high end knife

I would like to buy two knifes: one gyuto and one sujihiki.
Of course I like good materials, aesthetics, etc.. But I my primary concern is about the blade: it needs to worth every penny.
I’ve never hold in my hands knives like kiyoshi kato, konosuke honyaki (I have one Fujiyama white #1), shigefusa, gesshin, etc..

KNIFE TYPE
What type of knife are you interested in (e.g., chef’s knife, slicer, boning knife, utility knife, bread knife, paring knife, cleaver)? Chef’s and slicer

Are you right or left handed? Left

Are you interested in a Western handle (e.g., classic Wusthof handle) or Japanese handle? No preference

What length of knife (blade) are you interested in (in inches or millimeters)? 240mm (chef) and 300mm (slicer)

Do you require a stainless knife? (Yes or no) No

What is your absolute maximum budget for your knife? U$ 1.200,00 each (don't tell my wife)



KNIFE USE
Do you primarily intend to use this knife at home or a professional environment? home

What are the main tasks you primarily intend to use the knife for (e.g., slicing vegetables, chopping vegetables, mincing vegetables, slicing meats, cutting down poultry, breaking poultry bones, filleting fish, trimming meats, etc.)? (Please identify as many tasks as you would like.) all, except breaking poultry bones and cutting down poultry

What knife, if any, are you replacing? I have one misono ux10, one anryu blue and one kono Fujiyama white #1 and a lot of german knives

KNIFE MAINTENANCE
Do you use a bamboo, wood, rubber, or synthetic cutting board? (Yes or no.): wood

Do you sharpen your own knives? (Yes or no.) Yes

Thank you

Damascus sld yoshikane suji good enough?

I would recommend anything honyaki by your standard.
Suisin inox honyaki wa-gyuto is a pretty nice one for a lot less money

Seems like you are about to drop quite some cash. But before you do that maybe you could let us know how deep are you already in high end cutlery, how much experience you have with sharpening, etc. Do not get me wrong - it is OK to invest that much (my wife seems to think different though ), but if you do not have experience, than you could easily end up with something you either do not like using, or just does not actually suit the task.

The spectrum in high end knives is just too large to make a recommendation. For the chef's knife I would be tempted by Konosuke Honyaki in blue#2 (see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ddFtftDKzI) - it seems to cut like laser with excellent food release.

Yoshikane SLD Suji is amazing.

Birdie said:

I would recommend anything honyaki by your standard.
Suisin inox honyaki wa-gyuto is a pretty nice one for a lot less money

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-1 I wouldn't recommend a honyaki at all... With being a lefty and judging by his current collection i would look at a custom set or midtech set, or even start learning how to use and care for serious knives, starting with maybe a Shig or Kato.
Personally with that kind of money, i would look at approaching custom makers of the likes of HHH, Will Catcheside, Butch Harner... my 2c

Nmko said:

Personally with that kind of money, i would look at approaching custom makers of the likes of HHH, Will Catcheside, Butch Harner... my 2c

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Custom might be doable... But even with that kind of cash -depending on finishes- they might be out of his budget.

If you go custom one thing to consider is also the wait times. Typically 1-2 years. Is that something you'd be willing to do, wait for a custom knife?

It's still a nice budget, so I'd recommend taking your time to research the different knives that members suggest. See what appeals to you. Don't make a hasty purchase though :laugh:


-Steve

Also, check out some of the vendors that we have on here for different knives. Give Jon at Japanese Knife Imports a call and discuss things, check out Epicurean Edge, Tosho, Japanese Natural Stones, etc. The vendors on here are quite knowledgable, so it might be worth a shot. Even send off a quick email to them, asking their opinions. I'm sure they'd be happy to help!

- Steve

Talking to a few vendors as proposed by Steve is definitely a good idea. All of those mentioned are highly regarded here.

As others have stated, being a lefty does change things.

