Favorite Ginsan gyuto?

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mattador

mattador

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I'm looking at trying some Ginsan-ko and was wondering what is everyone's favorite interpretation of the steel.
 
Sakai Takayuki Ginsan gyuto, no competition, nothing comes close. Dammy and non-dammy are exactly the same btw in terms of profile and grind. I genuinely do not think anyone does ginsan better than Mr.Yamatsuka.
 
khashy said:
Sakai Takayuki Ginsan gyuto, no competition, nothing comes close. Dammy and non-dammy are exactly the same btw in terms of profile and grind. I genuinely do not think anyone does ginsan better than Mr.Yamatsuka.
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for what its worth, Yamatsuka-san does work for a wide variety of companies... not just sakai takayuki
 
I only have a Sukenari Ginsan ... I like it. Thinned the blade though and its really nice. Still prefer R2 as a stainless, fits into the categories of what i find valuable and like more.
One small gripe i have with Ginsan I *?think?* *?Feel?* its Unit weight is slightly lower than some other steels (PM/HSPS/Tool/Carbon). Maybe because its easier to sharpen it has the feeling of having less density, though its a feeling i dont get with white, but i do with swedish steel/AEB-L ---- Hopefully Jon just says I'm a nutcase.
 
khashy said:
Sakai Takayuki Ginsan gyuto, no competition, nothing comes close. Dammy and non-dammy are exactly the same btw in terms of profile and grind. I genuinely do not think anyone does ginsan better than Mr.Yamatsuka.
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I love these Gyutos. They are convex grinds workhorse like. Mr Tosa is the sharpener.

Mr Yamatsuka does a very nice Ginsan for knives and stones that has a different sharpener and wide bevels in place of the convex grind. Syousin sacura.
 
Barmoley said:
Yes. Also G3, gingami 3, gin 3, silver 3 sometimes.
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Oh ok,in that case,I most recently bought the En Ginsanko in 210 mm from JKI. I like using it so much that I just ordered the En Ginsanko in 240 mm from them as well.I'll get to see it on Friday.Dog gone nice knife.I haven't had it long enough to speak to anything like edge retention or sharpening. I am still cutting with the out of box edge etc.
 
Great. Could you tell us more once you use this and the 240. Jon described it a little, said the tip is really thin. How's the food release, balance, etc. Does the tip feel fragile or just thin?
 
I'd been thinking about the En, seems a very good price. I do like ginsanko, only gyuto I have in that steel is a Tanaka, which is very good.

Grunt173 said:
Oh ok,in that case,I most recently bought the En Ginsanko in 210 mm from JKI. I like using it so much that I just ordered the En Ginsanko in 240 mm from them as well.I'll get to see it on Friday.Dog gone nice knife.I haven't had it long enough to speak to anything like edge retention or sharpening. I am still cutting with the out of box edge etc.
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khashy said:
Sakai Takayuki Ginsan gyuto, no competition, nothing comes close. Dammy and non-dammy are exactly the same btw in terms of profile and grind. I genuinely do not think anyone does ginsan better than Mr.Yamatsuka.
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Those knives look really nice, especially the profile. Maybe I’ll throw out a feeler on BST for one because I can’t justify paying 4-500 on a 210mm.
 
mattador said:
How pronounced is the wide bevel?
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we have a new sharpening professional doing the ginsanko series right now, and the wide bevels are quite nice... much nicer than before, where they were more extremely hollow ground. Also, the spine and choil rounding/faceting is much nicer on the ginsanko series now too. I think we have updated pictures on the website.
 
JBroida said:
we have a new sharpening professional doing the ginsanko series right now, and the wide bevels are quite nice... much nicer than before, where they were more extremely hollow ground. Also, the spine and choil rounding/faceting is much nicer on the ginsanko series now too. I think we have updated pictures on the website.
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I have one of your heiji gyutos, how would it compare to that? The knives look amazing but I’m trying to avoid overlap in my kit.
 
mattador said:
I have one of your heiji gyutos, how would it compare to that? The knives look amazing but I’m trying to avoid overlap in my kit.
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very different... much wider bevels, thinner at the spine and behind the edge. But the biggest difference is generally the mid-section thickness. the fit and finish is also MUCH better. The heiji knives are a bit rustic, while the gesshin kagekiyo are the polor opposite. The heiji bevels are flatter though. Of course there are obvious steel differences too. Very different knives.
 
@Choppin Konosuke Ginsan has two varieties now- the 'old' Fujiyama Ginsan (which I don't believe is in production anymore) and the 'MM Ginsan'.

The older Fujiyama was the standard Fujiyama design- wide bevel, rounded spine and choil, though more prone to being undersized [220mm for some listed as 240. Usually not as tall, too]. Had a little more geometry to it.
The MM Ginsans are much thinner throughout; akin to an HD2. But with that, they're more true-to-size; longer on the edge, and taller at the heel.

Both good knives, for sure! But just different now.
 
MM Ginsanko is a good knife, but make sure you do your homework on what you are getting.
 
My favorite is definitely takayuki ginsan. I have the non dammy 240. It's not just my favorite ginsan but easily one of my favorite knives I've used.
 
I just received a forged sukenari ginsan 270 gyuto from BST and my initial impressions are very positive. It is a true workhorse, solid spine and thin edge with all the rounding of the choil etc. Tanaka ginsan is good but this thing is even more solid (even more so than my old yoshikane skd that I had regretted selling for a long time). I'm pretty excited to put a decent edge on it and see how she goes but so far I feel like I miss my Yoshi less. I was starting to consider going to laser territory again but this was a firm reminder of where my preferences lie for a gyuto. I haven't used the higher end stuff from sakai takayuki or konosuke and the like to compare but I cant imagine this being that far behind (minus the wide bevel).
 
 
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