Passaround - Mazaki White #2 Kurouchi Gyuto 240mm

See what's happening with current or completed "Pass Arounds". Forum members occasionally send knives or sharpening stones around to a hand selected group of participants for short term use and feedback/reviews.
slobound
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Re: Passaround - Mazaki White #2 Kurouchi Gyuto 240mm

Post by slobound »

I just received the knife in good order from Steve! Looking forward to using this for the week.
-- Garrick
appleward91
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Re: Passaround - Mazaki White #2 Kurouchi Gyuto 240mm

Post by appleward91 »

Bluenoser87 wrote: Tue Dec 25, 2018 2:03 pm This one is definitely not stainless. It’s pretty reactive.
I saw this post a long time ago, and I'm pretty sure after taking off the KU finish on purpose, that the line where the KU finish runs, the top part from there on to the top is stainless. So the whole KU and up part is stainless and then KU finish over it. That is how mine is. I like the blade better with the KU off and then noticed that nothing patinas passed it upwards, only on the part of the blade under the KU finish. Hope that helps.
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Re: Passaround - Mazaki White #2 Kurouchi Gyuto 240mm

Post by Bluenoser87 »

appleward91 wrote: Wed Jan 23, 2019 11:38 pm
Bluenoser87 wrote: Tue Dec 25, 2018 2:03 pm This one is definitely not stainless. It’s pretty reactive.
I saw this post a long time ago, and I'm pretty sure after taking off the KU finish on purpose, that the line where the KU finish runs, the top part from there on to the top is stainless. So the whole KU and up part is stainless and then KU finish over it. That is how mine is. I like the blade better with the KU off and then noticed that nothing patinas passed it upwards, only on the part of the blade under the KU finish. Hope that helps.
Interesting. That seems odd. The exposed cladding is definitely not stainless on this one. I can’t say under the KU though as it hasn’t been removed... Can you see another lamination line on yours where the KU ends now that you’ve removed it? I wonder if there’s something about the KU process that makes the underlying steel less prone to developing a patina even after the KU has been removed, making it seem like stainless. How aggressively did you remove the KU? Maybe this style of KU sticks better to stainless? Lots of questions haha
appleward91
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Re: Passaround - Mazaki White #2 Kurouchi Gyuto 240mm

Post by appleward91 »

Bluenoser87 wrote: Thu Jan 24, 2019 12:16 am
appleward91 wrote: Wed Jan 23, 2019 11:38 pm
Bluenoser87 wrote: Tue Dec 25, 2018 2:03 pm This one is definitely not stainless. It’s pretty reactive.
I saw this post a long time ago, and I'm pretty sure after taking off the KU finish on purpose, that the line where the KU finish runs, the top part from there on to the top is stainless. So the whole KU and up part is stainless and then KU finish over it. That is how mine is. I like the blade better with the KU off and then noticed that nothing patinas passed it upwards, only on the part of the blade under the KU finish. Hope that helps.
Interesting. That seems odd. The exposed cladding is definitely not stainless on this one. I can’t say under the KU though as it hasn’t been removed... Can you see another lamination line on yours where the KU ends now that you’ve removed it? I wonder if there’s something about the KU process that makes the underlying steel less prone to developing a patina even after the KU has been removed, making it seem like stainless. How aggressively did you remove the KU? Maybe this style of KU sticks better to stainless? Lots of questions haha
well someone said that they wiped and the Ku didnt come off easily. But on my version I could start to see “streaks” in it, so i just said f it and i purprosely used a green scrub to just lightly scrub off. came off super easy. ill post pictures of it later today. Also, Ill force a patina on it and see what part of blade reacts and if the top part does/doesnt in fact react.
Cutuu
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Re: Passaround - Mazaki White #2 Kurouchi Gyuto 240mm

Post by Cutuu »

appleward91 wrote: Thu Jan 24, 2019 8:11 am
Bluenoser87 wrote: Thu Jan 24, 2019 12:16 am
appleward91 wrote: Wed Jan 23, 2019 11:38 pm

I saw this post a long time ago, and I'm pretty sure after taking off the KU finish on purpose, that the line where the KU finish runs, the top part from there on to the top is stainless. So the whole KU and up part is stainless and then KU finish over it. That is how mine is. I like the blade better with the KU off and then noticed that nothing patinas passed it upwards, only on the part of the blade under the KU finish. Hope that helps.
Interesting. That seems odd. The exposed cladding is definitely not stainless on this one. I can’t say under the KU though as it hasn’t been removed... Can you see another lamination line on yours where the KU ends now that you’ve removed it? I wonder if there’s something about the KU process that makes the underlying steel less prone to developing a patina even after the KU has been removed, making it seem like stainless. How aggressively did you remove the KU? Maybe this style of KU sticks better to stainless? Lots of questions haha
well someone said that they wiped and the Ku didnt come off easily. But on my version I could start to see “streaks” in it, so i just said f it and i purprosely used a green scrub to just lightly scrub off. came off super easy. ill post pictures of it later today. Also, Ill force a patina on it and see what part of blade reacts and if the top part does/doesnt in fact react.
There were stainless Mazakis sold by another company. Did you buy yours from cktg?
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Drewski
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Re: Passaround - Mazaki White #2 Kurouchi Gyuto 240mm

