife that i was happy with and saved enough to cover the cost of one of their stones (which I also highly recommend if you need good quality water stones). I'm not affiliated or anything, but I recommend his site to anyone who asks 👍👍
jsolar
71
Sep 3, 2018
KavikWhich stones do you got? just going from memory i have a Beston 500, unknown 1200, and an unknown 5000. Also have a 120 diamond plate i use for laping my stones that dish out.
Kavik
5531
Sep 3, 2018
jsolarUmmm, let's see....I have a bunch of sharpening supplies between all my hobbies, for knives, tools, and razors
I'm just gonna copy and paste from another post I made here. The Gesshin stones are the ones I'm talking about from JKI, very happy with them. The 2k stone cuts as quickly as other 1k's I've used, but leaves a better finish:
-Standard 6" bench grinder with fryable wheel, with jigs (for tools) -Tormek SuperGrind 2000, low speed water wheel (for tools and knives and scissors) -WorkSharp, Ken Onion Edition (like a mini belt sander for knives) -4 various diamond plates (a coarse DMT for flattening, but XXC would be better. The other 3 are various grits up to 1,200 from EZE_Lap) -lapping films on granite -Gesshin water stones from JapaneseKnifeImports - 400, 2000, 5000 grits (HIGHLY recommend both the retailer and the stones. These replaced my Norton stones and not an ounce of regret) -a Coticle (forget the type off the top of my head) -a 'Chinese 12k' natural stone -3 Welsh slate stones ranging from about 8k to about 15k grit (straight razor stones) -Spyderco SharpMaker with ultra fine rod add on (this will handle your recurves just as easy as any straight blade) -and someone gifted me this "Wasboard Sharpener" that I haven't even gotten around to trying yet. Don't know how to describe it, so here's a link: http://www.washboardsharpening.com -plus, of course, an Idahone ceramic rod for kitchen knife touchups, a couple paddle strops with compounds for knives and chisels, and a dozen or so hanging strops for the razors
myrna_brean
91
Sep 5, 2018
KavikI have one, it is great. I have shopped i. The beverly hills store and online.
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Kavik
5531
Sep 5, 2018
myrna_breanThat's funny, that looks like it might be the same knife I was talking about, and that looks just like my cutting board too lol
Unfortunately it's the wrong coast for me, but if I ever make it back out that way I'm definitely making time to stop in there 👍