Custom Profile Honyaki Gyuto, Kenji Togashi/Tosa, from K&S - Initial impressions

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khashy

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I thought it might be a good idea to shine some light on the new custom profile honyaki gyutos that Knives and Stones have made available from the collaboration with Sakai Takayuki.

IiQISKo.jpg


Please excuse the background...

I candidly dubbed this knife ‘TheJames’ when it was being made, as I knew that James was involved in the design of the profile in every stage and I think the name kind of stuck! Of course the official name is Shinko white flame.

These gyutos are forged by Kenji Togashi and sharpened by Tosa-san. I’m pretty sure neither craftsman needs introductions but I’m sure James can step in and provide any info required about them.

The gyutos are made in Blue#1 and White#2 steels. I was lucky enough to get my hands on the Syousin bluefrost Blue#1 honyaki gyuto that K&S stocked some time ago, therefore decided to get the new custom profile gyuto in white#2. I believe this is the first one that K&S have shipped :doublethumbsup:

I have only had it for a day so have not had a chance to cut anything with it, therefore everything you are reading is based on visual assessment of the knife.


Initial Impressions

Well, what can I say, I’m a sucker for a nice hamon and this certainly has one. The white#2 blade comes with a frosty finish (whereas I believe the Blue#1 is mirror polished) and the hamon certainly stands out.

James was also kind enough to allow me to pick my own handle and I ended up going for the Ringed Gidgee with horn cap and ferrule and three Nickle Silver spacers. It’s not a cheap handle by any measures but I think it really works for a knife of this caliber.
Besides the hamon and the handle, the next thing that hit me was the profile. I had seen photos of it before but it’s actually different in real life to what I had imagined. In the photos it came across as almost a funayuki to me, however it isn’t.

The profile is actually really well thought out and subsequently beautifully executed. The 240 gyuto's blade runs long and that’s a good thing. This has allowed for a beautifully generous flat spot of the cutting edge and still enough curve to allow rocking. Personally I do not rock cut at all, rather chop or push cut, therefore the flat makes a world of difference to me.

Then there is the tip - oh god that tip....

I spent a good bit of time examining this last night (to the displeasure of my wife I might add) and I think this tip is utterly brilliant. I like a long pointy tip and this certainly ticks the box. The difference being how it has dropped a tad more than the previous profile. I'm casting my mind back to all the gyutos I have used where I wished that the tip would be ever so slightly lower, so imagine my delight when I saw this! I tried to take a couple of photos to demonstrate this.

sKOLDAC.jpg


All blades in the photo above are forged by Togashi-san and sharpened by Tosa-san.

From left to right you have 270mm Blue#2 honyaki gyuto (this is an absolute beast from Carbon Knife Co, which deserves its own review, which I will do separately), TheJames White#2 honyaki gyuto, Syousin bluefrost Blue#1 honyaki gyuto.

As I said the ones that are comparable are the two on the right, the 270mm Blue#2 is just a separate category.

As you can see the new profile is a beast! It was too late for me to take any measurements last night. I will do so tonight and update this thread. Visually, the new knife is slightly thinner that the Blue#1 and both have a nice distal taper. The new knife is definitely taller than the Blue#1 and the Blue#1 was a beautifully tall gyuto.

V8dfnmi.jpg


They are both substantial knives, partly because of the handles, which for me, is a positive - I like the power that comes with it! Neither blade feels like it needs to be ‘babied’ in any way shape or form.

There is zero flex and it feels super confident.

The choil is polished and actually shaped really nicely. The one thing that I did notice however was that the new gyuto’s spine was not rounded like the Blue#1 was. I have since confirmed with James that going forward, they will be rounded. As it is, it’s by no means uncomfortable - it’ll be even nicer when it has been rounded.

I have been fortunate enough to have been able to handle a good few gyutos and I have said time and again that the Syousin bluefrost was one top3 cutter for me - Ever. This I think the Shinko white flame could potentially be even better.

I can’t wait to start using it – James was kind enough to sharpen it for me on his uber stones, so it’s ready to go...

I think it’s also worth mentioning that I offered to send James my review/initial impressions before posting on KKF. His response was that the review is my personal opinion and that I should go ahead and post it without sending it to him – Thanks you James.

I’ll have more details as soon as I get some time from family duties.
 
An amazing collection - wow! (Off topic - how did you pull off the first shot of the knife balanced on its tip?)

