[0:00] the number one reason why it is my top
[0:02] pick in my home is because this knife is
[0:05] the perfect knife for my
[0:27] wife I am really tempted to tell you
[0:30] everything about this new Blackboard
[0:31] I've got here by dun board and then this
[0:34] really beautiful knife stand but I'll
[0:36] tell you about them at the end of the
[0:37] video so if you're going to hear about
[0:39] what I've got here just go to the end of
[0:41] the video or just watch till the end I'm
[0:43] going to make it really short and sweet
[0:44] for those who don't want to sit around
[0:45] forever if you're looking for the best
[0:48] value knife I would say for $100 or less
[0:51] it's the Naru this is the 165 mm knife
[0:55] that is incredible I'll give you the
[0:58] spec breakdown of this knife knife and
[1:00] then for those who want to sit around
[1:01] and hear my story of how this knife came
[1:03] to be I'll tell you all about that as
[1:05] well but core steel is blue number two
[1:07] or Alami 2 heat treated to about a 62 to
[1:11] a 63 on the Rockwell scale and the spine
[1:14] thickness is about a 2.6 to maybe a 2.8
[1:17] depending on what sample you've got
[1:20] height is 46
[1:22] mm and spine thickness at the center is
[1:26] about 1.8 it has a nice thickness at the
[1:28] spine above the heel and has a nice diso
[1:30] taper to the tip of the knife here we go
[1:33] one yeah 149 every time I talk about a
[1:36] knife I always get like a dozen comments
[1:38] asking me what is the weight of the
[1:40] knife so here you go 149 for the ebony
[1:42] handle now it's got a Cuchi finish or
[1:44] sometimes referred to as a KU finish now
[1:46] there's one Last Detail you need to know
[1:48] about this knife and this is probably
[1:49] the most important detail for those who
[1:52] are into Japanese knives or those who
[1:54] are getting into Japanese knives it is
[1:57] Hand Forged it is the only knife
[1:59] available at least on my store and for
[2:02] years of years of searching it's the
[2:04] only knife available for $100 or less
[2:06] that is Hand Forged made in Japan that
[2:08] is the short version of this video you
[2:10] can go to the link in the video
[2:12] description or the pin comment and
[2:13] you'll find a link to this knife and you
[2:15] can read all about it on our web page
[2:17] all right so there are a few other
[2:18] knives here that I do want to talk about
[2:20] and the next knife is the ski KET sugu
[2:23] this is the runner up to best knife of
[2:26] the year at least of the knives I've
[2:27] tested this year um I posted a video
[2:29] about this knife just about a week or a
[2:31] couple of weeks ago if you guys want to
[2:32] see the full review of this knife go to
[2:34] that video I'm not going to talk about
[2:35] all of the specs in this video but the
[2:38] reason it didn't win knife of the year
[2:40] is simply because at the price point
[2:42] that we're talking about at $100 or less
[2:44] being Hand Forged to me is a really big
[2:46] deal and that is really the main
[2:48] difference between the two knives here
[2:51] if you wanted a knife that is super
[2:53] clean and overall really good performing
[2:56] for $15 less or so the Ski kugu Pro m is
[3:02] a really great knife but for those who
[3:04] want the craftsmanship of knives being
[3:06] handmade in Japan the Naru is a knife
[3:09] that you should consider and the other
[3:11] knives we have here is this is the Naru
[3:13] with a stabilized wood handle and then
[3:16] it's essentially the same Blade with
[3:18] different handle and then we have a Mor
[3:20] tet here as reference because of fit and
[3:22] finish and I'll talk about that at at
[3:25] later time in the video now as far as
[3:27] shape goes this is a bunka which is a
[3:29] little bit different than a short kurit
[3:32] or a santoku or a niri this is just my
[3:36] way of understanding a bunka is that
[3:38] it's sort of a cross between a kurit and
[3:41] a nakuri The Cutting profile is great
[3:43] for vegetables because it has a nice
[3:45] taller profile it gives you a bit more
[3:46] cutting power but the tip you have this
[3:49] nice really fine tip that's great for
[3:51] tip work on meats and things of that
[3:53] sort and because of that aggressive
[3:55] cutting profile this knife really suits
[3:57] my cutting style more than what sent
[4:00] toku offers so now for those who are
[4:02] still here this is the long version of
[4:04] the video it may take me about 10
[4:05] minutes to explain everything about why
[4:07] this knife is the top pick in my home
[4:10] this year okay so I want to talk about
[4:12] the importance of toasta knives on my
[4:15] channel and in the broader scheme of
[4:19] Japanese knives in general I was
