L’Émouleur, lames japonaises d'exception — Local services in Montreal

After (very!) careful consideration, two years ago I bought two knives (Toku Atsuraï Kawamura and Toku Atsuraï Kūki) and a wooden sheath (saya) from l'Émouleur. I've since been using them daily: their quality is impeccable, both in terms of the blade (I only have them sharpened once or twice a year maximum by a professional) and the handle (well yes, that's important too !). They require very little maintenance, unless you consider washing and drying a knife by hand after use and waxing the handle once in a while constitutes maintenance.

The purchase was made on the site of L'Émouleur, transaction was flawless, fast inter-provincial delivery, the packaging of the knives highlighted them, I received a follow-up email from the owner after delivery, I even get random messages from him in order to validate my long-term satisfaction.

Do not be afraid of the price, it guarantees the flawless quality of what you will receive. My purchase was not a whim, I waited, inquired with other owners, chose the models according to the use I was going to have of them, determined my budget... You will always find cheaper, but it will necessarily be at the cost of compromising on quality, which I refused to keep doing. I put away the other kitchen knives that cluttered my drawers, only these two remain.

Using these blades will probably take some getting used to, but you have to respect them for what they are: works of art. These are not knives that you are going to buy, it is a special experience, of which you will be...

We brought our very best knife here when it had two chips in it and we're thrilled to be told they could be repaired when the blade was sharpened. We were told it would take a week or so, but I hadn't noticed that the hours are so irregular, so the first time I came to pick it up, it was closed, and the error was mine. The second time I came to pick it up, the place was supposed to be open, but it wasn't. The third time I wanted to pick the knife up during opening hours I called in advance and was told it would be closed, but the owner felt badly for all the inconvenience, so said he'd leave our knife with the shop owner next door and we wouldn't be charged. This seemed very generous.

It was generous, until we started to use the knife, which is unmistakably duller than it was when we brought it in. The chips were certainly removed, but not repaired: the knife seems to have been sharpened so much that they disappeared, along with a significant strip of the knife. I'd be totally fine with that as the solution, except that the end result is a knife that is much much duller than it was: we have to force it to cut things (carrots, zucchini, tomatoes) that it used to slip through. Overall, I'm really disappointed: our beautiful high-quality knife is now as dull as one we could have...

I was hoping to buy my first Japanese knife, I told the clerk that I had done a bit of research but didn’t know what would be suitable for beginners. I tried to get some information out of the clerk and only got unelaborated answers filled with arrogance.

I asked him about carbon content and just told me that they all have carbon; I was looking at a specific stand and asked for price range on those knives, he told me he had knives going from 8k$ down to 100$ in the store, I told him, again, I was a beginner and was willing to put up to 300$, he told me to continue watching those and just left to the back of the store..

I ended up taking my business elsewhere, where staff were friendly and...