Shun Classic 8-inch Review: Razor Sharp, and It Chipped in Testing

Three knives, one scale

We now have three chef's knives measured by the same lab on the same sharpness scale, which is rare enough to be worth laying out.

Wusthof Classic: 140 BESS, 258 g, 2.60 mm spine. Shun Classic: 153 BESS, 210 g, 1.92 mm spine. Mac MTH-80: 187 BESS, 181 g, 2.10 mm spine.

Lower BESS is sharper, so the German knife arrives keenest. But sharpness at the very edge is only part of how a knife cuts. The Shun is a third lighter than the Wusthof and noticeably thinner behind the edge, and thinness is what stops a blade wedging as it moves through a dense vegetable.

That combination is why TechGearLab scored its cutting 9.0 and ranked it second of thirteen despite not having the sharpest measured edge in the group.

The chip

After weeks of testing, TechGearLab found a small chip in the blade. It took microscopic examination to confirm and it did not affect normal use.

They do not treat it as a defect so much as a consequence, noting the incredibly hard steel is also one of the knife's few drawbacks because a thin, hard blade tends toward brittleness under force. Their conclusion is explicit: they do not recommend it to heavy-handed cooks.

Knives Academy arrives at the same caution independently, saying it is not the top choice for heavy-duty tasks or very hard materials.

This is the trade the whole knife is built around. You cannot have an edge this thin and this hard and also have it survive a chicken bone.

The hardness number, explained for once

TechGearLab measured 51 HRC. Shun states 60 and both other sources repeat it.

We have now seen this gap three times: the Mac claimed 60 and measured 53, the Wusthof claimed 58 and measured 54. But here TechGearLab supply the reason, and it is specific to this knife: the folded layers of steel make it extremely difficult to get an accurate reading.

That makes sense. A Damascus blade is a hard core clad in softer layers, and a hardness tester presses into whatever is on the surface. The 51 is probably a reading of the cladding rather than the cutting steel.

Worth knowing, and worth not over-generalising from, since the Wusthof is not clad and showed a similar gap.

Living with it

Hand wash it. Knife Pickers warns a dishwasher risks chipping, and Knives Academy rates corrosion resistance mediocre, which for a knife with a high-carbon core is the expected answer.

Do not put it in an electric sharpener. Shun runs a free professional sharpening service, which is the sensible route for a 16 degree edge you would rather not grind away.

And check your hand. The D-shaped Pakkawood handle has the ridge on the right, which suits right-handed use and, per Knife Pickers, is uncomfortable for many left-handers.