[4:21] shopping on Amazon and most of my
[4:22] shopping back in the old days when I
[4:24] first launched the channel was on Amazon
[4:26] not long after I launched Perfection I
[4:29] got a hold of a few toaster knives and
[4:31] every once in a while I would see this
[4:32] knife pop up in Amazon and I would post
[4:35] a quick Community post and it would sell
[4:37] out within 15 20 minutes and then it
[4:40] would not come back on stock or in stock
[4:43] for four to 6 months after the pandemic
[4:45] that knife was not posted on Amazon
[4:48] anymore I couldn't find it anywhere and
[4:50] it took me uh really 3 years to after
[4:53] the pandemic before I was able to return
[4:55] back to Japan when I went back to Japan
[4:58] I made a huge effort to go find knife
[5:01] makers in tosa to offer that knife
[5:03] because I thought it was such a good
[5:05] knife and a year ago I was able to
[5:07] return back to Japan and I found a
[5:09] seller in tosa that was able to supply
[5:12] me with knives um the very first tosa
[5:14] knives that I was exposed to on Amazon
[5:17] The Edge was not very good and the fit
[5:20] finish definitely was not very good we
[5:22] went through a series of I want to say
[5:24] about a year of trial and era to find
[5:26] the perfect fit and finish and to retain
[5:29] the price that we really wanted and this
[5:31] is the result of that year worth of work
[5:35] so that is my timeline for this knife
[5:37] here and my relationship with knife
[5:38] makers and tosa but there's also
[5:40] something else that I think you guys
[5:42] should understand as knife Enthusiast at
[5:45] this point now because of the labor
[5:47] shortage in all of Japan and really how
[5:52] difficult it is for me to get any knife
[5:54] that's made in Japan especially hand
[5:56] forg knives tosa right now is one of the
[5:58] few regions where where 90% of the
[6:01] knives are coming out of tosa are Hand
[6:03] Forged now with my insistence when it
[6:05] comes to fit and finish and Edge quality
[6:08] and me nagging The Artisans that we're
[6:10] working with in tosa I believe that the
[6:13] knives with Naru are the best quality
[6:16] that you can possibly get at this point
[6:18] from tosa as far as a knife maker that I
[6:21] think people would relate to or would
[6:23] understand would be moritaka now morias
[6:26] have always held a special place in my
[6:27] heart they were affordable they were one
[6:30] of the very few hand Forge knives that
[6:32] you can get for an agent's knife for
[6:33] under
[6:34] $200 but the fit and finish was never
[6:37] great it was a good fit finish with a
[6:39] kuchi finish and the edges on their
[6:42] knives were a bit thicker than ideal and
[6:45] the sharpness of the knives were like a
[6:47] six out of 10 so they were never great
[6:50] when it comes to fit and finish
[6:51] sharpness and blade thickness that was
[6:54] one of the things that we were very
[6:57] careful about when making the Naru
[6:58] knives I wanted the knives to have a
[7:00] nice thin Edge but a thick spine when
[7:03] you have a knife with thick spine and a
[7:05] thin Edge you have that wedge effect
[7:08] when it comes to cutting harder
[7:09] ingredients like spaghetti squash and
[7:11] squash and pumpkins so here is a summary
[7:13] of the Naru bunka blue number two it is
[7:16] made of blue number two or aami 2 core
[7:18] steel with a kuchi finish and it's got a
[7:22] 46 mm height hand Forge in Japan for
[7:26] $100 or less so hands down it is the
[7:29] best value you can find in a knife
[7:31] that's Hand Forged in Japan today now I
[7:33] work with about four to five dozen knife
[7:36] makers in Japan and very quickly we're
[7:39] seeing a lot of knife makers transition
[7:41] from hand Forge knives to stock removal
[7:44] knives I don't have anything against
[7:46] stock removable knives but there is
[7:48] something very special to be able to use
[7:51] a knife that is Hand Forged um that to
[7:53] me is the most significant reason and
[7:56] why I'm working with so many knife
[7:57] makers in tosa is because I'm still able
[8:00] to support the craft of handcraft made
[8:02] knives in Japan that to me is a
[8:05] wonderful feeling and a worthy goal to
[8:08] attain is that I'm able to support a
[8:10] whole generation of knife makers that
[8:12] are still making knives by hand and I
[8:14] hope that you guys appreciate that um so
[8:16] head on over to Perfection store.com
[8:18] look to the bunka section or I'll leave
[8:20] a link in the video description or the
[8:22] pin comment you can see where you can
[8:23] find this knife the video review is over
[8:26] and I want to talk about this stand here
[8:29] and my new cutting board now this is a
[8:33] 2x4 cutting board that I had custom made
