Japanese Knives Introducing Gesshin Kagero

[Chefdog]

I just bought one after using a coworkers and it's a great knife. Honestly, this is my new goto western @ $200 knife recommendation. Steel takes a great edge and holds it very well. Edge retention pretty much is the most important thing to me, and the Kagero delivers. The knife made prep fun again, in what feels like years. Spine and choil are nicely rounded. Handle F&F could be a bit more polished. But in all, freakin' fantastic knife. And this is coming from a carbon guy. Just traded away my Masamoto KS to pick this up.

I'll put up some pics and more detailed impressions once I work with it for a while. Can't wait to get the thing

Thanks again, JKI!

Jay,
I know it hasn't been too long, but would you mind telling us your initial thoughts on your new gyuto?

 

[Chefdog]

I received my gesshin Kagero gyuto today and got to do a little work with it. My initial impression was that the profile was much more streamlined than I expected from the pictures. I thought it was going to be a little more sheepsfooted, ala masamoto, but in person it's more pointy, almost a little sabatier-like, which suits me fine. It definitely feels sturdy and has a good weight while feeling agile and capable of precision and finesse. Finish is nice, not perfect, but very good. The handle seems a bit narrow, but I rarely really pay attention to hadles after a couple days adjustment.
The tip is nice and thin, and the grind seems to be slightly convexed and even. Ill have to put an edge on it tomorrow, and fix the tip, since I nicked a 1/9 pan and lost a mm or so w/in the first 1/2 hour!!
The padded case is a neat addition, way better than the regular cardboard box, and more useful for me than a saya.
Ill add some more thoughts when I get to do some real work with it and get to sharpen it.

And as usual, service from JKI was great. Jon answered several questions over the phone and actually called me back when he got a little busy with customers in the store, which was beyond what you'd get from 99% of businesses these days.

 

[Chefdog]

I sharpened this knife last night and I have to say that i was totally shocked at how easily it took an edge. From what Ive heard about the edge retention, i was expecting to put in some work to create a burr and then wear it down. Starting on JNS 1K stone i was literally able to pull a burr in less than a minute :dazed:
If i was blindfolded and handed this knife to sharpen, i would've guessed it was carbon, it was that easy. I'm not sure if this was due to slightly weakened steel at the edge after the heat treating & grinding at the factory, or if its just the way it is:scratchhead: Was able to pull a burr with a Rika following that, and then a quick strop on felt, and it had a clean shaving edge in under 10 minutes. Cool. Now i just need to put in some time and see how I like the short/slender profile, and adjust to the slightly small and squarish handle.

 

[Sara@JKI]

Chefdog-
So glad that the knife got there safely and that it seems the knife is working out well for you. We spent a lot of time developing Gesshin Kagero knives and I'm really happy to see our effort paid off