Shun 11-Slot Bamboo Block

No one ends up with just a couple of good Japanese Kitchen knives. I had just bought several expensive knives and my old block just wouldn't fit the larger blades of the Japanese knives. This one was made for the wider knives. Mine holds a couple of gyutos, a Banno Bunka, Nakiri, 2 pettys, and I measured it and it will house my new Hiromoto Sujihiki slicer, the longest one.

I like the slanted angle and the arrangement of the slots makes for easy entry and removal without other knives gettng in the way.

Good price at about $60 as I believe it sold for about $90, although I dont think I would buy it at that price.

The best feature is that it will hold 4 WIDE CHEF type knives....most others don't

And the HORIZONTAL layout is easier on the blades...won't dull them.

The other one I have is vertical and the blade road cuts against the block when you withdraw the knife.

As I slowly replace my old Sabatiers with new Shuns I sprung for their block. I've actually never owned a "knife block" before so I have nothing to compare this little bamboo beaut to but I am impressed by its ability to both sit on a counter and hold knives of different sizes all at the same time. Mine came with a discreet Shun logo on a brushed aluminum plate pressed onto the lovely bamboo. Some block!

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I first purchased a J.A. Henckels International 10-Slot Knife Storage Block from Amazon to hold my 4 Shun products: honing steel, 8'' chef's knife, 6'' chef's knife, and a 5 1/2 inch Santoku. Well, I was unpleasantly surprised when I found that I could not fit those three Shun knives because of the very small holes in the Henckels block. So, I reluctantly spent three times the price of the Henckel block and ordered the Shun 11-Slot Bamboo Block. The reason I give it only 3 stars is because I simply don't feel it is worth the price at which I paid, especially what it is valued at full retail. When you compare this quality to the quality of the actual Shun knives, it just doesn't fit in the same class. However what are my other options?

I have done research, and I think there may be a correlation between the use of magnetic strips with Shun knives, and their tendency to chip. So I decided a block was the best route. There are not a lot to choose from that will fit the wide Shun knives, so this was kind of my limited option. Here are the main points I see to judge it as not being worth the money:

-Packaging: Although this isn't the biggest deal, when you look at high-end companies and their products, they are presented well at every step. This block came in a completely plain cardboard covering simply to add a little protection. Not an original Shun box or anything.

-There was a little piece of paper with a description of the block, and let me tell you, IT WAS ATTACHED VIA A LITTLE PIECE OF SCOTCH TAPE ROLLED IN A CYLINDER SO THAT IT WAS DOUBLE SIDED. You know, the most cheap way you could attach something like that. I mean, it's almost as if it was a used product that was simply repackaged.

-Quality in general. I am a meticulous person when it comes to high-end things. This is not high-end. It's not like it's terrible, just not what I would expect to see as Shun's leading Block to sell with there AMAZINGLY HIGH-END KNIVES.

Anyway, until I see a better option I would buy again. Just can't give it more than 3 stars.

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This item was sent as a gift. The original item arrived and the 'Shun' plaque on the front was glued on crooked. We tried to fix it ourselves but couldn't get it to budge. We requested an exchange, and the replacement item was actually worse. It was strangely larger than the original (significantly), it had several cut marks on it, and the seams where the pieces come together were not finished well. Overall, the quality was disappointing. Since the only problem with the original item was the crooked plaque on the front, we decided to keep that one and return the replacement item instead of the original. We will make another attempt to fix the crooked plaque ourselves, since the block is not terrible otherwise. Strange that the replacement item was so much larger (would not fit in the gift box that the original was sent in), and the workmanship was so shabby. We love our Shun knives, so we were surprised and disappointed by these quality issues.

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This functional bamboo shun block is a good storage solution for my Shun knives and gets them out of the drawer and will prevent them from damage, however the block doesn't provide space for the Shun cleaver.

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