Konosuke FM 195 Nakiri W#1 quick review

[esoo]

Okay, so I've had this for a few months now, time for a quick review

Quick specs - 183x55, 218g balance about 5mm in front of the heel.

Flat profile with a raised tip suits my technique - I've never been comfortable with a nakiri with a raised tip and heel. At this weight, it works so much nicer than any lighter nakiri I've used - makes it easy to get a great rhythm going in either tap-chopping or push cutting.

I find the White 1 steel in this heads above what I had in a FM White 2 gyuto - very easy to sharpen and stays sharp longer than I experienced with the White 2. The white 2 in the gyuto was a pain in the *ss.

Fit and Finish is similar to any Kono that I've had. Finishing here is like the FMs. If there is any knock here about the finishing, it would be about the grind. Grind is a thin convex on the left side. Right side convex is a bit wonky - there is a thicker convex at the tip then at the heel. I haven't tried a polish so I don't know how uneven it really is. One of the best Kono handles I've had so far.

Bottom line - Favourite nakiri of all the ones I've tried so far.

 

[ModRQC]

Can we get a complementary choil shot?

 

[esoo]

Can we get a complementary choil shot?

Better late than never...

 

[ModRQC]

It’s a beautiful piece.

 

[esoo]

If there is any knock here about the finishing, it would be about the grind. Grind is a thin convex on the left side. Right side convex is a bit wonky - there is a thicker convex at the tip then at the heel. I haven't tried a polish so I don't know how uneven it really is. One of the best Kono handles I've had so far.

Been meaning to add this in for a while. The grind on this thing is very much preference to a right-hander. It's not that when used by a lefty it is bad, it just acts like more like a laser than what a knife of this weight should be like. The best way of saying this in a exageratted way, is that the left side is ground like an Ashi laser, while the right side gets the full convex treatment (nicely convexed up to about 75 percent up the knife, and then slightly thinner to help food release). I had noticed this at Christmas when trying to slice cucumbers and mushrooms and they just wanted to stay on the blade.

So it is the best nakiri I've used so far, and it would be near perfect if it was ground for a lefty instead of a righty.