[8:35] by dun board I recently got number of
[8:39] their boards back like a month ago and I
[8:40] post a video about them which I still
[8:42] use my home and they have been
[8:44] absolutely fantastic and then I reached
[8:46] out to the owner of dun board and I said
[8:48] hey I want a new board for my Island uh
[8:53] for my house and he made me a board when
[8:57] I brought that board home which I was so
[8:59] proud of I was so excited to use that
[9:02] board on my Island as a new cutting
[9:04] board but my wife decided that she
[9:06] wanted to use that cutting board as a
[9:07] centerpiece in my home on the island so
[9:11] I had to have another one cut so I reach
[9:13] out to Jesse over at dun board I had him
[9:16] cut me another 2x4 that I can use here
[9:19] in my studio and that's what we're
[9:21] looking at here now the 10 X2 is what I
[9:23] use in my home in the kitchen and then
[9:25] the 12x 24 is what I use to carry
[9:27] brisket and Smoked Meats for from my
[9:29] kitchen to the backyard to my smoker and
[9:33] it's really great because they don't
[9:34] flex even though they're only a/4 inch
[9:36] thick and that material is what I use
[9:39] for this board here um I don't think you
[9:41] can find a better performing cutting
[9:42] board than dun boards 10x 20 board
[9:45] that's a quarter inch thick for $60 um
[9:48] now all of the done boards I've shown on
[9:50] my channel I have paid for so just so
[9:52] you guys are clear I don't get anything
[9:54] for free this here is a prototype that I
[9:58] am being lent by dun board it is a a
[10:03] really cool knife stand now this is a
[10:06] prototype this is the very first
[10:07] prototype um I believe and I'm going to
[10:11] offer something to Jesse for this
[10:13] prototype because one I love prototypes
[10:17] and two if it never gets made I have the
[10:20] only knife stand that's ever made by dun
[10:23] board but it's a really cool product let
[10:25] me just take these these knives down and
[10:28] show you
[10:30] um this is the/ in material that you
[10:32] would normally find on the/ in cutting
[10:34] boards that they make and this is the/
[10:36] qu inch material and It just fits
[10:42] nicely it fits just
[10:45] perfectly into the slot here and it's
[10:49] strong I don't see this breaking at all
[10:52] and when you sit the knife on it it sits
[10:54] at a perfect angle that the knife
[10:55] doesn't fall over it just sits nicely
[10:58] just
[11:00] just like that and it's just it's really
[11:03] nice it only holds four four knives but
[11:05] the knives are spaced out nicely so
[11:08] here's a 240 mm uh knife you can see it
[11:11] sits nicely here yeah so I've been using
[11:14] this knife stand in my studio for the
[11:17] last well 6 months since I've moved to
[11:19] this new house and everyone always
[11:22] comments on it and this always sells out
[11:24] but it sells for like $180 but it's
[11:26] constantly selling out for a person with
[11:28] a small collection if you only have four
[11:31] knives or less this is just perfect it's
[11:34] really nice my suggestion and I'll tell
[11:37] this to Jesse in this video is that
[11:39] Jesse if you can make this that can fit
[11:41] six
[11:42] knives and that's it uh now Jesse may
[11:46] not be convinced at my words alone but
[11:49] if you're watching this video and you
[11:50] like this product and you are
[11:51] considering buying one go to Jesse's
[11:54] website let him know in the comments
[11:56] that you are willing to pick one up and
[11:58] it will give him a rough idea of of
[12:00] people's interest and how many to make I
[12:03] think it's a really cool product being
[12:05] able to buy a cutting board that's made
[12:06] right in my city and then having a
[12:09] prototype sent
[12:10] me um it's really cool and this is
[12:14] something that I really want to do more
[12:15] of I want to work with Artisans all over
[12:17] the world but as of right now it's much
[12:19] easier for me to start small work with
[12:22] artisans in California and in the US and
[12:25] then slowly I'll expand globally but if
[12:28] you want to reach out to me and you want
[12:30] to potentially make something with me
[12:32] and let's at least get the conversation
[12:34] going so if you make anything that is
[12:36] related to Cutlery and knives anything
[12:39] please reach out to me let me know who
[12:41] you are I'd love to hear from you who
[12:43] knows what can happen maybe I can help
[12:45] you improve a design that you've been
[12:46] working on or I help you execute and
[12:48] bring to Market an idea that you've been
[12:50] working on forever so let me know in the
[12:52] comments and I would love to hear from
[12:54] you and I'll catch you in the next video