Blue vs white steels

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Darkhoek said:
As far as I know it is the other way around. White #1 is the purest of them all. White #2 is added some other components to make it easier to forge and maintain as a finished knife.

DarkHOeK
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Gator's chart confirms what the guy from giant cypress says - white #1 is made by adding additional carbon to white #2. Otherwise everything else looks the same. :what:



Here's where I'm at:

I'm playing catch-up with you guys and what you know, so I'm trying to learn what steels have what potential characteristics, what makers are making with which steels, and separate fact from fiction.

I agree that the maker and how he treats the steel and crafts the knife is more important than the steel itself.

I believe that any reasonably well-crafted Japanese knife made of any quality carbon or stainless steel can get more than sharp enough for any home or commercial kitchen use. What is important to me re: steel is edge retention. I'll take a more difficult steel to sharpen if it holds that edge longer. But what's more important than that is the design and fabrication of the knife.

In my experience so far:
  • white #2 is stupid easy to get stupid sharp, but doesn't stay stupid sharp for very long; chips easily.
  • VG-10 is also easy to get very sharp but looses it's sharpness quickly, but then maintains a medium level of keenness for a good period of use; no chipping issues so far for me.
  • AS is difficult for me to get stupid sharp, but holds whatever edge I can get it to very well; chips more easily than I expected.
  • SG2 is a very good balance of ease of sharpening, attainable sharpness and excellent edge retention; no chipping issues so far.
So far my favorite steels are AS and SG2 - I find they have similar character. But my favorite knife at the moment is my Yusuke white #2 270 gyuto because it's a laser, cuts well, and is a well made knife. I'll change my mind in a week or month or two... :Ooooh:
 
AS is better in Professional kitchen compare with White 2?
 
JBroida said:
depends on the knife... blue super can have much better edge retention, but it can also be more brittle
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Hi Jon, I'm currently compare the Kintaro AS with Hinoura White two, Hinoura is cost extra about 100 dollars, But i need something can hold the edge similar with my Takamura R2.
 
:p
McMan said:
Edge retention? What about Thread retention?!--this thread was last active in 2011 :upsidedownspin:[/QUOTE

I've been follow up the tread before i ask the question.. Last active 2011 is true
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Hey if you're going to necrobump a thread from the beginning of KKF time, not a bad choice.

Here's my take:
I prefer white for slicers and pure protein knives. I like blue for gyutos where edge retention is more important due to board contact. I prefer stainless, semistainless or softer carbons for knives that touch bones or lots of acid. But Jon's advice that different blacksmiths experience different steels in different ways goes for cooks and knives too.
You aren't going to use and sharpen knives like me. And no one else will use and sharpen like you. I haven't used either of those knives but generally AS will have better retention. But geometry and heat treat and how you use a knife will matter a lot too.
 
I'm looking for gyuto which do a lot of preps meats, veggies, sushi & chives, Looks like AS is better my choice, Thanks guys.

I'm very appreciate for sharing experience & knowledge.
 
I like Blue 1 & 2 both. Blue steel knives are just better for me than white steel knives.
 
For home cook -white

As a home cook, my knifes goes several Months without needing sharpening including white 1&2, so edge holding is unimportant, & sharpness is the only thing that matters to me, white gets noticibly sharper than blue.

Pro. Kitchen maybe opposite, edge holding may become higher priority,AS perhaps the way to go?
 
ma_sha1 said:
For home cook -white

As a home cook, my knifes goes several Months without needing sharpening including white 1&2, so edge holding is unimportant, & sharpness is the only thing that matters to me, white gets noticibly sharper than blue.

Pro. Kitchen maybe opposite, edge holding may become higher priority,AS perhaps the way to go?
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Yes, I'll go for AS for pro kitchen use.
 
adam92 said:
I'm looking for gyuto which do a lot of preps meats, veggies, sushi & chives, Looks like AS is better my choice, Thanks guys.

I'm very appreciate for sharing experience & knowledge.
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I like to suggest you to get a stainless gyuto for all the tasks that you mentioned. R2/SG2/SLD all is good choice.

Just my 2cents as a sushi chef.
 
slickmamba said:
how many necros have there been today?
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Lets remember 2011 shall we? The apple iphone vs samsung galaxy wars have just began (i4s vs Galaxy S2 that year), the first bitcoin bubble when it went from $1 to 38 (yeah a round of beers for all) then drop back to $2 (guess its time to sell), Taylor Swift won a Country Music Award, the newest movie was Pirates of the Carribean
 
bahamaroot i have found the exact opposite myself. so ymmv i guess. as with everything. i think blue is the far superior steel.
 
I actually cant tell the difference in sharpness white vs. blue YMMV
 
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