Many questions from a complete newbie

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sashephe

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Hello everybody, I'm new to the world of knives and I have found myself in an interesting situation. I am a home cook, and originally jumped down this rabbit hole looking for a high quality chefs knife to replace my henckels international santoku. So after quite a bit of research I had decided on a sakai yusuke 240mm gyuto in white steel. I was about to order it when I was presented with what seemed like an irresistible deal.

I now have a masamoto kk 300mm yanagiba, and a what i believe to be a masamoto ks 180mm kamagata usuba en route to my home:D. My question for you all is this; should I keep these knives, and learn to use/sharpen them, or should I resell them, and use the profits to buy the gyuto I originally intended to purchase? should i do something that I haven't even considered yet?

Thanks for your help and input

P.S. Has anybody used the gesshin 1k/6k combo stone? if so, is it worth the money?

P.P.S. Does anybody know where I can find a inexpensive, but still decent end grain board?
 
as for the stone, i can only say the gesshin stones i have are rock solid performers, however, stones of that quality are not neccesary for a beginner, it is most important you develop good technique first. if you have $150 lying around to spend on a combo stone, go ahead, its probably one of the best, if not the best, you can get. but at this stage in the game, you could learn on something else and be fine for some time.
 
as for the knives, you're not likely to find those two terribly versatile in a home kitchen, though they will excel at their intended uses. that said, should you decide to go a ahead and get a gyuto, and you're gonna get the gesshin stone anyways just get a gesshin ginga in white #2, it's quite similar to the yusuke i'm sure. i absolutely love mine.
 
oh and one more thing, i would not encourage you to learn how to sharpen knives with whetstones on a nice yanagi. that is a hell of a knife to sharpen and if it's your first, you will screw it up, it's just gonna happen.
 
If they are knives that you can see yourself using keep them, just realize they will in no way be able to do what a gyuto can. If you don't see yourself using them sell them.
 
I now have a masamoto kk 300mm yanagiba, and a what i believe to be a masamoto ks 180mm kamagata usuba en route to my home:D. My question for you all is this; should I keep these knives, and learn to use/sharpen them, or should I resell them, and use the profits to buy the gyuto I originally intended to purchase? should i do something that I haven't even considered yet?

These two knives are highly specialized. As a newbie, I suggest you look for something more versatile. The gyuto is the standard "chef" knive and will become the base for your kitchen needs. The "belly" on the gyuto gives you the ability to "rock" the blade for cutting, the standard in kitchens for low cuts. As for length, it depends on the amount of space you have and how big you are. 240 mm is pretty much the standard, but this is really a personal preference. Start with a good gyuto and paring (petty) knife and you can't go wrong.
 
thanks for the advice everybody, I'm going to go the gyuto route. Now I need to figure out which one. Why do you recomend the gesshin, dispossed? I've read good things about the line of products, but havn't seen much about the gyuto.
 
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