Carbonext for j-knife beginner?

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eternaldrake

eternaldrake

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Hey there, I'm looking to purchase my first quality knife after years of using cheap stamped blades. After doing quite some research I've settled on the Carbonext gyuto 240/270 along with a King 1k/6k stone, but I had one concern. There seems to be a pretty uniform consensus that the ootb edge/profile on the carbonext is horrible, even with the ES option JCK offers. I've never sharpened knives myself before, and I was wondering if I should invest in having the knife shipped somewhere to have it professionally sharpened then sent to me, or if I should try my hand at sharpening it myself. I'm a fairly competent person, I'm just worried it might be a bit big of a job for a sharpening scrub.


Also this is more of an aside but I was curious about your opinions on 240 vs 270mm, from a personal opinion standpoint. Leaning towards the 270 I think but just curious on what you guys might weigh in with.
 
well, you are buying some stones and a fairly inexpensive knife. If you are planning on using it and not collecting it, I see no reason why you shouldn't give it a go yourself and if you mess it up you can always send it out and have it fixed. remember you are never going to be good at sharpening if you never try and eventually that thing is going to get dull. if you are worried practice on the stamped ones first. This is one of the few places were you will find guys who will use and sharpen a three thousand dollar knife and scratch the hell out of it and not worry to much, because it's a working knife to them. they can always fix it later and if they can't someone else here will. good luck
 
First of all, welcome aboard.

The CN is a great value and a very good knife to start off with. You'll probably be disappointed in some of your acquisitions that cost 2x or 3x as much.
I got mine a couple of months ago and I was fully prepared to have a blunt hacksaw of an edge. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it came with a pretty good edge, not great mind you, but certainly serviceable. That was with the normal version, not ES.
Maybe that just means I have really low standards, or they have received so much feedback about their OOTB edges they improved them. 240/270 is kind of a toss up. As a home chef there isn't really a huge benefit to having a 270, but if that's your gut feeling; go for it.
 
welcome

i will try to explain, excuse my english. its early in the morning :)

some of the chef students at work, are using Carbonext knives in a pro kitchen, we are all using Gyuto 240mm. the size fits most tasks, i have a couple of 270mm Gyutos, but i always grab for the 240mm or a 210mm. the Carbonext is a good introduction knife, easy to sharpen so i would suggest you to sharpen it yourself, that way you can practise on the little more cheap alternative before you start to buy more expensive ones :D because you will. trust me.

i have CN Gyuto 240mm, Suji 270mm and they are great for the price, gets dull pretty quick, atleast in a pro kitchen. but easy to use.

for your question: the size is up to you, like you i was looking for 270mm Gyutos, but i always reach after the smaler ones, i would say its easier to start with smaller knives, and if you think thats not enough go bigger, and for sharpening, try it out yourself, im sure there is a lot of realy good sharpeners here :) but that way you wont practise and have no use for the stone :D so give it a try.
 
DK chef said:
welcome

i will try to explain, excuse my english. its early in the morning :)

some of the chef students at work, are using Carbonext knives in a pro kitchen, we are all using Gyuto 240mm. the size fits most tasks, i have a couple of 270mm Gyutos, but i always grab for the 240mm or a 210mm. the Carbonext is a good introduction knife, easy to sharpen so i would suggest you to sharpen it yourself, that way you can practise on the little more cheap alternative before you start to buy more expensive ones :D because you will. trust me.

i have CN Gyuto 240mm, Suji 270mm and they are great for the price, gets dull pretty quick, atleast in a pro kitchen. but easy to use.

for your question: the size is up to you, like you i was looking for 270mm Gyutos, but i always reach after the smaler ones, i would say its easier to start with smaller knives, and if you think thats not enough go bigger, and for sharpening, try it out yourself, im sure there is a lot of realy good sharpeners here :) but that way you wont practise and have no use for the stone :D so give it a try.
Click to expand...

Your point about moving up to bigger sizes is a good one, I think I'll go with the 240 and see where things go from here.


I appreciate the insights you guys, gonna place an order for a 240mm Carbonext Gyuto and a 1k/6k King stone and see how things go.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
eternaldrake said:
Your point about moving up to bigger sizes is a good one, I think I'll go with the 240 and see where things go from here.



My apologies, its late here and I sorta hammered out this thread without too much proper thought.


I appreciate the insights you guys, gonna place an order for a 240mm Carbonext Gyuto and a 1k/6k King stone and see how things go.
Click to expand...

sounds good, there are so many great users here you can ask, and you will quick learn how to sharpen, search the forum and you will find tons of videos and advice.
 
I think a 240 CN is a great choice. The edge is decent. I would recommend you use it, as is and then work on sharpening. I would start with the 6k stone and a marker and work on getting your bevels consistent and then go to a 1k stone whenever you're comfortable with your consistency.
 
I bought one knife with the Extra Sharp option and later another one without that option for a friend. The regular knife had a 50/50 bevel with perhaps 15 deg angle each side (I didn't measure though). The ES option had an 80/20 edge and a much more acute angle. None of the edges were refined and both "required" sharpening OOTB. Despite this I was sort of glad I bought the ES option for my first knife though. I don't think I would have had the guts to thin out the knife and change the bevel otherwise, there was quite a difference.

So... Don't by the ES for the extra sharpness but you could consider it just for the extra assistance setting the angles.
 
eternaldrake said:
There seems to be a pretty uniform consensus that the ootb edge/profile on the carbonext is horrible, even with the ES option JCK offers.
Click to expand...

Welcome!
I've only seen that sort of broad statement about the CN on one other forum and there are those there who work for another vendor. The fanboyism gets more than a bit carried away there at times. The real clincher is that if you know the forum I'm talking about those who post that openly admit they have no first hand experience dealing with JCK.
I've had nothing but positive experiences with Koki.
I wouldn't put a lot of thought into OOB sharpness as your going to have to sharpen any knife eventually.
I agree with the others here the CN is a good first stop so enjoy your purchase and the learning process.
You can add longer and shorter blades in the future but 240mm is a nice median length.



Dave
 
Duckfat said:
Welcome!
I've only seen that sort of broad statement about the CN on one other forum and there are those there who work for another vendor. The fanboyism gets more than a bit carried away there at times. The real clincher is that if you know the forum I'm talking about those who post that openly admit they have no first hand experience dealing with JCK.
I've had nothing but positive experiences with Koki.
I wouldn't put a lot of thought into OOB sharpness as your going to have to sharpen any knife eventually.
I agree with the others here the CN is a good first stop so enjoy your purchase and the learning process.
You can add longer and shorter blades in the future but 240mm is a nice median length.



Dave
Click to expand...

i can only agree about the experience with Koki and JCK, he was the first one i bought japanese kitchen knives from. great customer service.
 
if you worried about the setting the edge and want to see what the how sharp the knife is capable of becoming, send it to Dave Martell at Japanese Knife Sharpening. He will set the bevels and get it crazy sharp. I believe he's active on this board too. I think he's even got a subforum here.
 
Great knife, you will enjoy it, the edge is servicable, but could use a tune up. Dont bother getting the ES option, there is no difference. For me the CN responded really well to the stones, it would be a good knife to hone your sharpening prowess.

Enjoy, and welcome to THE forum.
 
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