What to buy - 1st Carbon Knife

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Shinob1

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I am thinking that I want to try a carbon blade. I've been eyeing the Tojiro ITK blades since they are cheap and the reviews seem favorable.

I'm torn between the 120mm petty and the 165mm nakiri. I think that I need the petty moreso than a nakiri. There have been a few times where I would have liked a smaller knife and think that petty in white #2 could fit the bill.

I should mention that this knife will also be used for me to practice sharpening, so ease of sharpening and burr removal are important to me. My ideal budget is 50-75 tops with shipping.

Any advice is appreciated! :thumbsup:
 
Given the choice between a Tojiro ITK and my choice in this price range, a Yamawaku...well, yeah. You get what I'm saying.
The Tojiro gets nicely sharp and is stupidly thin, but there's a lot of flex in the blade and it's just a cheap knife...however, the Yama feels great in the hand, is sturdy, thin and wickedly sharp. Hands down, my choice in this price range!
 
Thanks for the tip. I'm googling that maker now to see what I can find. Do you guys think I should hit up our B/S/T? I know the budget is low on this purchase, but I don't want to spend too much in case I don't like carbon or I run into some sharpening issues as I'm learning.
 
I don't know what's not to like about carbon. Just keep a wet dish rag and another dry cotton rag handy when using a carbon knife. I give a quick wipe with each between each vegetable type, and after raw meat I use dish soap and a rinse, then wipe dry. It's a new habit to adopt, but it's not difficult or tedious. The pluses far outweigh the minuses.
 
I second the Yamawaku in that price range. Blows the Tojiro ITK away. The ITK is just a clunker and stupid thick behind the edge, where the Yamawaku is actually really thin. Much superior geometry. I feel like it gets sharper too. I bought the Nakiri then followed that with a 210 yanagiba and a 165 Deba. I think they're all great deals. I also own the ITK 120 Petty and just gave away my ITK 210 Gyuto.

My experience is a lot different than Lefty as far as the Tojiro it seems. Mine have had NO flex at all and are very thick.

Also, the Kurouchi is much much better on the Yamawaku. ITK is pretty bad looking IMO
 
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Sounds like a bit of inconsistency in the Tojiro grind, to me. Another good one to look at might be a Tanaka KU from Mark, or eBay.
 
....Any advice is appreciated! :thumbsup:

A different approach, and I'd ask you to clarify your budget, and your daily users.

If your daily user is a 240 gyuto, get a 'better' quality 240 from the B/S/T forum, and screw your budget. If you like the knife, then you're done with this purchase. If you don't, then a 240 gyuto is probably one of the easier items to re sell on B/S/T. If you purchase a super budget priced blade that no one else is interested in, and don't like it, it's not going to re-sell very easily...but if you did like carbon, then you'ld probably want to step up in quality, which means this purchase would kind of be a waste....
 
I have an almost new 180mm Konosuke nakiri in the semi-carbon HD steel that I'm willing to part with for not much more than your stated budget. PM me if you're interested.
 
I'd up your budget and go with a sakai yusuke white no.2 or ashi white no.2 from jon.
 
If you can tolerate a yo/western style handle, the Fujiwara FKH line is a great way to jump into the world of carbon knives at a really good price. That is what I started with and still use my FKH Gyuto daily. They don't create a burr very fast compared to higher quality (more expensive) carbon steels but the skills you develop sharpening it will really make you appreciate its' challenges as well as better knives as you progress down the road. By no means is it difficult to sharpen, it just isn't as easy as some of the really nicely heat treated carbon steels out there.

Regards,

Pete
 
What about a Watanabe? They do some pretty cheap smaller knives

Not trying to push it at all, but I absolutely love my Watanabe nakiri which was like $50. It was my first carbon blade and I still have it, with no intention of selling it. The handle is as basic as it gets, the ferrule came loose and moves around, etc....but after some tweaking and thinning, it takes a wicked edge and cuts extremely well. Sharpening and burr removal are as easy as any other steel...always felt like white#2 to me. Not a knife most would appreciate right off the bat, but one that grows on your over time.

There are many options either new or used that would fit the bill, but I think you need to decide what type of knife you want first: gyuto, nakiri, petty, etc.
 
Thanks all for the advice and comments so far. I should have said before, but my daily is a 210mm Yoshihiro in SKD 11 that I purchased from Jon. I still enjoy this knife and won't be looking to replace the Gyuto slot until later. I do realize at this budget I won't be buying anything that's fantastic, but I'm okay with spending this in order to see if I like carbon and to use for sharpening practice.

The reason for such a small budget is that I'm afraid I may not like carbon. I have read that people can taste carbon after preparing/cutting food, that it can have an odor, and the obvious rust issues from improper care. So I'd rather have less up front costs and worse case, I don't prepare much food with it, but use it as a blade for sharpening practice. If I fall in love with carbon, I'll end up keeping that knife and look into perhaps upgrading my Gyuto. What would really be great is if I could try a carbon knife for a couple of weeks. But I don't know if any foodies or knife junkies in my area, so I figure buying an inexpensive one is the next best route to go.

It seems like Watanabe, Fujiwara and some knives from Jon have made list to check out. Is the general consensus to stay away from the Tojiro altogether?

As for what kind of knife, I'm really open on that. However I don't want another gyuto for sure. My preference is a petty because they tend to be cheaper and I think I could benefit from a smaller knife. But if there was just a great deal on something else, I'd consider it.
 
I say buy an Old Hickory knife and play with it, since this is just to try out carbon steel at all. Then, when you see how fun and cool carbon steel is, you can buy a good knife!
 
for what its worth, the yoshihiro wa-gyuto is not SKD11... those ones are the santoku and nakiri... the wa-gyuto is a moly stainless... but nonetheless ;)
 
for what its worth, the yoshihiro wa-gyuto is not SKD11... those ones are the santoku and nakiri... the wa-gyuto is a moly stainless... but nonetheless ;)

Doh! I remember looking at that nakiri and reading SKD11 and mistook the wa-gyuto for SKD11 as well.
 
I agree the ITK finish is not so good. Korouchi is horrendous and the handle is as cheap ad it gets. I do feel the steel is nice and the geometry is decent. I have purchased many as gifts; they are by no means thin and flexible, infact rather thick at the spine with a decent convex grind....
 
I agree the ITK finish is not so good. Korouchi is horrendous...
Ok, how horrendous are we talking here? I've been eyeballing the $60 ITK 210 as my low-budget alternative, for times I just wanna hack some mold off the cheese and call it a day. It costs next to nothing for white steel and I don't mind doing some work to get it in shape--but if the KU is just gonna bleed black bits all over my food it might be a deal breaker.
 
Weird...when I bring my Tojiro Nakiri home from work to sharpen it up, I'll take a pic or two to show how easily it bends and show how crazy thin it is.
 
I may be one of the few that doesn't like the "rustic" look of kuro-uchi, so to me the Tojiro nakiri looks only somewhat less nice than the rest of the KU nakiris I've seen. I paid a little extra and got a kasumi-finished nakiri.
 
I don't know much about it, but if you've fancied a santoku, this looks to be a smaller version. Good price for blue 2 steel. If the F&F are anywhere near reasonable, it looks like a great way to try out carbon!
 
One of the guys at work has that knife. Takes and holds a fantastic edge. The boys at zakuri do nice things with blue steel.
 
Add to cart. :doublethumbsup: can't wait for it to get here.
 
How are their edges OOTB? I'm wondering when I get the knife to start at a 1k or a 5k when I sharpen it for the first time.
 
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