I like Hideyuki grinds...he emphasizes a thin edge but thick convex...makes food release very good.
I like Hideyuki grinds...he emphasizes a thin edge but thick convex...makes food release very good.
I've got the Hideyuki Tanaka Gyuto in Kurouchi finish. It cost me about 47 USD so not too much including shipping. The cheapest knife I have actually. Finish is of course rough, tang is a bit crooked and very uneven. However the blade is very well made. As Umberto said, the food release is superb! Somehow this releases food Much better than any other knife I have. I have also thinned it down further to sink into onions and carrots better. I've made a new handle (plastic ferrule wasn't too good looking) and that worked out nicely.
The only issue I've got is the edge not holding up too well (will not scratch glass for example). Needs frequent touching up to keep it a razor. Maybe it's my sharpening too, or could be both. The cladding is kurouchi, the exposed steel is fairly reactive but the kurouchi is holding up very well.
It feels a bit sad when I reach to my first Japanese knife, the same 47USD Tanaka when I've got more expensive "better" knives in the lineup but I often do! It's my beater but I keep it sharp and encourage my wife to also get used to a bigger knife. She likes small pettys still.
Hopefully this works...
Here is mine showing a little contrast...It took some polishing on 1k-5k and back to Aoto.
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=oasqyt&s=8#.U4UG_k5RfIU
Does anyone have an opinion on Shigeki vs Kazuyuki Tanaka in actual knife quality? I'm seriously interested in a Tanaka knife and have heard amazing things about them, but I don't know if that's holdover from the older Kazuyuki ones.
Both are really well made and either way you will be happy.
Ah, missed that post somehow.