Cheap and Good Yanagiba for practice

Anyone suggestion for a cheap but usable yanagiba? Thinking about getting one that I wouldn't mind messing up for learning how to sharpen single bevels.

How cheap?

ThEoRy said:

How cheap?

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Been looking at Shimatani on MM's site, $150 for 270mm, $5 shipping. Around that or cheaper I guess.

pf out of quebec sells a sakai takayuki white 1 240 or 270 yanagi for about 115 CAD +shipping if I recall correctly. There are some tanaka ginsanko yanagi on ebay I believe as well in that price range. I have heard bad things about Tojiro's ITK not that those seem to be in the running for you anyway. Kanetsune makes alot of fairly cheap yanagi as well. Gekko might be another fan favourite to check out. I haven't bought any of these but have been shopping for the same knife, same purpose for some time. Good luck!

There are a couple of them on amazon japan that seem reasonable made out of blue steel...

This and get Jon to do the initial sharpening for you.

All things considered, too cheap=worthless.

http://www.japaneseknifeimports.com/gesshin-uraku-300mm-white-2-yanagiba.html

Never owned and the yanagi, own a sujihiki and deba.
Love the deba, I think it is a great price for the quality. Not sure what you are looking to spend, but I feel it's worth a look.

I owned a 300 Uraku. Great knife, esp at the price. Bought it to learn sb sharpening. Should have kept it. It's the only knife mentioned on this page that I would have.

What do you do with your new "But I saved $5" knife when the blade is bent or something else is hosed and it's got to go back to the vendor? Japan is a long way away... And it's not a cheap ride.

Shimatani hammered yanagiba from j-cutlery or metalmaster is a good one! I've owned it for 5 years. Under 100 USD but very nice to sharpen and holds a super edge, looks great too!

So many choices, looks like lots of people like the Gessin Uraku.

Also saw that this konosuke from Tosho. Since they are local, may be I should visit and take a look at the real thing.

There was a thread exactly like this not that long ago. Consensus was the Uraku was one of the best buys for the price, and it easily got the most recommendations for being an excellent value.

Hmm shipping the Uraku to Canada is only $3 via USPS. Not bad. Was expecting more.

I learned single bevel sharpening on an Uraku deba. They are extremely solid knives.

I own the Shimatani from MM and am pleased. The blade quality (straightness, grind, heat treat) is there but the finishing is kinda rough. Takes well to polishing but the hagane is h-a-r-d and can eat up many hours.

Cheers,

Rick

I got a tanaka white2 yanagiba recently and I can't say anything bad about it. I've always had 270in length so I wanted to try a longer length and didn't wanna spend too much on it incase the length doesn't work out. If i had to it again Id get the uraku as well.

Dubrdr20 said:

I got a tanaka white2 yanagiba recently and I can't say anything bad about it. I've always had 270in length so I wanted to try a longer length and didn't wanna spend too much on it incase the length doesn't work out. If i had to it again Id get the uraku as well.

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Wasn't aware that Tanaka made a white steel knife...curious where you found it?

chinacats said:

Wasn't aware that Tanaka made a white steel knife...curious where you found it?

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Oops it's blue paper steel. Sori a out misinformation.

Dubrdr20 said:

Oops it's blue paper steel. Sori a out misinformation.

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All good, love a Tanaka! Hope you enjoy it.