Japanese Knives Introducing Gesshin Kagero

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JBroida

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Introducing Gesshin Kagero... the first powdered steel knife in the Japanese Knife Imports lineup. Check out the sweet knife cases these guys come with.
http://www.japaneseknifeimports.com/gesshin-1/gesshin-kagero.html

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From the Product Description:
"Gesshin Kagero knives are constructed with a stainless powdered steel core and softer stainless cladding. They have very good edge retention and take a very good edge. These knives have a really nice distal taper, rounded spine and choil, and good edge geometry. They are not as brittle as some other powdered steels, such as SG1 or SG2, but have equal (and sometimes better edge retention). They are also pretty easy to sharpen.

Each Gesshin Kagero knife comes with a padded knife case for you to store and transport your knife. Please use some kind of edge guard or sheath inside of the padded knife case."

You can also buy the padded knife cases separately here:
http://www.japaneseknifeimports.com/other-items/knife-cases-bags.html
 
Is this a better version of the Ikeda/Akifusa/Artisan? If so, I dearly miss my Akifusa. I may need one of these as a replacement.
 
Nah, I'm betting it's that one we saw the preview of earlier. Is this the 30 HRC version or the 50? :D

Nice profile on them and I like the padded case.
 
Now that you have officially endorsed a PM knife :D I can't wait to have enough pennies to buy one.

-AJ
 
One of these would be pretty high on my list for next knife, except I don't like western handles. What is the grind like?
Please use some kind of edge guard or sheath inside of the padded knife case.
Will you have saya available for these at some point?
 
I don't know anything about powder steel knives...is there a primer somewhere?
 
Nice profile, nice distal taper, very cool lamination line. Great new addition, Jon.
 
One of these would be pretty high on my list for next knife, except I don't like western handles. What is the grind like?

Will you have saya available for these at some point?

i'll see if i can find a saya that fits... we've been getting in a few extra sayas here and there. However, for the time being, it just comes with a clear plastic sheath (like many knives do in the box). This is enough to protect it inside the padded cases they come in.

The sides of the knife have a gentle convexing to them and the knife itself is close-ish to 50/50. Totally fine for either right or left handed users. Its similar in a way to the gengetsu knives we carry... not too thick, not too thin, and so on.
 
I don't know anything about powder steel knives...is there a primer somewhere?

i talk a little bit about it in the video i put up. Here's the gist of it... powdered steels have more uniform grain structure and generally finer grain size given the composition of the steels. Many powdered steels tend to be pretty high carbon (for example sg1, sg2, and srs-15 are all about 1.5% carbon). Many also tend to have tungsten, vanadium, chromium, and other alloying elements that generally cause greater grain size, so the reduction in grain size becomes more relevant.

Powdered steels tend to take very keen edges and have great edge retention. Some can be very tough to sharpen, while other can be much easier. Most powdered steels have a tendency to "settle"... so, for example, lets say you sharpen a powdered steel knife to 100%. It may settle to 95% (even without you doing anything to it), but it stays there for a very long time.

So, the main point of powdered steels is great edge retention with very fine edges.
 
Yeah, i think it's the same OEM-knife but with a better finish, cause the original Akifusa is pretty rough all-round and not rounded.
The original Akifusa is a great performer but lacks in the fit & finish department, this looks like it's been refined quite well and as long as price hasn't been raised a whole lot, it should be a great knife.


I assume it's still SRS-15 Jon?


If it is as written above, these knives are a steal for the price and i love that padded case.
 
my diplomatic response:
I would prefer not to say what the steel is in this case. Its not really a secret, but so often people get really caught up with the steel and statistics on paper without really trying to understand the knife. I've used these knives and almost every other japanese kitchen knife sold out there, so when people ask about how the knife is, how the steel is, and how the heat treatment is, i am able to talk in depth about that.

also, incoming pm
 
i talk a little bit about it in the video i put up. Here's the gist of it... powdered steels have more uniform grain structure and generally finer grain size given the composition of the steels. Many powdered steels tend to be pretty high carbon (for example sg1, sg2, and srs-15 are all about 1.5% carbon). Many also tend to have tungsten, vanadium, chromium, and other alloying elements that generally cause greater grain size, so the reduction in grain size becomes more relevant.

Powdered steels tend to take very keen edges and have great edge retention. Some can be very tough to sharpen, while other can be much easier. Most powdered steels have a tendency to "settle"... so, for example, lets say you sharpen a powdered steel knife to 100%. It may settle to 95% (even without you doing anything to it), but it stays there for a very long time.

So, the main point of powdered steels is great edge retention with very fine edges.

I spent about 2 hours on google and only learned about 25% of this....thanks for the very informative reponse and the video too. :doublethumbsup:
 
The Gesshin Kagero Gyuto I recieved today is giving my Konosuke HD a run for its money. Jon, you did a great job developing this knife. I will post a full review after I give the knife a good workout.
 
The distal taper is awesome! it feels really great in the hand. I was really impressed just holding the knife, then I diced some onion and it got even better.
 
How tough are these, compared say to a kono hd?
 
A little less chip resistant, but with significantly better edge retention. Also, because of the grind, the heel is pretty stable... the tip is stupidly thin.
 
A little less chip resistant, but with significantly better edge retention. Also, because of the grind, the heel is pretty stable... the tip is stupidly thin.

Please forgive me...but for people with such deep sharpening skills, and such a love of using them...why would edge retention be so important? (Honest question.)
 
Please forgive me...but for people with such deep sharpening skills, and such a love of using them...why would edge retention be so important? (Honest question.)

If you're a professional chef you need it.
 
What kind of time scale are we talking about? 1, 2, 3, 7 days?

I usually go about 2 weeks with my HD. Edge retention is one of the most important things about knives I buy, and it is one of the reasons why I have moved away from using white #2 knives

I like the edge retention of the HD a lot so these Kageros sound great
 
These look awsome Jon! How do these compare to the hattori fh gyutos?
 
I usually go about 2 weeks with my HD. Edge retention is one of the most important things about knives I buy, and it is one of the reasons why I have moved away from using white #2 knives

I like the edge retention of the HD a lot so these Kageros sound great

That's 2 weeks of 4-6 hours of prep/day for 10 days? Sounds like quite a lot of product between sharpening sessions.
 
That's 2 weeks of 4-6 hours of prep/day for 10 days? Sounds like quite a lot of product between sharpening sessions.

Yeah I'd say that's about right. I'm nowhere near as OCD as some others about sharpening though. I'm sure some others could offer their own times between sharpening. I have a Niolox suji that lasts a lot longer than the HD, I could go a month between sharpenings with it
 
Yeah I'd say that's about right. I'm nowhere near as OCD as some others about sharpening though. I'm sure some others could offer their own times between sharpening. I have a Niolox suji that lasts a lot longer than the HD, I could go a month between sharpenings with it

Thanks for the perspective!
 
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