Thanks, they're great knives.

The knife in the first photo is on a single stem magnetic stand. The blade sits on the magnet such that it covers the stem itself when you look at it head on.
 
Thanks, they're great knives.

The knife in the first photo is on a single stem magnetic stand. The blade sits on the magnet such that it covers the stem itself when you look at it head on.

Why the blurry outline when zoomed in?
 
Photoshop or similar... Zoom in and look at the knife's outline.

The knife's outline looks like that because of iPhone's post processing the image when in Portrait mode.

The post processing 'enhances' the bokeh and in order to do this, it needs to identify the outline of the subject in focus, which is what you see happening there.
 
Thanks Khashy, I loved the profile at first sight, now with blades for reference I love it even more!
 
Thanks Khashy, I loved the profile at first sight, now with blades for reference I love it even more!

Glad you found it useful.

I'll get the dimensions for everything so that you can tie it back to the image and get a better feel for the profile and the knife in general
 
Buddy, unreal collection there.
Any grid difference between the Syousin blue frost Blue#1 and "theJames" versions?
do all three have the same coil/spine rounding/easing?
 
Does the 270 have a hamon? I know it’s less pronounced on blue steel Honyakis.
 
Buddy, unreal collection there.
Any grid difference between the Syousin blue frost Blue#1 and "theJames" versions?
do all three have the same coil/spine rounding/easing?

No grind difference that I can tell from the choil. Honestly I’m splitting hairs but if I had to find a difference, I’d say theJames is ever so slightly thinner ground. But this difference is so slight that it could just be these two particular knives. So for all intents and purposes, same excellent Tosa grind on both.

All three have the same choil rounding. The two blue ones are polished and the white has a frosty finish on the choil to go with the actual blade finish.

Like I mentioned in the text above, the spine of theJames will be rounded going forward but on my one is not as rounded as the blues
 
Does the 270 have a hamon? I know it’s less pronounced on blue steel Honyakis.

This one is a perfect mirror finish and also because I have just received it and not had a chance to use it, still has the protective lacquer on it. Therefore the hamon is invisible.

However the hamon would be the same as the knife in the photo in this thread where you can see what the hamon looks like. Well partially.

http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/showthread.php/35765-Alloy-Banding

This thing is an unbelievable beast...
 
Here are the measurements:

Cutting edge length: 245mm

Height at heel: 56mm

Spine at handle: 3.41mm

Spine at heel: 3.4mm

Spine half way along the blade: 2.6mm

Spine 5cm from tip: 2.2mm

Spine 2.5cm from tip: 1.63mm

Spine 1.5cm from tip: 1.17mm

I think the weight measurement is kind of irrelevant as it will be massively influenced by the handle choice
 
Yeah that's pretty damn fit. I reckon I'd really like that lower tip in usage.

To put the tip into perspective, if I hold both the Syousin bluefrost and theJames with the flat spots entirely against the board, the tip of the bluefrost stands 23.7mm above the board where as theJames will be at 16.3mm above the board.

I guess it depends on each person’s cutting style but for me that 7mm or so in conjunction with the extra height makes a world of difference.

I think what I’m saying is that I absolutely love this new profile.
 
Great write up khashy. This ticks so many boxes for me and I’d be super keen to bear your 270 thoughts
 
Great write up khashy. This ticks so many boxes for me and I’d be super keen to bear your 270 thoughts

Thank you @Badgertooth - means a lot coming from you.

I’m holding back writing about the 270 until I have used it in anger, so please bear with me as I try to find a bit of peace and quite to cut stuff now that my beloved inlaws are here...
 
Thanks so much khash, interesting read! I will post something about the blue one ones it has arrived!
 
Damn nice profile and I too am a fan of the dropped tip for a flatter profile. Man, I have got to get you to try the Denka, such a similar profile... but less lively on the boards compared to the honyaki!
 
well, you and your TF love fest... clearly you are love struck.. I believe he was refering to the lack there of on the Denka's part.
The Denka has a deathly thud compared to the honyaki. That said, it just performs! Lazer with heft if you get a western handled one!
 
I believe monosteels in general feel so much better than clad knives...and yes, the tone is much better as well.
 
well, you and your TF love fest... clearly you are love struck.. I believe he was refering to the lack there of on the Denka's part.

it's a different kind of ring :D the ring of death!
 
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