first carbon wa gyuto

I am looking for my first carbon wa gyuto that will be used in conjunction with my tojiro dp 240.
is the Tojiro Shirogami ITK 240mm Wa-Gyuto any good?
LOCATION
USA

KNIFE TYPE
Carbon Gyuto

Are you right or left handed?
right

Handle
Wa

What length of knife (blade) are you interested in (in inches or millimeters)?
240, maybe 210

What is your absolute maximum budget for your knife?
$200 absolute max, preferably less

KNIFE USE
Will be used both in a professional kitchen and at home

What are the main tasks you primarily intend to use the knife for
slicing vegetables, chopping vegetables, mincing vegetables, slicing meats, cutting down poultry, breaking poultry bones, filleting fish, trimming meats

What knife, if any, are you replacing?
Tojiro DP 240

Do you have a particular grip that you primarily use?
pinch

What cutting motions do you primarily use?
rock and chop

What improvements do you want from your current knife? If you are not replacing a knife, please identify as many characteristics identified below in parentheses that you would like this knife to have.)
Sharper blade that I will be learning sharpening on

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

Do you sharpen your own knives? (Yes or no.)
I will be taught how to by my chef.

If not, are you interested in learning how to sharpen your knives? (Yes or no.)
yes interested

Are you interested in purchasing sharpening products for your knives? (Yes or no.)
yes

Welcome to KKF!

The Tojiro shirogami ITK 240mm wa-gyuto is a inexpensive knife that sacrifices a lot to meet a price point. Based on the single example I handled, the fit and finish is poor, with a sharp spine and area where your finger will meet the back of the blade; it had a very uneven grind of the blade road, with several overgrinds; the handle is plain wood with an ill-fitted plastic ferrule and the kurouchi finish wears away easily, exposing the soft iron cladding which is very reactive. On the plus side, it was easily sharpened and took a keen edge.

There are other knives selling for under your maximum price of $200 that are, in my experience, much better than the Tojiro. The Itinomonn Kurouchi Nashiji 240mm Wa Gyuto sold by Japanese Natural Stones for $190.74 is one (http://www.japanesenaturalstones.com/itinomonn-kurouchi-nashiji-240mm-wa-gyuto/) and the Tanaka damascus aogami 240 wa gyuto at $138 is another, when it comes back into stock (http://www.metalmaster-ww.com/product/33).

Rick

I made the mistake of recommending the Tojiro Shirogami to a prep cook a while back. I don't think you would like it. The edge retention is far worse than the Tojiro DP. Believe Rick when he says the cladding is 'very reactive' which will mean discolored onions and a very needy blade face. The handle is terrible.

I have had good experiences with the Suisin Virgin Carbon line, available at Korin.

Not to mention the poor geometry that comes with the Tojiro Shirogami (the ones I've handled) What does the pig say? Squeeeeee!!

I have a cheap Tojiro nakiri with the same steel, the fit&finish is not good, but if you have a set of stones and knows how to sharpen a knife, it's gonna be fun to sharpen it buy yourself, and round the spine & choil.

This steel can get much sharper than my swedish steel gyutos.

Thank you for the responses so far. Anyone have experience with this knife from bluewayjapan

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=380681764577&alt=web

I was wondering that too lobby

There seems to be 240mm Zakuri on ebay — also within your budget.

icanhaschzbrgr said:

There seems to be 240mm Zakuri on ebay — also within your budget.

Click to expand...

isin't that zakuri more than what Jon charges? jw

lobby said:

Thank you for the responses so far. Anyone have experience with this knife from bluewayjapan

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=380681764577&alt=web

Click to expand...

Always thought that was a cool looking knife, thick in the spine looks to have a nice grind on it. Have not seen any feedback on it though.

A coworker has the 180 deba from blueway in the same brand (Sakai Ichimonji-Kichikuni) Good service from blueway and he's very happy with the knife. The steel takes a great edge and is very unreactive with nice edge retention. I would expect the same with the wa gyuto and I'd love to handle one!

I had one of the blue steel wa gyutos and liked it a lot, maybe Len can chime in here?

Bump. Still looking for a knife, anyone have one for sale or have any other recommendations under $200?

Are you wanting more advise or for people to offer up used knives that they think may be of interest?

If it's the latter then a WTB thread in the classifieds would probably serve you better at this point.

I primarily want more advice on knives, as several mentioned are unavailable or out of stock. I can't make WTB because i'm too new here, so I'm inviting people to PM me if they have something that might interest me.

Anyone have experience with Itto-Ryu? Its on CKTG which I understand is kinda shunned here, but he has a 240 gyuto in white 2 for $160.

Either way, Just looking for more suggestions.