I have a Mizuno suminigashi on order which is being specially made for left handed use, so it will work as intended. A big factor which drew me to the Mizuno was that they were willing to produce a truly left handed blade and there was no surcharge.

I always had difficulty dropping big money for a blade that wouldn't work as intended.

First of all, thank you all.
Well...
I'm not rushing to buy those two knives. I will buy one first and some time after the other...
Never tought about custom knives (I don't know if I could wait that long and wouldn't even know where or how to order one).
I can put a nice edge on my knives (of course I can improve my skills).
The big problem is that, where I live, I don't have acess to knives of that level... I don't want to buy the knife just because it looks beautiful... I want to spend my money wisely.
That's why your advices are so much important.

Gustavo1977 said:

The big problem is that, where I live, I don't have acess to knives of that level... I don't want to buy the knife just because it looks beautiful... I want to spend my money wisely.
That's why your advices are so much important.

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Do you live in the US? The reason I suggested getting in contact with some of the vendors is so they can give you their honest opinion of which knives they think would suit your needs best based on your level of experience, wants, needs, etc. If you can't try out knives or don't have a lot of experience with them, figuring out what you want/need can be a daunting task. Let a professional help

I don't have a lot of experience with non-custom knives. One I do have experience with is a gyuto that receives a lot of praise around here, Shigs. That might be a good choice for gyuto. Kasumi is more budget friendly. Kitaeji is more of a splurge with the damascus. A problem with Shigs tend to be their rarity... They don't tend to be in stock very long. A way to get around this might be to pick one up second hand on the BST here. As a plus, they can be rehandled in the future with a custom handle if you're looking to upgrade it.

If you're thinking custom get in touch with a few of the custom makers on here. Check out their sites, send them emails. Gather ideas of what you like. Discuss what you're looking for with them. They can then give you a quote. I'm not sure if you're thinking damascus or not (might be out of your budget on a custom) but a straight carbon 240 might be doable. The downside like I said is the wait.

- Steve

Good advice above. Mostly

I'm a leftie myself, so I have had to think thru this stuff too.

One of the things I very early on discovered was that there are renowned makers out there that will not ask the idiotic 50% surcharge for us with a well functioning brain
So I would stay away from any and all makers who adds that tax. (or is it the vendors?)

If you are looking for custom made stuff, you are gambling a fair bit with the end result.
Sure, there are makers out there who will make a fine knife, but how will you know in advance?
No, I'd say go with a truly tested and proven knife geometry of a renowned maker.
One who has made that very same knife a couple hundred times. Or more.
Leave experimentation to the Kool-Aid people.

Now, there are many more knives out there that I haven't tried than what I actually own.
From what I have tried/tested and owns though, I would not hesitate to recommend either Shigefusa or Kato.
I have a variety of both in my kitchen, and they all deliver the goods. For me.

IMHO the custom knives being made in American are as good as you can get, they just seem to be very expensive. Mr. Burke & Thomas, Rader, make magic. I have a knife made by Lloyd Harner & it's amazing!

I for one would like a bit more information: Specifically, what Kono Fujiyama do you have, and what would you change about it? I too am a lefty.

hrc63

Birnando said:

One of the things I very early on discovered was that there are renowned makers out there that will not ask the idiotic 50% surcharge for us with a well functioning brain
So I would stay away from any and all makers who adds that tax. (or is it the vendors?)

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On the one hand I can see why makers do charge extra. They do have to make the knife especially for you, and it will make the process less efficient than it would be to make a right handed knife as part of a large batch. With that said though, I still can't bring myself to pay $1k for a $650 knife with a left handed grind.

If you think extra charges on lefty knives are unfair (although I agree with MAS and understand that why they would charge more), check out Mizuno at JCK.
They don't seem to charge extra for D-shape handle for lefties at least for gyutos and santokus. For example, the Akita Hontanren series gyutos have the same price for left or right-hand versions. You can also make an custom order with more expensive blade material or handle and they also offer honbaduke sharpening service for $18 so it should be good to go OOTB.