Mighty Gyuto for ~ $200 Ideas?

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James

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I have the knife itch again and find myself wanting a mighty gyuto to complement my TKC. I'm really leaning towards the Takagi at JWW, but the A-type seems nice as well.

So A-type vs Takagi Honyaki; what do you guys think? Also open to other suggestions.

Might as well fill this out now so you guys can help me a bit.

What type of knife(s) do you think you want? 240 mm gyuto that's on the mightier side.

Why is it being purchased? What, if anything, are you replacing? Complement TKC and heck, I just want another knife

What do you like and dislike about these qualities of your knives already?
Aesthetics- pretty is nice, but not necessary
Edge Quality/Retention-preferably pretty good
Ease of Use-as long as it has some straight section, I'll be ok
Comfort-I like the spine+choil smoothed, but I can do this myself; I don't mind handles that are blockier

What grip do you use? Pinch

What kind of cutting motion do you use? Push cut+rock chop for herbs

Where do you store them? On my cutting board although I should get a magnetic knife strip for my dorm room; they do have edge guards on though.

Have you ever oiled a handle?Yes

What kind of cutting board(s) do you use? end grain

For edge maintenance, do you use a strop, honing rod, pull through/other, or nothing? I just strop it on my stone.

Have they ever been sharpened? Yes

What is your budget? $250

What do you cook and how often? Veggie soups, assorted seared meats

Special requests(Country of origin/type of wood/etc)? Japanese knives are cool, but once again, open to suggestions
 
I live near JWW and regularly go there to look at Takagis. The fit and finish on them is so bad that I haven't been able to pull the trigger yet. As an example, last weekend I looked at a 240mm gyuto where the blade came out of the handle at about a 15 degree angle. It might be fixable, but I'll let someone else do it. If that kind of thing doesn't bother you, they're supposed to be good knives for the money.
 
I just got a Yoshikane Gyuto 240 mm with the hammered finish. Costs $259.00 at Epicurean Edge. It is beautiful, flawless, and a dream to use. That's my two cents.

Cheers,

Jack
 
Tanaka Ginsanko gets my vote. F+F issues to be sure, but with the money you save you get buy sand paper and still have enough left over to be most of the way to a pimp handle upgrade.

Edit: Oh, or a Zakuri! Things a tank and has no major F+F issues. Cuts great too!
 
Ahhh too bad the Zakuri isn't in stock. I'll check out the yoshi, ginsanko and artisan/akifusa. I heard that the akifusa has a wimpy handle though ;) and @wsfarrel, I would prob get a rehandle on that thing down the line; not too fond of the plastic ferrule
 
My initial thought was A-type unless you're left-handed, lol. It isn't a beast mainly because it's short heel to spine @ ~45mm and comes with a very light handle. One thing to keep in mind is I've seen some that are downright thin. Mine was fairly chunky (and still is a little after I put a very large convex bevel up the front side of the blade. There's a used 270mm Yoshikane on sale at KF that I'm thinking about getting myself. Now there is a real BEAST. I'd also consider Yoshihiro, if you don't mind stainless. It isn't the heftiest knife but it ain't no laser, either.
 
ahhh I would love to get the A-type; I'll see what I decide a bit later on. A member at KF pmed me offering to sell his and I'll look at some pics first. The takagi had a glowing review at KF as well
 
The 240 Takagi is the most sturdy gyuto I own - it is shown on the left with Stefan's handle, sharpened by Dave and on a Boardsmith board. Feels like I am using a serious knife :knife:

Son has an otb Yoshikane SKD - also sturdy and a favorite with his friends who barbecue and they ask to use that knife :knight:
 
If you buy an Aritsugu Type A get it from Mark at CKTG...he gets them professionally sharpened which is the ONLY way to buy a type A.... Trust me on this.
 
If you buy an Aritsugu Type A get it from Mark at CKTG...he gets them professionally sharpened which is the ONLY way to buy a type A.... Trust me on this.

I went that route and I was less than thrilled with the sharpening job.
 
If I were to get another A-Type, I would set my bevel with my Sigma Power Select-II #240 (which I did not have when I got my first taste of Gokinko-A). This stone is the "Mother of all Steel Removers". Before, I had to do it on my Chocera #400 and that took over an hour, IIRC.

My preferred progression for abrasive-resistant blades:
1. Sigma Power Select-II #240
2. Sigma Power (soft type) #1000
3. Suehiro Rika
4. Sigma Power 'Synthetic Renge Suita' #6000

^ All very fast-cutting stones.

Finish with Kitayama or Naniwa SS#10K. Or skip and go straight to sillicon carbide-loaded strop.
 
I love my Takagi,gets crazy sharp and stays that way.The one I received was not "might" which was fine by me.I can't say it has the greatest profile but that crazy sharp edge make up for it.
 
If you buy an Aritsugu Type A get it from Mark at CKTG...he gets them professionally sharpened which is the ONLY way to buy a type A.... Trust me on this.

I went that route and I was less than thrilled with the sharpening job.

+1 to 99Limited.

One of the main reasons my basically brand new A-type sees very little use is I have not gotten around to fixing the over ground and under ground sections in the "professional" sharpening and thinning job. Surfers dream of waves like this. Get fast cutting stone like some of the ones Seb suggested, and DIY it. Can't be any worse.
 
I have the Yoshi SKD 240mm, and it was my first Japanese knife -- I still use it a lot (although with my Konosuke Chuka newly arrived, it's getting less love these days). I don't find it very hard to sharpen -- I much prefer it to my Shuns (which feel like nails on a chalkboard to me), but it was a learning curve, for a while I couldn't get it very sharp and I think my problem was two-fold: 1) I went 50/50 with the bevel, the blade is ground 30/70, so stick with his angles; and 2) I think I was getting a little bit of that deburring issue, some rock felt took that problem away.

I also own a Takagi honyaki nakiri; this knife takes an absurdly sharp edge (the only knife I've gotten my noob sharpening skills to hair popping sharp -- I was so excited I showed my wife... who was less than impressed.. haha..), and I find it easier to sharpen than the SKD. It also patinas very nicely and isn't too reactive.

I think I would lean towards the Yoshi if you're looking for a mighty gyuto, mine is 4mm above the heel (but tapers nicely in the tip), and I've done some pretty intense thinning of the shoulders to get it preforming to my liking.
 
Just ordered the takagi! for some reason, the aesthetics of the yoshikane drove me away...not really too fond of that scalloped look. Thanks for all the help guys; I hope someone finds use in this topic later on
 
i have a Yoshi kitaegi v2, and if the SKD knife has the same or similar geometry, i would suggest that, as the Yoshi v2 is almost identical to my Shigefusa.
 
ahhh cool; maybe I'll go for it when the TKC needs an upgrade. I love the pattern on the yoshi kitaeji; only problem is that it may be a drawer queen if and when I do acquire one
 
Throughout this thread are we talking about the Yoshikane from JWW or the Yoshikane from Dr. Naka?
Because my Yoshikane from Dr. Naka is pretty thick at the heel but has a nice distal taper to it. No calipers around, but my 240 weighs in at 170 grams.
 
i got mine from aframes. just like the shig, it's thick at the spine over the heel, but has a sharp taper to the tip and to the edge.
 
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