Reputable dealers for a good deal on a gyuto

I'd like to start off by apologizing for my ignorance. Still, I've posted a few times to another knife forum, so I think I'm not as ignorant as I could have been - I suppose that's something.

I am looking for a chef/gyuto in the 9"/240mm range.

I am located in the US, just west of Houston - where it there don't seem to be a lot of shops, which means that I'm not going to be handling the knives before I buy one.

As mentioned above, I'm looking for a 240mm chef/gyuto, in stainless and with a western handle - carbon would be nice, but I know am not going to take that much care (and Houston is just too humid to keep up with). I'm left-handed, but I've been watching myself and I'm pretty ambidexterous in the kitchen. I'd like to keep my purchase below $200, but more affordable is better.

This knife will be used exclusively in a home kitchen, for general tasks as (nearly) an all purpose blade. I won't be doing paring tasks or bread slicing with it, nor will I be deboning or breaking bones. The latter tasks will be accomplished with the no name 8" chef that it is replacing. I can't tell you who makes it - it was a generic block set we bought 8 years ago when we were more focused on paying down student loans.

I tend to finger point, but I've been making an effort to pinch grip more - I think the finger comes up in an effort to get more control than the underlying Hammer provides, but pinching seems to work better. I'm not sure how to define my cutting motion, but I'd guess I mostly chop and walk. As with the grip, I'm making an effort to shift my technique - more push cutting.

The main reason to replace the knife is to get better performance - a little more agility and improved shape as I notice that most of my cutting is with the last third of the blade, even when I started off intending to use to tip/front of the blade. I'd like to avoid a bolster - one of the design problems with my current knife. If it can retain an edge and is pretty solid out of the box, I wouldn't complain.

My cutting boards are generally synthetic, with one edge grain maple board that gets maintained. I'm not currently sharpening myself, and take the knives to a friend. I would be interested in learning to sharpen and am considering the King 1k/6k combo as a nice beginner stone - what was originally going to be a single knife purchase in the $150 range has taken on a life of its own.

I am looking at the following:
MAC Pro 240mm gyuto
Richmond Artifex 240mm gyuto (I'm looking at both the wide and regular)
Messermeister ME 10" chef
Suisin INOX 240mm gyuto
Fujiwara FKM 240mm gyuto
Misono 440 240mm gyuto
It isn't like I'm married to any of these, though. They are just what I've heard good things about (well, the Richmond is pretty polemic)

I also have one special request - who is reputable? I've heard good things about chef knives to go, but they don't seem to get much love here. Where should I be looking? Cutlery and More, Japanese Knife Imports, etc?

Welcome to the forums!

I'll work on your last question.

Reputable (adjective)
Well-thought-of, highly regarded, respected, well-respected, respectable, of (good) repute, prestigious, established; reliable, dependable, trustworthy.

There are three US-based purveyors of production Japanese knives who are members of KKF that meet that criterion: Japanese Knife Imports, Korin Japanese Trading and The Epicurean Edge. I have purchased knives from all three, and can recommend any of the three. The two non-US based vendors, Sharp and Shiny Shop and Japanese Natural Stones, are both reputable, and I have done business with both of them, but neither one carries any of the knives you mentioned.

Now on to knives.

Of those you listed, the only one I have personal experience with is the Richmond Artifex, and I cannot recommend it. Its performance is sub-par due to its poor geometry. When I tested it, I was unable to cut a medium russet potato in half without having to use excessive force. In order to be an adequate performer, the blade needs to be extensively thinned, a project that even experienced sharpeners would not relish.

Of the other knives, I have used the carbon steel versions of the Suisin, the Misono and the Fujiwara, and based on that, I think the stainless versions of any of them will be more than acceptable for your purposes.

I hope this helps a bit.

Rick

That helps a lot!

Pensacola Tiger said:

Welcome to the forums!

I'll work on your last question.

Reputable (adjective)
Well-thought-of, highly regarded, respected, well-respected, respectable, of (good) repute, prestigious, established; reliable, dependable, trustworthy.

There are three US-based purveyors of production Japanese knives who are members of KKF that meet that criterion: Japanese Knife Imports, Korin Japanese Trading and The Epicurean Edge. I have purchased knives from all three, and can recommend any of the three. The two non-US based vendors, Sharp and Shiny Shop and Japanese Natural Stones, are both reputable, and I have done business with both of them, but neither one carries any of the knives you mentioned.

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I am willing to look outside of what I mentioned - those were just the ones that I hadn't eliminated from consideration because of price or FF problems (well, sort of....see below). If there is something else that meets my Japanese stereotype (thin, hard, agile) and is still in my price range and is good, I'll consider it. Heck, I keep going back and forth between western and wa handles - I just found the japanese to be a little pricier and cutting them out reduced my research by half.

Now on to knives.

Of those you listed, the only one I have personal experience with is the Richmond Artifex, and I cannot recommend it. Its performance is sub-par due to its poor geometry. When I tested it, I was unable to cut a medium russet potato in half without having to use excessive force. In order to be an adequate performer, the blade needs to be extensively thinned, a project that even experienced sharpeners would not relish.

Of the other knives, I have used the carbon steel versions of the Suisin, the Misono and the Fujiwara, and based on that, I think the stainless versions of any of them will be more than acceptable for your purposes.

I hope this helps a bit.

Rick

Click to expand...

