Help recommending workhorse gyuto

Hey all I need some help recommending a knife for a friend in a pro kitchen, I'm on my phone having issues with copying the questionnaire but I'll do my best

Location: Australia
Knife: gyuto
Orientation: Right handed
Handle: wa handle
Steel: stainless, semi stainless or special tool steel
Length: 240
Budget : $400 (postage included)

He is looking to replace a 240 laser as he doesn't like the stiction of the flat grind.
So a workhorse, thin behind the edge but thick at the spine with nice distal taper, Preferably flatter profile , food release is highly important to him. Not too concerned about ultimate sharpness, edge retention very important. He's a confident freehand sharpener. Knife to be an all round workhorse used on poly boards in a pro kitchen

I let him know it might be hard to find a wa handled knife that meets those specs, he said he's open to a western handle

When I first saw this I thought Itinomonn(sp?). Still do. I liked the one Knerd is passing around quite a bit. And it would leave some coin for a stone.

That's the western v2 version right? I also borrowed one recently great workhorse! although he is not interested in carbon at all even with stainless cladding.
I noticed there's a Itinomonn StainLess Kasumi 240mm Wa Gyuto which looks pretty good although at 165 g would Probobly be too light think he would prefer closer to 200g
Perhaps I should just email maxim
Any other ideas?

[video=youtube;0wHVJV5iEyk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wHVJV5iEyk[/video]

show him this; there's something freakishly awesome about being able to split a sweet potato with so much ease.

I thought it was a prerequisite for all Aussies to own Heijis, lol. Heiji is my "workhorse" for the time being.

Craig which one do you own? How do you like it as a workhorse? Kurouchi finish would help with stiction. Thicker spine knives with rough sides & tall chisel grind type bevels= less stiction.

tanaka ginsanko, and it's cheap. can use the savings to send it off to someone for some fit & finish work (plus initial thinning) and rehandle.

panda said:

tanaka ginsanko, and it's cheap. can use the savings to send it off to someone for some fit & finish work (plus initial thinning) and rehandle.

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Yeh that Tanaka is just what was talking about. It has a Ho wood D handle with Buff. Horn not bad & if guy is a good sharpener can do own thinning.

labor of love said:

I thought it was a prerequisite for all Aussies to own Heijis, lol. Heiji is my "workhorse" for the time being.

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I thought It was shigs.

rami_m said:

I thought It was shigs.

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Oh yeah...maybe youre right.

Thanks for the recommendations,
Although the itononmon "stainless" looks too light weight I'll check if maxim has any slightly heavier.
I've also sent an Email about a heiji.

Panda: the tanaka looks like a good option, i saw yours in an old thread, looked great! I could do the handle & spine/ choil. He would be fine to sort out the thinning.

I'll pass these 3 options onto him and see what he goes for.

Thanks for the help!