# Is this normal to my new knife?



## Zither (Jul 15, 2018)

I recently bought a Miyabi Santoku from Amazon. But right away find a cheaper one on Ebay which is also marked as new from a reputable seller. But it's a bit too late to cancel the second one.

Now I receive two same knives. But I noticed the second one from Ebay is slightly lighter (204g vs 200g). Looking at the edge, the lighter one also has a slightly shallower edge width at the tip. Plus, the handle of the Ebay Miyabi shows more texture of the wood.

All in all, are those difference pretty common in knife industry? or it means the Ebay knife can be a second-hand, or re-sharped knife? Sorry if I'm over cautious since this is the most expensive knife I bought.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

I think you're within normal variation.


Whoever sharpened the top blade in the top picture did a better job imho. Handling the curves and transitions evenly is something that takes some skill development. It's easy to have variations like the bottom blade. I still generate unevenness on some blades.


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## millionsknives (Apr 25, 2014)

Looks normal to me


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## rick alan (Nov 15, 2012)

It is also possible that either the top blade came our thicker at the edge, especially at the tip, or that primary bevel was pit in at a more accuse angle. Looks to me as if the top knife is thicker at the edge.


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## brianshaw (Dec 18, 2010)

rick alan said:


> something.


EDIT: agreement with "something" deleted.

To me: Inconsistent factory sharpening.

I'm agreeing with the earlier posting by phatch.


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## rick alan (Nov 15, 2012)

Ah, that's not exactly what I said BS


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## brianshaw (Dec 18, 2010)

rick alan said:


> Ah, that's not exactly what I said BS


Sigh. you may have missed my first thought: agreeing with you and the point it appears you made. Second thought was my impression of the photos. I'll fix that, then. Give me a second. AMF (Adieu My Friend... ha ha ha)


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## rick alan (Nov 15, 2012)

Anyways, getting back to the actual meat of my comment - Zither, can you notice a difference in thickness at the edge between the 2 knives? A thinner edge will cut better, asymmetrical looking or not. And if there is more distal taper at the tip of the asymmetric one as it appears, you'll experience a noticeable improvement in doing things like making horizontal cuts thru onion.

These knives are shaped by robots, which are fairly consistent, though even they can get out of whack and produce some inconsistent results until the problem is recognized and things readjusted, grinding belts replaced, etc. Variations in edge thickness would be amongst the more likely and noticeable results. The actual sharpening is done by hand though, as initially noted by phatch. I'd concur with previous comments that both these knives are well withing factory standards. The handles also as the composite material they're made from can also have some variation.

All knives need [ideally] to be thinned due to the edge moving up from the metal removed in sharpening. This gives some folks fits as it messes up the nice finish, but that can be reasonably restored with a fine stone of 10K+ grit. But even a 6K stone will give you a nice if misty looking finish.

In conclusion, whether you gift one of the knives or try to send it back, if one is actually thinner at the edge I'd have you keep the thinner one.


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## Sohail Qureshi (Sep 5, 2018)

I think you are right


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