Advice on petty / mini gyuto and gyuto with wa-handles...

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Cookiemonster

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Hello everybody!

The situation looks like this, my gf is afraid of our 210mm and 240mm gyutos and uses a 120mm stainless petty with western handle for everything (yes, I know). So I want to buy her a new knife and she kind of liked the wa-handles. So, could you help me out finding a stainless, or semi-stanless leaning more towards stainless, petty 150-165mm (maybe even 180mm) with wa handle for around 100$. It can also be shaped more like a gyuto in the 150-165mm size (maybe even 180mm). I found a special made fujiwara 150mm gyuto that I will buy if I/we can't find anything else suitable. Fit and finish is important, she really liked a burnt chestnut handle. I know, 100$ for nice F&F is probably hard to find - but maybe someone out there have some suggestions, and if I have to go up to 130-150$ so be it.

On another note, who makes nice semi-stainless wa-gyutos for around 200-300$. I need a 210mm because I have a 240mm Hattori FH in the biggers size, I will buy semi-stainless/carbon 240mm wa-gyuto later on. The plan is to have one 210mm stainless with western handle, one 210mm semi-stainless/carbon wa-gyuto, one 240mm stainless with western handle and one 210mm semi-stainless/carbon wa-gytuto as my 'go to' knives.
Anyway, I've looked at the Heiji and Konosuke HD so far. Also looked at some Yoshikane SLD/SKD (but heard they are very thick) - what else is out there?

Thx in advance :thumbsup:
 
Check out Tanaka from metalmaster for your short gyuto. I rock a mini Carter with a wa that is awesome, but they aren't exactly cheap. :) There are other great options, as well, in Western.
 
I can't tell you about wa Gyotos, but I also like smaller knives. I have a 180 mm Tojiro DP western Gyoto in stainless. It has a thin blade, came sharp and finish was good. While not a great beauty, it is clad in softer stainless with a core of VG10. It works really well. I am sure that you can get much prettier knives for $300, but I would hesitate to use them. I am more interested in function than appearance in kitchen knives and would not want fancy cladding.
She might prefer a larger petty, and they are out there.
 
Lefty said:
Check out Tanaka from metalmaster for your short gyuto. I rock a mini Carter with a wa that is awesome, but they aren't exactly cheap. :) There are other great options, as well, in Western.
Click to expand...

You mean the vg10 and ginsanko lines? What's the grind on the Tanaka like, it's not flat on one side like the Aritsugu? And the bevel, 70/30-ish? I totally forgot about tanaka's, but it looks like almost everything is sold out atm :( But ty, keep it coming :) And one more thing, can you upgrade the handle when buying from metalmaster?
 
Arty said:
I can't tell you about wa Gyotos, but I also like smaller knives. I have a 180 mm Tojiro DP western Gyoto in stainless. It has a thin blade, came sharp and finish was good. While not a great beauty, it is clad in softer stainless with a core of VG10. It works really well. I am sure that you can get much prettier knives for $300, but I would hesitate to use them. I am more interested in function than appearance in kitchen knives and would not want fancy cladding.
She might prefer a larger petty, and they are out there.
Click to expand...

I of course know the Tojiro line, I still use my 210mm Gyuto I bought 10 years ago - I have a special bond with it since it was my first J-knife and a real eye-opener like "wow, this is how a knife SHOULD be" :)
 
the ginsanko line needs quite a bit of work out of the box; the choil and spine are very rough and the large bevel is ground pretty unevenly. that being said, the steel is quite amazing; sharpens just like carbon and takes one of the best stainless edges I've seen
 
Sorry, can not help you with the short gyuto/petty. But as for semi stainless goes, I have both Heiji and Kono HD2. From those two I prefer Kono's steel. I am not going over the geometry/profile preference as they are way different.
 
Tanaka's are great. Grab one if you can.

Another option if you are willing to pay around 200$ is to go fully custom.
Here's a custom chzbrgr knife by Ian Rogers of Haburn knives:

13467311615_02842cf17b_z.jpg


AEB-L ~170 mini gyuto. Around 62 HRC, convex grind. I opted for simple western handle, but you can choose any style. Also you can draw your own profile. I'm a bit overextended with this one, it's too flat, but that's was my fault, not makers :)
 
James said:
the ginsanko line needs quite a bit of work out of the box; the choil and spine are very rough and the large bevel is ground pretty unevenly. that being said, the steel is quite amazing; sharpens just like carbon and takes one of the best stainless edges I've seen
Click to expand...

I think that settles it, I'm going Tanaka :) I have Chosera 400, Bester 1200 and a Suehiro 5000 stones and some experience so the bevel will be no problem. I can fix the choil and spine too.
But please, if anybody have more suggestions than bring it! The Tanaka I want is sold out atm so who knows when it will be back and it itches for a new knife or two :)

Ruso said:
Sorry, can not help you with the short gyuto/petty. But as for semi stainless goes, I have both Heiji and Kono HD2. From those two I prefer Kono's steel. I am not going over the geometry/profile preference as they are way different.
Click to expand...

OK, like less belly and a long flat spot - how's the Kono?
 
icanhaschzbrgr said:
Tanaka's are great. Grab one if you can.

Another option if you are willing to pay around 200$ is to go fully custom.
Here's a custom chzbrgr knife by Ian Rogers of Haburn knives:

13467311615_02842cf17b_z.jpg


AEB-L ~170 mini gyuto. Around 62 HRC, convex grind. I opted for simple western handle, but you can choose any style. Also you can draw your own profile. I'm a bit overextended with this one, it's too flat, but that's was my fault, not makers :)
Click to expand...

Beautiful and probably cuts like a dream. But it's just to pricy and I hardly use anything shorter than 210mm, if this was a knife I would use than I would have it under consideration :)
 
The main difference is that Kono HD is a laser while Heiji is not, and actually Heiji is quite thick knife. Kono glides through food better but got some stickiness issues.
But all the above is user preference. Depends on what you value more and feel more comfortable with.
 
Thanks for all the advice so far. My gf just got home and I couldn't convince her to go with 190mm Tanaka Ginsanko Wa-gyuto, she wants the 150mm petty - but I can't find it on 330mate and it's out of stock on metalmaster. Do you guys and girls know if they re-stock often? I've heard they're not world champions of answering mails so maybe somebody have a clue :)

Edit: I also found this handle that I will buy later on for the Tanaka:

http://www.japanesenaturalstones.com/chestnut-d-shape-wa-handle/
 
rogue108 said:
Gesshin Uraku 150mm Wa at Japanese Knife Imports
Click to expand...

Yes also looked at that one, wonder how much shipping is to Sweden.

Anyway, should have never come back to this forum - just wanted some advice on a cheaper wa-petty and maybe a semi-stanless wa-gyuto. Now I'm thinking about going custom, so far only looked at Haburn knives but wow. It's just that I have a hard time deciding as it is, custom knifes just widens the horizon and I'm really busy atm but I can't stop looking at some of those beauties. Out of the custom makers, which don't have to long waiting times, not the most exclusive (I can't pay prices over 500$ for a gyuto, we're house shopping atm), works with AEB-L or maybe ginsanko or comparable steels that don't chip easy even over 60 HRC (like the VG-10 sometimes does)? Who could you recommend?

Edit: Or I should say maybe cheaper, like not much more than 300$ for a 240mm gyuto - Haburn's knifes I looked at that looked very nice were around 230$ for 210mm gyutos, that is imo a very decent price.
 
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