My First Japanese knife - Konosuke fujiyama gyuto

Hi, I just thought i'd share a few pictures of my new knife with fellow new comers to the greatness of Japanese knives. I received my 240mm Konosuke fujiyama gyuto a week ago from CKTG. Its made out of white #2 and I must say this thing if a work of art and a pretty sharp knife. Not used it much but its developed a pretty cool patina, it turned blue after I cut some raw chicken yesterday. Now that I've used a carbon a steel knife I think I'll be purchasing similar in future, most likely white #2 from konosuke, anyway enjoy these:



Choil shot, very polished:



Next to my Miyabi kaizen 210mm

Nice. I have butternut squash on my counter all the time, haha. You really need to get a new board though. Bamboo is probably the best "wood" to use if you want to rapidly deteriorate your edge.

Congrats on the new acquisition, and welcome to forum.

Congrats on the knife and welcome to the forum. Where in Glos are you?

Hey, been lurking around this forum for months just looking at all the usefull advice etc. tk59 as I'm quite new to this I wonder if you can enlighten me about bambo chopping boards as I never knew they were bad for the edge, I will eventually pick up a nice end grain board sometime. As for the squash I was using it for a stew, first time I've cut one up, didn't use the konosuke as I realised how tough they are. Thanks for the welcome, Tb I live in a little village between Gloucester centre and Newent, good to see a fellow Brit here.

Nice knife.
I had the exact same gyuto hanging out in my kitchen for a while. To be honest, it was one of the best performers I've used. Great first buy!
As for bamboo boards, the glue can be a killer on the edges. I have both a nice end-grain and a little edge-grain "sandwich" board, as I call it. A nice edge grain will be much kinder to your edges (I really like them and so do a few others), but and end-grain is like cutting in a kitten...wait, no...you know what I mean
Oh yeah, check out WillC's stuff. He's in UK and very talented from the looks of it.

JLH said:

Hey, been lurking around this forum for months just looking at all the usefull advice etc. tk59 as I'm quite new to this I wonder if you can enlighten me about bambo chopping boards as I never knew they were bad for the edge, I will eventually pick up a nice end grain board sometime. As for the squash I was using it for a stew, first time I've cut one up, didn't use the konosuke as I realised how tough they are. Thanks for the welcome, Tb I live in a little village between Gloucester centre and Newent, good to see a fellow Brit here.

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They use so much glue in the bamboo boards it makes it pretty rough on your edge.

Hey thanks for telling me, I never knew. Shame, I kinda liked it, this is going to be a hard one to explain to the gf, why I need to spend money on another board, she nearly killed me for the amount I have spent on this knife lol

JLH said:

I live in a little village between Gloucester centre and Newent, good to see a fellow Brit here.

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ah cool, I grew up in longlevens and had friends out in Tibberton which is in the Newent direction.
For cutting boards ask WillC where he got his slab of applewood from, he's up in Hereford and it makes a decent cutting board, think it was quite reasonable too.

Sorry for the ignorance, but is the Fujiyama thicker than the standard white 2 gyuto ? Or is the same but with a diferent profile?

Hey funny you should say that I do live in tibberton, opp the school how much do will's boards cost? dbesed from what I've heard the Fujiyama is slightly thicker but still pretty thin but I wouldn't know for sure how much thicker.

Bamboo has a lot of what amounts to sand in it. I saw Judd kill a fine edge on a bamboo board in literally a couple of minutes. If you're gentle and you put a toothier edge on your knife, it will hold up better.

@dbesed: The Fujiyama line bears no relation to the "standard" line other than the name of the company that pays for them to get made and distributes them. If I recall correctly, these are somewhat heftier, forged knives.

JLH said:

how much do will's boards cost?

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I don't know that he makes them to sell, but you might ask him. He has his own subforum here:

http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/forumdisplay.php/78-Catcheside-Cutlery

I think people are commenting on his personal board, which I believe he made himself from wood found on his own property (though I could be imagining that last part).

ok I think I need a new board although I've got to use this one for awhile so I was wondering in the future if I was to get an end grain wood board what woods should I go with and what ones should I avoid (i already know bamboo is one of them). I also live in the UK so anyone know any good deals out there for around £20-£40?

From the Boardsmith website:

Which wood should I choose for my board? - The general rule of thumb is to choose wood from a tree with an edible running sap or edible nuts. Hard maple is the traditional wood used because of its very tight grain structure, weight and hardness. Oak is a very poor wood because of the open grain structure that will tend to trap food particles.

David (the Boardsmith) sells boards of maple, cherry, mahogany, and walnut. Any of these would be good choices.

+1 on the boardsmith boards.Not sure how much shipping to the U.K would be though..

Boardsmith is the long term solution and goal, but poly boards are a cheap and effective alternative.

I quoted the Boardsmith to answer the question about appropriate wood choices for boards. Not sure what the answer is with your budget in the UK, but I'm sure someone will have a good idea.

I'd probably go poly. I still use poly for some things.

Always thought bamboo was the way to go, but after reviewing these posts, I just ordered a board from Dave.

Mint427 said:

Always thought bamboo was the way to go, but after reviewing these posts, I just ordered a board from Dave.

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So did i until i posted this thread. I dont think importing would be a good thing due to the weight and import charges from outside the EU, the knife alone cost me a fair bit in charges. The boards on that site look amazing though. I've seen some on amazon made out of acacia, is that any good?

double post ..

WillC got his board from one of the markets he did, the guy he got it from may have some more, though not sure.
Take a look in TK maxx they usually have beech boards for cheap.

I'm talking about the apple board seen in this thread (which Will says he made himself):

http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/s...ascus-Petty-Suji?p=44386&viewfull=1#post44386

I have just started to get into japanese knives and am in the UK like you.
I got a couple of end grain maple boards of a company called woodetto in the UK.

They aren't up to the standards of the Boardsmiths boards but they are much better than most of the boards available to us in the UK.
I bought mine through amazon as well which makes things easier.
Im still trying to get the traditional butchers block company in leeds to make me a board but haven't had any luck so far as they are too busy with their commercial orders.

I'll go take a look, still finding it hard to convince my gf why I need another one

Take a look at this great value end grain board on ebay. I would go with the beech rather than iroko though.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/IROKO-End...pt=UK_Kitchen_Accessories&hash=item35b9266295

i was looking at them the other day, they look pretty good for the price