After posting I did some more digging and found the video review of the Artifex. Between that and your observation, it sounds like I should walk away from that idea. I'll do some searches, but it looks like Richmond is cktg's house brand in the same way as Gesshin is for jki. I don't know if you have any experience with either the regular or ginga stainless models, but do those suffer from similar quality issues? I noticed that they are pricier than the Richmonds. I would like a rounded spine and choil, but I couldn't tell if the base model has them.

nbs2 said:

I don't know if you have any experience with either the regular or ginga stainless models, but do those suffer from similar quality issues? I noticed that they are pricier than the Richmonds. I would like a rounded spine and choil, but I couldn't tell if the base model has them.

Click to expand...

The Gesshin Ginga is head and shoulders above the Richmond Artifex, but at almost three times the price, you'd expect it to be. The one I handled had a nicely rounded spine and choil area. I don't have any experience with the newly introduced Gesshin Stainless series, but you might give Jon Broida a call and ask him. He's easy to talk to and will be happy to answer your questions.

Accidental post...Sorry wrote something and accidentally hit post when I didn't want to.

You should also peek into the B/S/T section for knives. It is a great way to save some cash and in some cases get a real steal of a deal. I love buying there.

Gesshin Uraku is JKI's entry level line, so you might want to look at that.

If you search on here, you can find numerous threads that have more details about why a good number of people here are concerned about CKTG. (This week, it was your turn to come in here and ask this type of question--it happens regularly.)

A lot of the video "reviews" seem to be from people who have a close business relationship with a vendor, so they should be taken with at least a grain of salt. Many of them also seem to be overwhelmingly positive, and I can't think of many critical comments by certain reviewers. Of course, we're talking about not inexpensive, high quality Japanese knives, but I often find it hard to make distinctions between the offerings.

+1 on the Gesshin. Welcome to KKF.

I've used the Suisin Western Inox and liked it enough to gift a couple of them. I think its a good first Japanese knife for home cook. Does not hurt that it looks good too. JKI and Korin both carry them. Just over a hundred bucks.

My first was a Gesshin Ginga. Jon at JKI spent some time assessing my requirements and my sharpening abilities (zippo, none, nada at the time - some improvement since) and a couple days later the knife arrived. I wanted a Wa handle but its also available in Western. Like mine a lot.

I would choose the Ginga again but either would serve you well.

Good luck.

The Gesshin knives are way superior to the Richmond house knives.The Gesshin Uraku can be had in western handle or wa.It is not a lazor knife,but it is fairly thin behind the edge where it counts.It is within your price wt. a saya.

As mentioned the Suisin Inox is another option also at JKI.It has a thin geometry & is a good cutter.Alot of people like the carbonext sold at Japanesechefknives.

While I now have a lot of true j-knives that I am very very very happy with (most bought on BST here at KKF, see if there is something on BST??), I can't common on the J-knives the OP asked about because I don't have any of them. I will say I have grown to love high quality J-knives and I am sure the OP will as well.

However, I can say something about the Messermeister ME 10" chef and the MAC Pro 240mm as interestingly enough these were the first two new knives I bought to go beyond my 8" (=210mm) Victorinoxes and 8" Wusthof knives that I had and used quite happily for more then 30 years.

The Messermeister ME was the first: it felt like what would happen if my Wusthof classic chef knife had decided to die and go to heaven. (It was an old knife after all.)

It was sharper, ground better and also on a more acute angle (15 instead of 20 it said), so it cut better. It also had a better fit and finish and balance then my classic Wusthof. I was so happy with it until a friend said I just had to try a Mac Pro.

That was a revelation, it was at least as comfortable as the Mess, had a better profile for cutting and also stayed sharper much longer between touchups. (Because as I later found out the steel was much harder, one problem with the Mess is the steel is relatively soft compared to most any j-knife.) a Mac pro is basically the marriage of a German knife body with a Japanese knife steel. If you like German style knives you won't ever need to go further than a MAC Pro.

However, if you want to see what a guyto can do when it has even a small amount of asymmetry in the grind of the knife, the Mac isn't the knife for you, it's really the perfect German style knife - and so better then the Mess - only it's made in Japan!

Finally, having dealt with Jon Broida, who is both incredibly knowledgeably and a great guy, I can say if he is carrying a knife it has to be a good value for the money so give him a call about the suisin - seems like a bargain to me at $135. (I don't see it listed at Korin or EE who also are good folks.)

This is the internet, so take everything with a grain of salt.

• MAC Pro 240mm gyuto - Proven quality mass produced product
• Richmond Artifex 240mm gyuto (I'm looking at both the wide and regular) - Skip
• Messermeister ME 10" chef - Decent if you're looking for a German blade and profile, but I prefer K-Sabatier
• Suisin INOX 240mm gyuto - Suisin Inox Honyaki, Special Inox, or Inox? All are of different stainless steels and price points with the Honyaki being the best and most $
• Fujiwara FKM 240mm gyuto - There are better options
• Misono 440 240mm gyuto - Skip

It would be improper to mention non-affiliated shops here. The ones already listed are all good. JCK (Japanese Chef's Knife) is also good and based in Japan/Cali. There are other US based e-shops that offer quality established Japanese brands at good prices. But, I would avoid their house brands.

I have a Gesshin Ginga 240mm and it is my go to knife. Slicing geometry is amazing and falls through food even when it is not real sharp. The white #2 is easy to touch up.

I wanted to thank you guys for your advice and suggestions. I ordered a Gesshin Uraku 240mm gyuto last night. Now I just have to be antsy about it arriving.

Great choice! The Gesshin Uraku look to be a smoking deal. Let us know how it works out when it arrives.