Hiromoto stops

Advertise with us
Shop Knives and stones on ebay
Kitchen Knife Forums

Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Benuser

Benuser

from The Netherlands, EU.
KKF Supporting Member
Joined
May 3, 2011
Messages
9,784
Reaction score
4,500
Mr Nagao, maker of the Hiromoto knives, has ended production of his regular series of Ginsang-3, Aogami Super and VG-10 Damascus knives, as Mr Koki Iwahara confirmed.
 
Better buy one while you can I guess.....
 
Ah... that's sad news. Better get myself a few before they run out...
Thanks for letting us know.
 
Sad news, I am yet to pull the trigger on one of his knives.
If you would buy right now one of them which series would be the go to?
 
Well, I just sent an email to Koki asking him to get one of the AS series gyutos for me.
I'm planning to use it for a while and when the time comes I'll send it to Dave for his full spa treatment.
 
Seriously its taking all my willpower to not pull the trigger on a 270mm AS gyuto :pullhair:
 
I've been putting off grabbing another AS since I left it in a cab with some others. A classic and a beast, used to pretty much use it as a yo deba. Will definitely pick up a 240 to keep in the collection.
 
Sad news. I don't know other affordable SS clad knives that would performs as good as Hiromoto's knives after some tweaking.
 
those white steel units are also very cool. I think Nagao is essentially finished working, and the "master" works are those white steel pieces, which are very very nice. I have the AS martel, old white steel with bad bolsters - with new scales installed by adam, white steel clad looking good, and the new white steel treated - new in box.

i really like the profile of these knives, the old white steel knife is just fantastic, sharpened them all this past weekend. But that is just a stunning easy to use, easy to sharpen, great kitchen tool. My goto knife
 
so are these made in a factory and mass produced, or no?
 
Picked up a white 240 honyaki... now I guess we will know how they perform.
 
Quick question from a beginner here: is a clad blade hard to maintain and after how long will a see some patina on the edge?
 
my question should go like this: are these knives a good choice for a beginner like myself?
 
LarryC said:
my question should go like this: are these knives a good choice for a beginner like myself?
Click to expand...

Cut a capsicum and the edge will patina immediately. Very cool.
The cladding is stainless so no patina.

It's a great choice for a beginner IME. :doublethumbsup:
 
That's too bad those knives were the least expensive super steel clad knife on the market. Hopefully somebody will fill the niche.
 
you know, i'm not a particularly big fan of aogami super in kitchen knives personally

as a side note, and on a slightly related subject, i know a lot of people are always looking for deals and less expensive knives... consider this:

The world of knife craftsmen in japan is getting smaller and smaller each year. Many young people dont enter the field because there is no financial future in it, or the current masters dont believe that if they take on an apprentice, that person will be able to make a living doing this kind of job. Part of the reason we always try to pay people a fair wage for their work is so that this world of craftsmen can continue. Most retail stores here deal with wholesalers, who, when asked, will often put pressure on the craftsmen to complete work at such and such a price, which can make it harder for them to survive in the long run. I would encourage people to think about this next time they buy a knife...

not only does the price need to be fair for you (of course it does, and thats a big part of it), but the retailer needs to be able to make a living, and so does the craftsman. Its an issue of balance.
 
its a function of what the steel is designed for...
blue super contains higher carbon content than other common hitachi steels, along with more chromium and tungsten. Because of that, it tends to be a higher hardness. Also, it tends to have a higher volume of larger carbides. Its designed to have the best edge retention, but that comes at the cost of brittleness, greater difficulty in sharpening, and decreased structural stability when compared to the other common carbon steels by hitachi. I prefer steels that sharpen more easily and have greater structural stability, while being less brittle... even if that costs me a bit in edge retention. For example, blue #1 can be a great steel.

Also, depending on the knife type, my preference in steels/heat treatments will vary.

This is not to say aogami super is not a good knife for kitchen knives... just not my personal preference.
 
again, depends on HT... for example, watanabe's blue #2 is on the brittle side as well
 
Just a heads up: The F&F might be a bit iffy on the Hiros. I ordered a few pieces a couple of months ago and asked Koki to send me the best looking ones he had and they were rough to say the least. Dave said it looked like whoever finished them had the shakes. I just ordered a G3 Suji to complete my Hiro collection. Hopefully it's in better shape than the other 3 I purchased.
 
JBroida said:
you know, i'm not a particularly big fan of aogami super in kitchen knives personally

as a side note, and on a slightly related subject, i know a lot of people are always looking for deals and less expensive knives... consider this:

The world of knife craftsmen in japan is getting smaller and smaller each year. Many young people dont enter the field because there is no financial future in it, or the current masters dont believe that if they take on an apprentice, that person will be able to make a living doing this kind of job. Part of the reason we always try to pay people a fair wage for their work is so that this world of craftsmen can continue. Most retail stores here deal with wholesalers, who, when asked, will often put pressure on the craftsmen to complete work at such and such a price, which can make it harder for them to survive in the long run. I would encourage people to think about this next time they buy a knife...

not only does the price need to be fair for you (of course it does, and thats a big part of it), but the retailer needs to be able to make a living, and so does the craftsman. Its an issue of balance.
Click to expand...


Fair enough. Doesn't need to be Aogami Super. I think if anyone can fill this void left behind, certainly the Gesshin line could deliver. Whatever carbon steel, heat treatment etc wrapped in stainless, certainly there's a large market for it. I'm sure whatever you guys develop will be a hit. :poke1:
 
Good info Jon. Hopefully you can continue to develop products that are priced well enough for both parties to be satisfied. I'm hopeful that some of the youngsters will be inspired to keep with it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top