In 2016, my husband and I went on an amazing trip to Japan. The only souvenir he wanted was a Japanese steel chef’s knife, which he purchased at Aritsugu in Kyoto. It was really cool: he got to pick out his handle, blade style, and then they even engraved his initials in the year on one side of the blade and their house mark on the other. They even did a bunch of measurements and things so that would be perfectly balanced for his hand. It was custom-made for him.
I made the mistake of not cleaning up after dinner quickly enough, and our very mouthy whippet puppy who is quite the counter surfer, snatched the knife away, and I didn’t realize it until the next day. He chewed up the handle. Thank God he didn’t like slice his face open; the blade is completely intact and fine. But the handle… My God the handle.
I’m hoping to hear from professionals about the best way to go about getting this fixed or replaced. For location, I’m very close to Boston if that helps.
by opheliasmusing
37 Comments
You can buy a new Wa handle online and replace the old one. Just search for Wa handles online and find one that looks good and is the right size. They are easy to attach by press fitting and some epoxy.
It can definitely be set in a new handle. As long as the blade is fine. Any local carpenter worth his salt can knock one out in a day.
OP, can you reach out to the folks at Aritsugu, explain what happened, and ask them what *they* recommend?
My guess is that it *does* happen on occasion–or that handles accidentally break or get damaged for a multitude of reasons, and like Gingher for scissors, and so many other fine tool manufacturers who have been in business for ages, they *probably* have a repair process they recommend you send the knife to for repair.
It’s the handle, not the blade, so it’s *got* to be repairable! They’ve been in business for 400+ years, they’ve got a process to fix stuff!
Better at that end than the other
IME whippets chew until 1yo. He’s lucky I love him
edit: or so
The handle can be replaced, the puppy not so much
I instantly thought that looks like my beagle got a hold of it
Contact Korin in NYC. They are a specialty Japanese knife shop that is well known to chefs and they do custom work. They are probably the realest deal outside of Japan for Japanese knives.
This is one of the easiest fixes. The handles are meant to be replaced at some point or another.
Depending on where you are there are many places that can do handle repairs: Korin or MTC in NY, Japanese Knife Imports or Hitachiya in LA, Bernal Cutlery or Hida Tool in the Bay Area, District Cutlery in DC, Strata in Portland Maine, etc etc.
You’re *cooked*
Contact Knifewear (Knifewear.com). Easily fixed and likely fairly fast with DHL etc. cheers.
Broken Japanese knife? There is only one way to restore your family honor.
Just piping in to say that sucks and I feel bad for you AND your husband. Just a shitty thing to have to deal with all around.
Honestly I would love the idea that my knife and my dog have a little shared story together – but I’m just some chill dog loving guy. Kinda like puppy engraved his initials next to mine hahaa
Chef and pet owner here. If you can, try to get the handle repaired as is. Coat it in something. Seal it. That knife will last much longer than the pet (unfortunately) and having a reminder of him/her will be worth more than the knife is.
My family has had pets as long as I’ve been alive and any scratch or bite in anything after they’re gone is a reminder of all the love they had for you and time spent with you.
Duct tape. Good as new
Its a freak accident and hubby will understand plus have an idea of what to do, it’s just the handle, he’ll he happy the puppy isnt hurt too!
Handles on a hidden tang knife are meant to be replaceable!
Not an irreplaceable/irreparable problem like blade damage
Whippet puppy? Counter surfing? Is it Borzoi!?
Show this thread to your husband so he can decide how he wants to address it. Plus you’ll see how bad you feel about it.
Lots of great options here, once the angst goes away, I think he will really enjoy this thread
You and the dog get 1 day blinding stew
There’s only one man to call.
You did not break the knife. You broke the handle. Don’t sweat it!
Damaged knife ✅
Emergency trip to the vet ✖️
I live in MA. Like the other commenter said you might be better going to Strata in Portland, ME to ask for help fixing/replacing the handle.
You don’t have to lie. You chewed that handle, didn’t you?
Congrats! Thats the easiest part to replace
So this happened when you didn’t let the dog cut the chives? Next time let him do it and take some pics for us and the aeroplane crew.
Wait? How did *you* do this? The puppy did this. It’s not because, “you didn’t clean up quickly enough,” it’s because you *both* have a puppy.
It’s so much easier to just not have nice things. Lol. Good luck though!
You didn’t break it though. Your dog did.
One word: *Kintsugi.* 金継ぎ.
Not to be too judgemental, but this is a good example of why you cannot tolerate counter surfing in a dog.
My wife is a vet. You’d be amazed about how many badly injured/poisoned dogs she sees who have snatched things of counters. Knives coated in food, foil packaging, and wooden skewers are the worst.
#Divorce lawyer.
JK find a local knife repair shop or hit up the maker.
Also clean up after cooking 🔪
https://preview.redd.it/hfww2tqt6r4g1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c6515f2981da2756b3f17480bd1bce9503b53926
How I envision the situation
If that was mine, I would fill all the splits and tooth marks with epoxy resin, bind it with something like insulation tape until the resin sets, then sand the resin back to the original wood. You will still see that it’s been damaged and repaired but the feel and balance will be as good as previously. If your hubby is a half decent home handyman, he might be happy to do it himself.