looking for an exceptional "work horse" knife

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Jbone

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currently the two gyutos i use are a 210 mm konosuke hd2 and a 240 mm kikuichi, both being stainless/semi stainless steels and lasers/ laseresque knives.

i really want to get a carbon steel 240 mm gyuto with a relatively flat profile with good edge retention but can also achieve a very sharp edge in the $400 range or less.

wa or western handle is fine i have knives in both and i dont really have a preference
 
Hd and tkc kikuichi are both great workhorses. My 270 tkc gets a workout on a regular basis and I love it. There are a lot of great knives in the sub 400 range. Just find one that suits you really. If you have any particular knives in mind let us know as we will be able to share our experiences with the knives in question.
 
knives ive been looking at are the masamoto ks, konosuke fujiyama, takese sasanoha
 
The two knives you have are good blades.Depends what you mean by workhorse.As you mention,flat,sharp,good edge reten.,All the knives you are looking at are good choices.A step up fr. what you have.They will fly thru food,but no bones.I think mono steel carbons make great workhorse knives used mostly Masamoto's.For a little less coin the Sakai Takayuki Blue Steel Guyto at Blueway Japan is another good carbon.
 
If you want to try a sturdy carbon workhorse that offers great steel at a great steal (sorry, I know that was bad), take a look at Suien VC from JKI. You could get two at your budget.
 
for my own definition, workhorse gyuto should be hefty, sturdy with good edge retention carbon steel(blue/o1/w2...etc ) knife!! I can only think two right now- "Watanabe pro gyuto" & "Kato gyuto".
 
Total workhorse with great steel ?

Kato is little over budget, but you can easily sell the other toys.
 
I wouldn't spring for a Kato unless you've got strong skills with stones.

Also, "white steel" and "work horse" are mutually exclusive in my mind. Unless you love sharpening.
 
I wouldn't spring for a Kato unless you've got strong skills with stones.

Also, "white steel" and "work horse" are mutually exclusive in my mind. Unless you love sharpening.

I'd have to second that I think. I used a white 2 gyuto as my main knife for a good while and it needed nearly daily trips to the stones. I'd have to say that my dt itk is the best work horse that I've got. Gets insanely sharp, fantastic edge retention, thick where it needs to be and thin where it needs to be and one of the best cutters in the kit.
 
Youre saying from experience of from the magic steel numbers?

Could you tell the steel difference just by looking at the blade?

Makes me wonder cause I have this little gem called Gesshin Ittetsu made with white-two and the edge retention is not shy, and the damn abrasion resistance is frustrating [when you have to thin the bastard]

There is definitely cheaper choices, but which carbon keeps the edge "forever" like some of the "super-wear-resistant-stainless-magic-steels" ?

But I dont talk stainless, Im not familiar with it.
 
Semi stainless Gengetsu: $390 USD. Kato: $760 USD. Not really the same budget ballpark.
 
I agree about White #2 not being a great choice for a workhorse, that's why I don't use any knives with that steel any more, I wasn't impressed by the edge retention at all. I'd go for a Zakuri probably, they're great value and can take a beating, the edge retention is great with the AS anyways, haven't used the others
 
The answer is a Gengetsu. In semi stainless.

I just brought 240mm semi stainless Gengetsu a week ago, I like it a lot....nice weight, thin behind the edge, no food reactive, easy to take care!! to me, Gengetsu is nice all-around gyuto!! However, if I want to cut 5 lbs. of hard root vegetablele. I'll reach my work-horse Watanabe pro gyuto not Gengetsu. Watanabe gyuto is more hefty/sturdy & blue steel hold the edge very well. IMO, Watanabe' extra weight/ sturdy blade has bette performance than Gengetsu when doing heavy/tough job!
top:Gengetsu, bottom:Watanabe
 
Point taken. I would go Kochi then.

in this case, I agree with JohnnyChance....my vote goes to Semi-stainless Gengetsu. both Kochi & Gengetsu are great cutter; however, Semi-stainless Gengetsu has better edge retention than Kochi V2!!
 
dam i got too excited (received income tax money) and pulled the trigger on the masamoto ks bought it last night on JCK, i wish i waited one extra day to see the negatives of white #2 none the less i think i will still enjoy my purchase

if im not satisfied with this knife as my daily go- to at work i think the next one i will try will e a gengetsu or watanabe
 
Semi stainless Gengetsu: $390 USD. Kato: $760 USD. Not really the same budget ballpark.

For 240mm Kato should be about 580, 600 top. 760 probably computed with 25% VAT added which is only applicable to EU.

If you are not happy with KS and want to get a new knife, consider a Heiji carbon. Buying direct is pretty reasonable at 26250 JPY for 240mm gyuto. Given current JPY weakness, it is well withthin your budget. But there is a wait time of about a couple of months at least. You can also get Heiji Semi Stainless for a similar price too.
 
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