Masashi kobo 270 mm wa gyuto review

I have promised to do this review a while ago , wanted to use the knife more before I came to any conclusion .
So here it goes : I have been fond of sanjo style tall gyutos and had some carbon ones but I always wanted a stainless or semi stainless one for the crazy busy days when I have to check different venues and banquets . I saw this one on aframes and decided to get one, being located in down under I wish I knew the presence of one of local vendors carrying it.but next time



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It was described as semi mirror polish but if you ask me it is full mirror polish. Fit and finish were really good too, spine and choil were rounded , not Shigefusa level but
still


very nice. My initial impression was this maker is really trying to prove himself well with his new brand of knives.

It came with a friction for saya too so far I very happy with what i have paid and what I have received so far



The edge it came with was good but after a big prep day I have noticed some micro chipping , I was looking for an excuse to sharpen it anyway . I did a quick sharpening at work with shapton 220, naniwa 1000 -3000 an it took a nice , little toothy edge

The grind is nice , I didn't notice any major low spots yet, it is super thin behind edge, maybe little too thin for my taste



I couldn't find my calipers but it has a thick spine my guess around 4mm



I like the profile but again I like tall 270 gyutos, here is comparison with my other 270s



Let's talk about some thing I didn't enjoy that much:
Mirror polish , I was expecting a semi mirror but it is little too much for me and having a soft cladding it is prone to scratches . If this was a honyaki gyuto workhorse it would be easy but with this one those scratches are bothering me. I can bring back to a mirror polish again but it's not worthed .it will get scratched again.

I find cutting performance good overall, love the thin tip , beyond my excavations but there is an area just by the belly that feels little thick . Rest of the blade is very good, very good cutter but around the last part of the blade close to heel food release is not as good as it could be, maybe mirror polish to be blamed here as well.
Overall i am happy with my purchase , it is a very good value , very thin behind the edge and good cutter , would recommend for a tall stainless gyuto as long as you don't mind the beautiful mirror polish will be gone in professional use in no time.




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The hardest part of using a beautiful knife designated as a workhorse knife...is well letting it be a workhorse and develop scratches. Perhaps you could put a frosty kasumi style finish on it...or leave it alone and have fun

I can commiserate with the mirror finish issue. For me, it's less about aesthetic deterioration through use and more about the suction the finish seems to create through denser, wet ingredients. I just bought a Kono Honyaki that has a serious mirror polish and plan on taking some natural stone mud to it in order to add a bit of texture.
That aside, I own a couple of Shigs and this knife really intrigues me. As soon as I saw it, I thought it looked like an SLD Shig clone which, is not a bad thing! I'd love to hear more about the grind on the knife etc. as for the price, this seems like a screaming value at first blush

ChipB said:

I can commiserate with the mirror finish issue. For me, it's less about aesthetic deterioration through use and more about the suction the finish seems to create through denser, wet ingredients. I just bought a Kono Honyaki that has a serious mirror polish and plan on taking some natural stone mud to it in order to add a bit of texture.
That aside, I own a couple of Shigs and this knife really intrigues me. As soon as I saw it, I thought it looked like an SLD Shig clone which, is not a bad thing! I'd love to hear more about the grind on the knife etc. as for the price, this seems like a screaming value at first blush

Click to expand...

The profile of the shig is little shorter and pointier , with mostly push cut the stiction is not bad around the first 2/3rds of the blade but around the last 1/3 where I cut dense things there is stiction . Again for what I have paid I am very happy


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Just ordered a 240 from a frames!!

I had this knife, but it felt awkward in my hand. I also am not experienced with that kind of profile so I did not enjoy it too much. My co worker loved it so it went to him right away.