The Wakoli santoku knife is marketed by Oleio GmbH, Germany. In all likeliness it’s a Chinese or Taiwanese made knife presumably of Japanese Damascus steel VG-10 (69 layers). I say presumably about VG-10 because in my experience Chinese and Taiwanese companies manufacturing private labels quite often fail to produce Takefu certificates. Quite often Chinese and Taiwanese companies use AUS 10 or 440C steel for knife core, claiming thet the core is VG-10.
The knife blade is 6.5 inch long (165 mm) and 1.75 inch wide (45 mm). The distributor specs claim HRC 60 (+-2). Out of the box the knife was dull. It took more than a few strokes of Wusthof Diamond Sharpening Steel and a lot of honing with F. Dick 11-inch Multicut Steel Flat Fine Cut to make the knife reasonably sharp though not razor-sharp. The similar brands in the market are Zhen and Geva. The handle looks cheap and loses luster after a few hand washings. Edge retention is good.
All in all it’s not a bad knife for daily use at home kitchen though in this class I’d prefer Zhen for sharpness and better overall quality.
Score (0 – 5)
Style & Design 3
Craftsmanship 3
Blade Material 4
Handle Material 2
Sharpness out of the box 3
Edge Retention 4
The knife is not that bad but I would not recommend to buy it. There are better alternatives in the same price range, Tojiro DP 8XX series for example.
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