Masahiro VC-anybody used the bolster less version?

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labor of love

labor of love

Cowboys from Hell
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I've been very interested in picking up a masahiro vc, now I've heard there's a bolsterless version, or rather masahiro makes a bolster less carbon gyuto which I'm hoping is the same thing as the reg VC but without bolster of course. Are they the same blade or different? I'm waiting to hear back from a vender about this but I was curious if anybody has used this knife.
Thanks.
 
i picked one up off ebay. $40 shipped 210 carbon bolsterless. rosewood handle maybe. nothing at all special. 90/10 convexed on one side. Best bang for buck i have ever spent.
 
0147387292bc6b1e166b98c386d1f49f025cabc7021745848578e19cd03e9fd2c9b605da.jpg
 
i have owned a handfull of masahiros and my personal two cents is that if you can manage the heavy grind biased, they are one of the best blades for buck. super consistent. The one that really peaks my interest is their 240 "wide carbon santoku" Masahiro is a bit below what i spend my money on these days, but as a chef who often works a hot line, i prefer to Fujiwara.

MH13026.jpg
 
from what i gather its over 60 mm tall. its probubly a disaster with sticktuitivness but, its cool looking.
 
labor of love said:
Wow. Move over forschner/victorinox! Thanks for the pic.
Click to expand...
I think these are pretty much the Japanese equivalent of Victorinox. Saw these kind of rosewood blades in a lot of the Japanese style butchering movies as well.

Their website isn't really clear whether it's the exact same steel as the VC. Vendors information has been conflicting; some call it carbon, some call it butchers steel, some call it semi-stainless. From the amazon reviews it looks to be carbon.

There are quite a few e-bay sellers that sell them, and always surprisingly cheap. Kinda wish I'd discovered these before buying my Carbonext. They look like a great entry knife / practise knife. They're even cheaper than the Fujiwara FKH.
 
soigne_west said:
i have owned a handfull of masahiros and my personal two cents is that if you can manage the heavy grind biased, they are one of the best blades for buck. super consistent. The one that really peaks my interest is their 240 "wide carbon santoku" Masahiro is a bit below what i spend my money on these days, but as a chef who often works a hot line, i prefer to Fujiwara.

MH13026.jpg
Click to expand...

I have one of these arriving soon. Hopefully tomorrow.
 
Jovidah said:
I think these are pretty much the Japanese equivalent of Victorinox. Saw these kind of rosewood blades in a lot of the Japanese style butchering movies as well.

Their website isn't really clear whether it's the exact same steel as the VC. Vendors information has been conflicting; some call it carbon, some call it butchers steel, some call it semi-stainless. From the amazon reviews it looks to be carbon.

There are quite a few e-bay sellers that sell them, and always surprisingly cheap. Kinda wish I'd discovered these before buying my Carbonext. They look like a great entry knife / practise knife. They're even cheaper than the Fujiwara FKH.
Click to expand...

I would compare these too the butchering blanks and sometimes often found carbon and semi stainless blanks you find around the market and that Jovidah spoke of. But at the bottom of that spectrum.. Mine I would honestly compare to 1095 with a good HT. nice stable petina that forms fast. No Rusting, no stench. heavily biased for a righty.
 
I don't know about the carbons, but the bolsterless stainless, is much inferior to the Pom handle bolster ones
 
After a bit of digging... it looks like they are not the same steel as the carbon line. The carbon line uses their proprietary ZCD-U blend with 1,05% carbon with some vanadium and tungsten thrown in. The cheap one uses 'Japanese steel' with 0,95% carbon. That could just be standard SK-4... or a billion other things.
Same hardness, HRC 58-59... but that's not necessarily saying much.

Also, they do make lefty's of the VC version with the bolster, but not of the cheap rosewood version.
 
Thats how i would describe mine, basic carbon... Definetely not semi stainless. It acts like 1084.
 
I have a stainless Masahiro MV (full tang western handle) 240 mm gyuto and it's 50 mm tall right on the dot. I think it's safe to assume the same of the VC as the designs and profiles look the same.
 
Yeah my 240 VC gyuto is 50mm tall.

The wide 240mm VC arrived today. 67mm tall. It's a big piece of steel.
 
soigne_west said:
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
Click to expand...

It is taller, thicker, heavier, and has a more curved edge profile compared to the gyuto. It has the Masahiro grind. It's flat on the left side. The right side is convex. More so than the gyuto. The factory edge is quite heavy duty. Already started thinning it. The gyuto was similar and needed some work OOTB. Can't really comment on performance. Need to give it a couple of weeks at work.

jNSI9CY.jpg
 
Are you sure your Masahiros are flat from the left side? Have you dragged the left side flat on a stone?
All of my gyutos, carbon and stainless , aren't!
They changed it?
Can you please drag the left side flat, back and forth, check the left side to see where are the marks of the stone and report back please?
 
Better yet, let if form some patina, so in case it touches the stone, you will be able to tell by the difference of the color easy
 
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