New Shun Haru line - composite blade Shun

Morrow

Morrow

Don't make this weird
Joined
Apr 11, 2007
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A box showed up from the fine folks at Kai USA and in it was a new Shun that hasn't hit the street yet. I've not had a chance to use this one in the kitchen yet but that will be happening this weekend and I'll post new pics after.

Shun is offering for the first in 2013, products using their "composite blade" technology with their new Sora line of knives. Basically this is two pieces of steel braise welded together. In this case, VG-10 for the lower cutting side and 420J for the upper spine side. You can fine plenty of examples of knives using this technology in Kai's other brands (Kershaw, ZT). The knife I received is labeled "Haru" which I'm assuming is the series name for Williams Sonoma. I can't find much difference between this knife and the 7'' santoku from the Sora line seen in the 2013 catalog.

Out of the box this knife is pleasingly sharp which isn't much of surprise. The handle is polymer with subtle texturing and quite comfortable. This knife feels light in hand with the balance being more towards the handle. The blade is ground thin and has a slight amount of flex to it.

I don't know what the MSRP is yet for this knife but it's seems clearly aimed at a lower price point. The polymer handle coupled with the composite blade will more than likely offer a more affordable Shun product without sacrificing performance. These might very well replace the Classic line as "gateway Shuns." I'm looking forward to using this knife this weekend. Here are some crappy phone pics.

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I like it, Morrow. I might get a small set depending on the price.
 
i prefer this handle and profile over the classic line, ken onion line....

they can be actually used by lefties (i'm one, classic can't be used by a lefty coz of the d-handle shape), and for the ken onion line the kind of grips you can use is a bit limiting.

the profile is much closer to the french chef knife's /gyuto profile which is what most kitchen people prefer over the german / swiss style that has more belly
 
I got a chance to use this knife in the kitchen last night and loved it. I would be lying if I didn't say I like this knife more than some of my much more expensive Shun knives. I was able to easily make paper thin slices of onion. It went through celery and potato almost effortlessly. I also used it to score through salmon skin prior to curing and if anyone has every done this it isn't always easy...salmon skin can be some tough stuff. I'm excited about this new line/s coming from Shun. I know I'll be buying some for myself and I think they would excellent gifts for non-knife educated relatives. I'll put this one in the next Shun passaround I do so others can get a chance to use it.
 
Well they definitely get props for one of the strangest constructions I've ever heard of for knives. Very strange, but looks cool.
 
franzb69 said:
i prefer this handle and profile over the classic line, ken onion line....they can be actually used by lefties (i'm one, classic can't be used by a lefty coz of the d-handle shape)
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I have several left hand Classic Shun knives.
 
I have several left hand Classic Shun knives.
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yes and the extra cost for a lefty handle just makes me not wanna buy it since i know i can get better knives (overall) for the same price.
 
I can't WAIT to get my hands on a couple of these! Is there any chance of being able to sign up for a passaround a bit early?
 
Handle looks a little big for a 7inch blade, especially the butt. Where is the balance? Also, in the second pic, the body of the handle does not look flush with the bolster, is it just a bad pic?

I have usually found Shuns to be passable in terms of steel, I think they do a good job with VG10. It would be nice to see them step to something else besides vg10 for their base.

I wonder if they will expand their blue line.....
 
kalaeb said:
I wonder if they will expand their blue line.....
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I would like to see this as well. I would like to see them add some east/west crossover patterns to this line (gyuto/chef's knife, santoku, small paring/utility knife, and sujihiki), but I wonder if they could do it at a low enough price point to beat what they are going to be charging for these composite blade knives. I can't wait to find out the street price on these, BTW.

For me, VG10 and 60 HRC is a fantasic all-rounder: very low-maintenance, non-reactive, hard enough to hold a 30 degree inclusive edge, and price-competitive with a lot of German steel knives.
 
Seems a bit strange that the 'composite' lines do not fluctuate/change where the cullens have been ground into the blade...

-Michael
 
Chefget said:
Seems a bit strange that the 'composite' lines do not fluctuate/change where the cullens have been ground into the blade...

-Michael
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why is this? If the cut through the steel to form the brazing surface is perpendicular to the blade, then it should not change it's shape as the "Kullen" hollows are ground into the blade.

In other news, these have been posted on the WS website. Price seems okay, but I am hoping it will go down a bit over time as I have gotten Henckels Miyabi VG-10 knives at this price. Also, I am hopin to be able to pick up some of these without the WS branding at some point.
 
sharpandsafe said:
why is this? If the cut through the steel to form the brazing surface is perpendicular to the blade, then it should not change it's shape as the "Kullen" hollows are ground into the blade.
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hmmm...I believe that would be the case if all surfaces were parallel....but since the sides of the blade are convex, hence exposing the different layers of metal, cutting into the blade surface in an uneven fashion such as the cullens are cut should exposes the layers of different metals at different rates.

This visual effect is evident in the grinds of many damascus and clad blades.

JMHO

-Michael
 
Chefget said:
hmmm...I believe that would be the case if all surfaces were parallel....but since the sides of the blade are convex, hence exposing the different layers of metal, cutting into the blade surface in an uneven fashion such as the cullens are cut should exposes the layers of different metals at different rates.

This visual effect is evident in the grinds of many damascus and clad blades.

JMHO

-Michael
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I don't think you are understanding how this blade is constructed. Two jigsaw puzzle piece bits of steel are cut - soft stainless for the spine, and VG-10 for the cutting edge. These two pieces are then fit together using copper brazing. Yes, the VG-10 edge is also "clad" in soft stainless parallel to the blade, and you can see the irregular edge this created near the edge (below the brazing line), but the braising line itself is perpendicular to the blade and the pattern will not change when the blade is cut into.

The wavy-looking brazing line was cut that way by design into the blade. The pattern of the brazing line is will be exactly the same on each knife as it is the result of how the blade blank was cut - not the result of how metal is ground off of the blade during finishing.

PS - Look at the "Kullenschliff" at the right-most side of the last picture - you can see how the shape of the line formed by the cladding (below the brazing line) is affected by the hollow, but the brazing line is not, because it represents a cut surface directly through the blade, rather than material that was clad to the surface of the blade.

PPS - Kullen is spelled with a "K", since it comes from the Swedish work for "hill", or "Kulle". I think if you were shortening the word "Kullenschliff" you would probably shorten it to "Kulle" for the singular or "Kuller" for plural, but it seems a little silly to refer to hollows in the blade as "hill" or "hills". Really, "Kullenschliff" is a brand name that someone thought up and has migrated into more common usage, perhaps similar to how Henckels calls their common x50crmov15 steel "Friodur".
 
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