wa gyuto equivalent of masamoto vg?

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does such a thing exist? i absolutely love my masa vg 240 gyuto, blade geometry/profile, the steel, everything but the damn handle. and recently deciding to go wa i'm at a loss as to what the equivalent would be?
is the vg profile similar to ks? in which case the 'newer' shape konosuke's are supposed to be ks clones right? so would the HH funayuki be a good fit?
 
The KS is a completely different animal, the profiles are markedly different.

I recall the VG being slightly on the tall side. Takayuki grand cheff (sic) or Yoshihiro moly may be a closer match (VG is VG-1 @ 59-60 iirc)

Or you could get your knife converted to wa? Will give you more scope for maintaining the balance/handling characteristics.
 
i was afraid of that. i have a western GC and not too happy with it. it's not tall like the wa version, the grind is flat so everything sticks to the side, the profile is nowhere near as good, and edge retention is crap, plus since its so thin it flexes.

http://www.echefknife.com/molybdenum-steel-wa-gyutou-chef-knife-9.5-240mm.html their site doesnt list any details of the blade. have you used one of these before?
 
I haven't used the masa western gyutos so I can't really put forward an informed opinion, but it might be worth having a look at the Sugimoto CM wa gyuto. Similar pricing, edge profile looks similar, quite tall. Steel's a bit harder (60-63 I think), takes an awesome edge and holds it reasonably well, F+F was good on mine, pretty fat octagonal handle. Sugimoto's are ground completely asymmetric though, i.e. left side is completely flat, dunno how Masamoto grind their western knifes.
 
no, if anything looking for a second masa vg to get it rehandled to wa. not sure how i feel about asymmetric grinds, masa western is pretty even only slightly asymmetric. currently considering yoshirio 240 with octogan shitan handle. anyone care to chime in on the characteristics of the yoshi?

and what about yoshikane skd? i normally don't like the feel of san mai knives but it's touted to have excellent edge retention yet easy to sharpen. kind of off put about its thickness or does the convex grind negate that?
 
Zensho Yoshikane skd kasumi is in no way a hefty knife. It has a great distal taper and is very thin at the tip. Yes, it is thick at the tang in the way forged Sanjo knives are, I think this helps with balance, the knife is not noticeably blade heavy despite being wa- and measuring 260 handle-to-tip. The grind is very nice and it is thin behind the edge.
 
Never tried the hammer finish. Iirc the steel is different, SKD11 in the hammered and SKD12 in the kasumi. The yo- hammered has a reputation of being a tank, the wa- is thinner.
 
from pictures, the profile seems like it has more belly than masa vg. id like to match its geometry and profile as close as possible. looking more like yoshihiro vs sugimoto at the moment.
 
Totally agree with JKerr's assessment on the Sugimoto, I really like mine.
 
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