Australia pass around for workhorse gyuto

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First of all, thank you Mert for inviting me in this passaround. And I am so sorry for this very delayed review. What I going to do is comment on different aspects of the knife.

Background: I am no professional chef, just a home cook.
Gyutos that I owned: Mert 260mm blue 2 honyaki KS profile western handle, fernandez 210mm 52100 gyuto and Sakai Jikko Akatsuki "Dawn" 230mm white 2 gyuto

First impression: this is actually my second time using this knife. The first time that I saw this knife is in the Sydney knife show. I was impressed by the knife of how easy it fall through potato regardless of the weight and height of knife. I still have that feel in my hand every time I think of it. I am super happy that I have another chance to test it further.

At first I was afraid that it would be a little too big for home cook. And I have very very small hand. After using it to cook for several meals, the fear was gone. It is a very fun knife to work with.

Length: 280mm
Height at heel: 54mm ish which is a bit shorter than what Nemo reported
Balance: it is a very blade-heavy knife due the length and weight.

Profile: It is a all rounded workhorse. It is a joy to chop with by using the heel (learned that from Mert). The weight does make chopping so much easier. The belly toward the tip also allow it to rock cut easily, and the tip is low enough to do draw cut. The tip actually looks lower in real person than in the photo on page 1 of this thread. I like the profile of this knife a lot, it is very versatile. I actually prefer this profile than my blue 2 masamoto KS profile.

Steel: monosteel 52100, I didn't sharpen the knife on stone, I only strop it with my stropman strop white compound. It responds very with the strop. Just a few passes bring the edge back to petty sharp. On three finger test, the edge feels very smooth after stropping. It is able to put cut A4 paper very smoothly. It actually feel very similar to mert's blue 2 honyaki steel. I also found that the steel is slightly less reactive than blue 2 steel. It doesn't brown onions. It does have a solid feel to it when chopping.

Grind/geometry : Although it is the thickest knife among my other gyutos, it does go through potatoes, large carrots and sweet potatoes very nicely. It also performs very well on cutting onion horizontally. no wedging. Food release is very good.

All in all, it is a solid workhorse with all rounded blade profile and very nice edge geometry. Thanks again for the opportunity, Mert.

Lung
 
42537703 said:
First of all, thank you Mert for inviting me in this passaround. And I am so sorry for this very delayed review. What I going to do is comment on different aspects of the knife.

Background: I am no professional chef, just a home cook.
Gyutos that I owned: Mert 260mm blue 2 honyaki KS profile western handle, fernandez 210mm 52100 gyuto and Sakai Jikko Akatsuki "Dawn" 230mm white 2 gyuto

First impression: this is actually my second time using this knife. The first time that I saw this knife is in the Sydney knife show. I was impressed by the knife of how easy it fall through potato regardless of the weight and height of knife. I still have that feel in my hand every time I think of it. I am super happy that I have another chance to test it further.

At first I was afraid that it would be a little too big for home cook. And I have very very small hand. After using it to cook for several meals, the fear was gone. It is a very fun knife to work with.

Length: 280mm
Height at heel: 54mm ish which is a bit shorter than what Nemo reported
Balance: it is a very blade-heavy knife due the length and weight.

Profile: It is a all rounded workhorse. It is a joy to chop with by using the heel (learned that from Mert). The weight does make chopping so much easier. The belly toward the tip also allow it to rock cut easily, and the tip is low enough to do draw cut. The tip actually looks lower in real person than in the photo on page 1 of this thread. I like the profile of this knife a lot, it is very versatile. I actually prefer this profile than my blue 2 masamoto KS profile.

Steel: monosteel 52100, I didn't sharpen the knife on stone, I only strop it with my stropman strop white compound. It responds very with the strop. Just a few passes bring the edge back to petty sharp. On three finger test, the edge feels very smooth after stropping. It is able to put cut A4 paper very smoothly. It actually feel very similar to mert's blue 2 honyaki steel. I also found that the steel is slightly less reactive than blue 2 steel. It doesn't brown onions. It does have a solid feel to it when chopping.

Grind/geometry : Although it is the thickest knife among my other gyutos, it does go through potatoes, large carrots and sweet potatoes very nicely. It also performs very well on cutting onion horizontally. no wedging. Food release is very good.

All in all, it is a solid workhorse with all rounded blade profile and very nice edge geometry. Thanks again for the opportunity, Mert.

Lung
Click to expand...

Lung, sorry, but I think you miss measured... tis 58mm or there or there abouts. I just sent it off back to Mert today. Will right up my brief thoughts sometime soon... though only ended up having it for a week or so, and didn't get to have an extensive play with it..... but I can say... damn it is a great knife. I must have for any professional I would say.
 
I guess that I was too happy the day I received the knife and forget about how to use ruler properly.
 
I felt that the steel is little more forgiving and robust than honyaki blue 2 that I don't have to extreme cautious when chopping. The grind also allow better food release in chopping than push cutting. The steel, profile, grind and weight just make it a very good chopper.
 
Heads up to everyone, work is too slow for me to justify keeping this one, I have refinished the knife , thinned behind the edge , it is even thinner than first time I made it , I have changed the handle to higher grade handle in d shape made from padauk , African Blackwood ferrule and stainless spacer , once I glue the handle and put fresh makers mark on it will be going up for sale
 
How is the heft one it with the thinning Mert? Still a beast of a blade?
 
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