High End 270mm Gyuto? Konosuke HD2 Funayuki?

Hi All,

I started a thread on the CKTG forum but would love opinions from the guys here.

Big chefs/gyuto. Sabatier profile, or flat with little belly. High blade depth is good, at least 50+, more is better.

Right handed.

Western or Wa is fine.

270mm - 300mm.

Must be at least semi stainless for cutting acidic foods.

Around $500 or so max price.



Pro chef, 60 hours/week, half on knives.

Will only be used for light stuff, onions, tomatoes, de-boned meat and fish. Hardest thing would be pumpkin.

Hiromoto 270mm gyuto

Priorities:

#1. Not highly reactive with acidic foods. I love top end White #1 but it's blunt within an hour when cutting preserved lemons. Some patina/reaction is fine, I take good care, dry and oil etc.

#2. The ability to take a very fine edge (hair whittling) and keep it as long as possible.

#3. As thin and light as possible, it will be used carefully and doesn't have to withstand any abuse or hard chopping.

Cutting boards at work are nylon sadly which probably blunts knives more than any of the food, but I'm as light as possible on them, no hard impacts.

Pro-level sharpener, thousands of dollars of stones etc.



I've only really looked on CKTG (I understand they aren't popular here but don't know why) and at the moment I'm leaning toward the Konosuke HD2 270mm Funayuki/Gyuto. It's out of stock there at the moment.

weight: 6oz
blade length: 277mm
total length: 440mm
spine thickness: 2.44mm
blade depth: 53.26mm

It's very light, long, thin, high, semi stainless and seems to have good reviews.


Can anyone suggest an alternative knife I should consider, or suggest where I might buy the Kono? I have emailed Tosho Knife Arts already, can't find any other supplier.

Thanks!

Steve.

If you like thin & light the Gesshin Ginga 270mm is an option. The stain resistant steel is of good quality & is easy to sharpen.

Comes with a Saya.

Thanks, I found it and it looks great! 5.7oz, lightest 270mm I've seen.

$285 is a great price too.

Just a little unsure of the mystery steel. I don't want easy to sharpen, I want hard to blunten

+1 on Ginga. Very light, compares favorably with Suisin IH, and keeps 100 bucks in your pocket.

Maxim at JNS offers the Itinommon, stainless clad. A little more heft, no frills, will plow through anything. http://www.japanesenaturalstones.com/itinomonn-kasumi-270mm-wa-gyuto

Maxim's shipping is very attractive to those down under.

Since you have to deal with shipping and import duties, you may want to look at what Japanese Chefs Knife offers. They subsidize shipping charges ($7 USD) and mark the parcel as a gift.

The Hattori FH series in VG10 is a good candidate for you. VG10 has an undeserved reputation as a poor knife steel, especially among those who've never used it, but it is a great steel and the heat treatment of the Hattori FH is outstanding. The linen Micarta Western handles are probably the best production Western handles available.

http://www.japanesechefsknife.com/JCKHattoriForums.html#JCKFH

Thanks for the suggestion, I will seriously consider them and do some reading. I have to say that I'm one of those who considers VG10, well, not poor, but it's not a high end steel IMO. I have over 100 knives now and half a dozen in VG10, I've used it a lot and it's good, but it's not the steel I'm looking for here. I can't imagine it holds a fine edge longer than Aogami super or white#1 at their best. I want something that will stay hair splitting sharp for as long as them, but less reactive As close as possible anyway.

Maybe the upcoming Cowry X line from Hattori will be a good choice.

One other knife I'm considering is the Sukenari ZDP189 Gyuto 270mm but the ZDP189 knives I have are either not that hard wearing (too low HRC?) or super fragile, micro chipping from cutting newspaper (too high HRC?). I'm sure it's capable of excellent performance and it's all in the heat treat but I'm a bit suspicious of it.

I am certainly no expert on powder steels, like my carbons. Do have a ginga 240mm stain resistant steel I think it is around 61Hrt. which is good for kitchen knives. Edge retention is about like some of your better knives that's what you have stones for.

Another knife he carries is the Gesshin Kagero with SRS-15 steel originally used to cut metals. EE carries same blade under different name. It is 64Hrt. I have been using one it has the best edge holding I have experienced in a stainless blade. The largest size is 240mm. Sounds like you have a lot of knives. At work I kept several chef knives for diff. tasks. Always like to have a thin blade on hand as well as heaver blade with thin edge. You can rotate blades between sharpening.

You can get the kono from Sydney, looks like it's in stock at the moment.

http://www.chefsarmoury.com/kitchen-knives-by-brand/konosuke-sakai/konosuke-hd2/cat_261.html

There's also the tadatuna INOX over at aframes.

http://yhst-27988581933240.stores.yahoo.net/ikkanshi-tadatuna-wa-gyuto-knife-270mm-inox-ba270.html

Have you thought about a custom knife? There are 100's here in the US and lots more Down Under. I think the newer PMs will hold an edge as well as any Japanese steel. They may not be as hair splitting as 52100 but they will hold an edge forever.

Won't be simple to match both sharpness and edge retention of a properly sharpened 270mm Hiromoto AS. Add a microbevel perhaps.

I have 3 Konosuke in HD steels. The 270 wa gyuto in HD-2 is a fantastic knife. Very sharp laser and is a really light knife for it's size. The HD steel is semi stainless. It will get spots on it if not cleaned and dried, but I've not seen it rust. I also have a western yo handled in 240 that is just as impressive. It was one of the original HD series. My 270 suji is a nice wa ebony handle knife and is also in HD-2. I love all of them. I purchased directly from Konosuke because I live in Japan, although I had to wait on a couple of them for a while as back ordered.

I always heard good things about the Konosuke HD knives. Used a Kono white steel at work couple years back before the price hikes. Also a Konosuke Fujiyama Blue #2 240mm. That knife is worth every cent love it. The Kono carbons are great knives.

Chefu said:

I have 3 Konosuke in HD steels. The 270 wa gyuto in HD-2 is a fantastic knife. Very sharp laser and is a really light knife for it's size. The HD steel is semi stainless. It will get spots on it if not cleaned and dried, but I've not seen it rust. I also have a western yo handled in 240 that is just as impressive. It was one of the original HD series. My 270 suji is a nice wa ebony handle knife and is also in HD-2. I love all of them. I purchased directly from Konosuke because I live in Japan, although I had to wait on a couple of them for a while as back ordered.

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Was there any real noticeable difference between the HD and HD2? I heard they made the HD2 to be more abrasion-resistant and a little more stainless (while the orig HD could get a sharper edge and a little more susceptible to rust - it was more like a carbon steel) - it makes sense to me!

I heard the same things about the HD and HD-2 steels and it very well may be, but honestly I can't tell a bit of difference.

I've heard the difference between HD and HD2 is pretty minimal.