Post by Drewski »

Bluenoser87 wrote: Thu Jan 24, 2019 12:16 am
appleward91 wrote: Wed Jan 23, 2019 11:38 pm
Bluenoser87 wrote: Tue Dec 25, 2018 2:03 pm This one is definitely not stainless. It’s pretty reactive.
I saw this post a long time ago, and I'm pretty sure after taking off the KU finish on purpose, that the line where the KU finish runs, the top part from there on to the top is stainless. So the whole KU and up part is stainless and then KU finish over it. That is how mine is. I like the blade better with the KU off and then noticed that nothing patinas passed it upwards, only on the part of the blade under the KU finish. Hope that helps.
Interesting. That seems odd. The exposed cladding is definitely not stainless on this one. I can’t say under the KU though as it hasn’t been removed... Can you see another lamination line on yours where the KU ends now that you’ve removed it? I wonder if there’s something about the KU process that makes the underlying steel less prone to developing a patina even after the KU has been removed, making it seem like stainless. How aggressively did you remove the KU? Maybe this style of KU sticks better to stainless? Lots of questions haha
I agree. I have never used this Mazaki, but I have never heard of a knife being "double clad" with a core steel, a soft reactive steel, and halfway up the blade a stainless steel (but there are many things in the knife world I haven't heard of). Betting it is just remnants of the KU finish/process preventing any patina under where the KU used to be.
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Re: Passaround - Mazaki White #2 Kurouchi Gyuto 240mm

Post by PappaG »

Where is the passaround at? I would enjoy hearing some more opinions on this knife.
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Re: Passaround - Mazaki White #2 Kurouchi Gyuto 240mm

Post by Bluenoser87 »

PappaG wrote: Thu Jan 24, 2019 2:38 pm Where is the passaround at? I would enjoy hearing some more opinions on this knife.
It’s with Igalor right now
appleward91
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Re: Passaround - Mazaki White #2 Kurouchi Gyuto 240mm

Post by appleward91 »

im still at work until late tonight, but quick update. no stainless clad on mine. using it on product it barely patinas at all(thats why i had that thought process); however, forced patina and it did on top part under the KU. wiped it early but it did a little, so yea its not stainless clad on mine.
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Re: Passaround - Mazaki White #2 Kurouchi Gyuto 240mm

Post by Altadan »

The Mazaki made it over here in good condition.

I'll give it a go tonight on some salad, onion, garlic, and butternutsasquash :D

Initial impressions:
What a massive neck/spine, and what a taper! Blade-heavy and a half. Feels like it'll blow threw anything.
KU finishes are still not my thing. They feel so sooty that I keep thinking my fingers are turning black. Kanji is also super muted :(
Looking forward to using it this week. Will update later
“If we conquer our passions it is more from their weakness than from our strength.”
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appleward91
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Re: Passaround - Mazaki White #2 Kurouchi Gyuto 240mm

Post by appleward91 »

Altadan wrote: Mon Jan 28, 2019 1:10 pm The Mazaki made it over here in good condition.

I'll give it a go tonight on some salad, onion, garlic, and butternutsasquash :D

Initial impressions:
What a massive neck/spine, and what a taper! Blade-heavy and a half. Feels like it'll blow threw anything.
KU finishes are still not my thing. They feel so sooty that I keep thinking my fingers are turning black. Kanji is also super muted :(
Looking forward to using it this week. Will update later
have mine on classifieds right now, the 180 version. took the KU off because it was just coming off easily anyways. but great knife, if i didnt need longer lasting edge, id buy the whole line to be honest. love the profile! enjoy.
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OgerBash
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Re: Passaround - Mazaki White #2 Kurouchi Gyuto 240mm

Post by OgerBash »

I got the knife in today. It looks good I can't wait to try it this weekend.
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Re: Passaround - Mazaki White #2 Kurouchi Gyuto 240mm

Post by Bluenoser87 »

CacahuateSommelier seems to have disappeared. I hope everything's alright. I was hoping to catch up to him to get him in on this, but as we're getting near the bottom end of the list I think I'll open up his spot to someone else. Anyone else want to give this one a try? Details ($10, etc) are at the beginning of the thread.
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Altadan
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Re: Passaround - Mazaki White #2 Kurouchi Gyuto 240mm

Post by Altadan »

Thank you, Jon, for putting this passaround together!

