Mercer Culinary Asian Collection Deba Knife, 6-inch

This Mercer made in Taiwan Japanese 6 inches Deba knife is really razor sharp out of the box, I am impressed. For this it can't be touched on the edge not even minimally. It takes some caution and good safety habit in handling this knife, it is not a forgiving blade. Also the traditional oval, tiny, light wooden handle, is not meant to be ergonomic and fit the hand fully and firmly and there could easily be a rotation of the blade as result of improper control. This blade requires some knife skills and proper technique. I wouldn't put it in the hands of a beginner. Also the blade has only one side sharpened in observance to the Japanese tradition and "pushes" on the opposite side of the blade when cutting.

Honestly, it feels awesome in the hand, its good looking, fit and finish is more than acceptable. But most importantly, it works just fine. The only downside is in the grind, the concave on the back or flat side of a deba should be a bit more pronounced, its too shallow on this one but you can still get a decent "Uraoshi" (Japanese term for the edge on the flat side of a deba knife) "kireha" is the term for the bevel on the other side. I have not given it a heavy use but It really looks like this litlle buddy is going to see a lot of cutting and minor chopping and definitely is going to be a keeper. 4 stars well deserved, great value for your money, considering price.

Was skeptical when I ordered it, but at the price... After most of a month using it daily have to say I am impressed. Cant say how it will hold up over a year or longer but so far well worth the price. Even if it only holds up a couple years it will be an excellent addition to my kitchen. Good balance and feel in the hand, excellent control, able to get razor thin slices of vegetable and firm flesh. Love it.

I started making sushi rolls and I needed a knife that would cut the rolls without messing them up. This knife slices through anything like soft butter. Be careful with it, it’s incredibly sharp. It would be nice if it came with a sheath.

the Limitations you need to account for (untreated wood, not hollowed back side, has 6/15 edge):- 1) a untreated wood handle on wood version +ve allows user to coat wood in their own oil or varnish such as mineral, Tung, Tsubaki I used 100% jojoba oil this isn't common. but I wanted to give it a several coatings over the first 2 hours since it arrived and it was lying in a drawer so I just used that. Just be sure to use a oil that doesn't go rancid. -ve the knife will easy stain unless a oil is applied upon arrival also water may affect the wood untreated wood. do the user has to do a little work to protect the handle. if this is a concern order the santoprene handle. 2) the edge. -ve standard knife sharpeners will attempt to a double edge on a single bevel knife so a whetstone will be recommended this shouldn't come as a surprise to deba or other single bevel users but. If this is your first Japanese style knife (it's been made in Taiwan it's not a Japanese knife and it stamped not forged steel) be aware it has a 6 degree on the back end and 15 degrees on the main side. so this quick pull-through and electric sharpeners for the most part will remove the single edge. On the subject and a minor concern there is no hallow out the backside to allow for easier sharpening but this isn't a surprise on a $24 knife I mean it s $24 dollar knife so let's just set our expectations about how much labour time has gone on for this knife on the points above so I can't deduct and star ratings for this knife on that front. I did deduct 1 star and for these reasons 1) untreated wood handle for some users will be annoying and make the knife look trash quickly if not treated. 2) I noticed that peeling off the sealing plastic by pulling it off the wood handle i noticed that the tang started to move in the wooden handle. I just tapped it back into the handle however that's a niggle in my mind. 3) I was expecting the spine and weight if the 6" version i had to be heavier it feels abit weak IMHO for what is a fish/meat bone cracking knife for small medium size fish. I prefer about another 80g of weight and a thicker spine. OVERALL a great knife at this price point even if you were to trash the single bevel knife on generic sharpeners its still a good trainer knife to get it back on a whetstone, before moving to more expensive deba's (as these can easily start at $100 for a white steel japanese forged and they get much more expensive).

Great little knife for the price, edge comes right back with little effort. I use it everyday at work

too thin / light, and filmsy

You need to make sharper blade from the first time.