Looking for my dream carbon gyuto

[masibu]

if youve been using a richmond addict then i suggest you look into the kochi knives that jon sells at jki. they both have similar blade heights, if you want to stick with using tall knives. also consider takeda. theyre usually really tall too, and very good for vegetable prep.
ive also used shigefusa and mizuno gyutos in pro kitchens and i think either would be suitable for what youre looking for, especially considering your cutting motion. but rule out masamoto now if you still do a little rock chopping. it feels really uncomfortable when you try and cut that way using a masa ks.
i suppose looking into heiji knives wouldnt hurt either.

definitely agree on the ks being incredibly uncomfortable for rocking

Alright, from what's available to me right now, I have it down to either Gesshin Ajikataya Kurouchi (recommended by Jon), Gesshin Heiji, or Suisin Inox Honyaki. Any final thoughts?

I use an Inox honyaki on occasion myself, although it's been sitting in it's saya for a little while as I bought a Watanabe about a month ago. It is certainly laser thin and just keeps on going. If you don't like sharpening at all, it won't care that much. It is fairly tough stuff. It doesn't take a keen edge like any carbon knives, but that certainly doesn't hold it back. I quite like the profile of the knife too. I was keeping it tuned up with my suehiro rika and it cuts quite aggressively, great for general use that a gyuto is primarily used for I guess. I let an apprentice at work borrow it and within 10 minutes he had cut himself, not being used to a sharp, nimble knife I guess. I'm still undecided about what edge I want to run on it..I was going to thin it out even more but it's probably not necessary.

If you're considering stainless knives as well now, why not consider something semi-stainless like the Konosuke HD or something? You can get it slightly sharper and get it there slightly easier than the suisin and the edge retention is definitely good enough. I believe it's also less expensive. I used a "funayaki" shaped 240 HD for a while and loved it, but I found it to be a little short on occasion for me. I'm a 270 kinda guy with prep and a 210 for service. I find 240 knives for me aren't as good as either anymore. It's a knife I regret selling, but hey, I wanted to try other things. If I had my time again, I probably would have waited for a 270 HD to come back into stock instead of buying the Suisin (but I had always wanted to buy a Suisin anyway so who knows).

[longhorn]

+1 to Semi-stainless and the Konosuke HD. I have a 240 gyuto from the original HD line before the whole funayuki/HD2 versions. I really love the steel and the knife, however I also own a Masamoto KS and find it to also be a joy to use. Another good option for you may be a KS in stainless, which is available through Korin I believe.

[WiscoNole]

+1 for Konosuke Fujiyama in blue steel.

I support this notion as well. I have the funayuki gyuto and it is a fantastic knife in all aspects.

[Toft]

I think the Kono HD would be a little too light for what I want.

I did however stumble on this Fujiyama Blue #1 Kurouchi Tsuchime. It's either that or the Ajikataya right now, but unless there's some downside to it I'm overlooking the Fujiyama seems like the winner.

[Chuckles]

That particular Kono you linked is 66 HRC. That is quite a bit harder than the 62 HRC that Fujiyamas are usually hardened to. The result of this will be increased edge retention with increased brittleness being the trade off. Looks like a really cool knife.

[labor of love]

it is a cool looking knife. have you considered mizuno? theyre priced about the same as the kono youre looking at.

[Toft]

I have considered Mizuno, yes. The talk of the iron cladding being super reactive has put me off of them some, as well as the fact that aesthetically they don't quite get me going like some others.

So would I be potentially running into chipping issues with that Kono then due to the hardness? Would it be a lot harder to sharpen?

[labor of love]

there could be potential issues with that knife being hardened to hrc 66. but i dunno. perhaps contact the retailer. it looks like a good deal.

[masibu]

Forget everything I said earlier-- now I want that particular knife. Didn't know it even existed!

[toddnmd]

Forget everything I said earlier-- now I want that particular knife. Didn't know it even existed!

+1