The first impressions I got out of this knife were "woah, that's a lotta knife" and "Ugh, this KU finish feels so... sooty,"
I kept looking at my fingers to see if they were blackened or not. Needless to say, not the best first impression. Oh, and the kanji was so terribly muted under the KU

Later that day brought it some red onion, the basis of most of our dishes, and I found the tip to drag in the horizontal cuts.
Honestly I was a little shocked. So much so that I checked the edge, and upon the slightest sign of fatigue took it to a a Richmond 0.25 loaded balsa.
It didn't make much of a difference. It must have been the KU.
The rest of the onion, I should say, was dispatched without issue. The tip and sweep performed well in the parallel incision cuts before I chopped the rest off.
After that I neglected the knife for a few days, thinking all the while I might ship it off earlier than I needed to, and regretting getting on this passaround.

However, towards the end of the week there was a change of heart. I decided to give it another whirl. My wife wanted to try one of my mother's recipes; a root-vegetable & beef soup to go with couscous. Neither of us have ever cooked this before, and in fact, we didn't even know the English names of some of the ingredients. My mother told me to go find... what turned out to be turnip, and that Yellow turnips are best for this! Well, I found a white-purple turnip, and a yellow-purple Rutabaga (yellow turnip?). I threw in some parsnip (is that really the root of parsley?)
To make a long story short, we peeled them all, and put them to the knife, only to discover these must be the hardest produce I've ever cut :shock:
From the Gassan, Tanaka, Masutani and Fuji, only the Fuji surpassed this Mazakis ability to cut through those roots (!) and even then, with the help of my left hand...
Mazaki.jpg
Mazaki2.jpg
There were more onions, carrots, garlic, beef, and other things to cut, and honestly, after getting over the KU's sooty feel, I found the Mazaki to have a very useful and versatile profile, with a surprisingly (to me) well shaped grind. The length and grind allowed me to easily chop all five carrots at once. I was surprised to find it almost effortless. Also, just for comparison I tried squaring off a thick piece of carrot and found it to have zero steering (unlike my Tanaka Sekiso... :cry: ) All in all, it's thick at the spine, but thin and precise at the edge!
The knife is tall, long, thick-at-the-spine and confidence inspiring - yet also thin behind the edge - with a gradual distal taper throughout a good portion of the blade. By the end of my week I got the strong impression that this knife could do just about anything well, or very well indeed. It's a fine specimen of a hand-crafted blade with a very rustic, traditional feel to it.
If Mr. Mazaki were to produce a non-KU version, with some deeper-etched kanji perhaps, I would be much more amenable to add it to the new Wish List feature on CKTG :D
Thanks again for putting this thing together!
Sincerely,
Dan
Thanks again for the
“If we conquer our passions it is more from their weakness than from our strength.”
― François de La Rochefoucauld
daviddg
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Re: Passaround - Mazaki White #2 Kurouchi Gyuto 240mm

Post by daviddg »

Bluenoser87 wrote: Wed Feb 06, 2019 12:54 pm CacahuateSommelier seems to have disappeared. I hope everything's alright. I was hoping to catch up to him to get him in on this, but as we're getting near the bottom end of the list I think I'll open up his spot to someone else. Anyone else want to give this one a try? Details ($10, etc) are at the beginning of the thread.
I would like to give this a try if still would like someone.
David

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Re: Passaround - Mazaki White #2 Kurouchi Gyuto 240mm

Post by MisoSatisfried »

If that david g doesn't want in, this david g will, ha! I was bummed I missed it.
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Re: Passaround - Mazaki White #2 Kurouchi Gyuto 240mm

Post by daviddg »

MisoSatisfried wrote: Wed Feb 06, 2019 7:07 pm If that david g doesn't want in, this david g will, ha! I was bummed I missed it.
Will the real David G please stand up..laughing, to funny. It is all yours David (with Op's permission) Enjoy...be UnBummed :lol:
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Re: Passaround - Mazaki White #2 Kurouchi Gyuto 240mm

Post by MisoSatisfried »

daviddg wrote: Wed Feb 06, 2019 9:16 pm
Will the real David G please stand up..laughing, to funny. It is all yours David (with Op's permission) Enjoy...be UnBummed :lol:

Ha, I do a double take every single time I see you post man!
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Re: Passaround - Mazaki White #2 Kurouchi Gyuto 240mm

Post by Cutuu »

I received it. Looks sweet.
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Re: Passaround - Mazaki White #2 Kurouchi Gyuto 240mm

Post by Dan_Crubenew »

Anyone know what the status of this pass around is? I haven't heard any news in a while.
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