Mazaki knives, maxims newest line

[valgard]

a video splitting that squash would be very informative, not so much a picture. I tried one 180 and while not a bad knife it was definitely not what I would want for hard veggies, on the other hand the release was great and the heft made it plough through soft stuff.

Been much busier at work. Put it through a decent amount of veg prep the past few days. Really enjoying this knife! I don't understand the earlier criticism.

No problems with tall hard veg.

 

[JDA_NC]

I've had a Mazaki 240mm for a few days.

Behind my Gesshin Uraku 210mm Usuba (260g), it's the heaviest knife I own clocking in at 256 grams. Definitely my heaviest gyuto by a good amount.

Here is my Usuba, left, and Mazaki, right, spine by spine:

The handle on the Mazaki is so light it almost feels like air (or you're holding the knife by the tang). I like that. Very blade-forward, the balance point on mine is around the third letter of kanji (from tip to heel) - near where the piece of squash is sitting in Sleep's picture.

Here's my attempt at a choil shot:

So far I've been extremely happy with it. Would I pick it for every single task in the kitchen? Hell no, but that's why we have multiple knives :laugh:

My interest was peaked because I wanted a thicker, heavier, "workhorse" knife and I haven't used or owned a Kato, Heiji, Toyama etc. I wanted something in full carbon, with wide bevels, to play around with and continue to practice my wide bevel/single bevel sharpening. I only push cut so the flat, drop-nose profile is really attractive to me. Food release is kind of that white whale for us lefties and while it's too soon to fully evaluate the knife, so far I have been really happy.

 

[labor of love]

256 grams is pretty mighty, my new 240mm heiji is 211 grams(though it's a thinner one, I think they're normally 220grams-ish, even my Toyama 240mm was 220grams. Glad you like it, looks like fun.

 

[Matus]

Thanks for the report!

 

[TheCaptain]

Slightly OT but kudos to Maksim for leaving not so positive reviews up. So many sites seem to only sell 5 star products.

😛

 

[Choppin]

Great review. While probably not the best all rounder, seems like a fun knive to try out. The 210 gyuto is now available too.

 

[milkbaby]

Mmmmm... would love to hear anybody who's done side by side with a Heiji

 

[naifu]

I received a Mazaki 240mm gyuto today; my initial impression is very positive, and I have a feeling this will become my favorite gyoto. I had planned on thinning it and using it to experiment with several different stones, but this knife has a perfect grind out of the box and it is *too nice* to mess with. The sharpness ootb is excellent, and the choil profile is thinner than what is shown in the photos at JNS. The F&F and grind is superb -- it exceeds Toyama in my opinion.

I will try to get some photos this week.

 

[labor of love]

Does yours weigh 256grams also? Does the steel seem like normal hrc 60-61 stuff or harder than that?

I received a Mazaki 240mm gyuto today; my initial impression is very positive, and I have a feeling this will become my favorite gyoto. I had planned on thinning it and using it to experiment with several different stones, but this knife has a perfect grind out of the box and it is *too nice* to mess with. The sharpness ootb is excellent, and the choil profile is thinner than what is shown in the photos at JNS. The F&F and grind is superb -- it exceeds Toyama in my opinion.

I will try to get some photos this week.

 

[naifu]

Does yours weigh 256grams also? Does the steel seem like normal hrc 60-61 stuff or harder than that?

248 grams. For comparison, my Toyama 240mm gyuto weighs 230 grams, and the Toyama 270 is 257 grams. I don't know about the hardness -- I just received it today and I have not used it much and I don't think I will need to sharpen it for a while. Does your Mizaki feel harder? If so, how did you determine that?

 

[labor of love]

248 grams. For comparison, my Toyama 240mm gyuto weighs 230 grams, and the Toyama 270 is 257 grams. I don't know about the hardness -- I just received it today and I have not used it much and I don't think I will need to sharpen it for a while. Does your Mizaki feel harder? If so, how did you determine that?

What other wh2 gyutos have you used?

 

[naifu]

What other wh2 gyutos have you used?

Hide and Munetoshi

 

[naifu]

Some pictures of this nice knife along with a Toyama 240mm gyuto for comparison. The height and length are nearly identical. Toyama is 55mm tall at heal; Mazaki is 54mm. Toyama is exactly 240mm long; Mazaki is 243mm. Toyama weighs 230g (I thinned it a little, maybe lost 2 grams); Mazaki 248g. Hopefully you can tell which is which in the photos. Toyama is thinner. This is the Mazaki finish out of the box. The Toyama has been thinned.

 

[naifu]

Both are Mazaki 240mm gyotos. Quite a difference between the two, right? Left is the photo from OP JDA_NC. Right is mine.

 

[labor of love]

So weird how diff the choil shots are. Really like yours, thanks for the pics.

 

[Choppin]

Big difference in choil shots there... maybe grind got thinner in more recent batches?

 

[labor of love]

Your mazaki looks like it doesn't have a blade road, is that true?

 

[naifu]

Big difference in choil shots there... maybe grind got thinner in more recent batches?

That is what I was thinking. I was very pleasantly surprised when I received mine with a much different grind and bevel than photos I had seen before. But it is still a hefty workhorse knife. Very nice.

Your mazaki looks like it doesn't have a blade road, is that true?

True. There is a kasumi finish as you can see, which from a distance could be mistaken for a flat bevel, but it a gradual concave bevel without a distinct shinogi. I am blown away by how much care was taken to craft this knife.

 

[labor of love]

Other mazaki gyutos have/had blade road w shinogi(see pics earlier in this thread)But this is a cool development-I'd rather one like yours. It's cool that they changed it up, which is something maxim has done before with the brands he carries.

 

[Choppin]

Other mazaki gyutos have/had blade road w shinogi(see pics earlier in this thread)But this is a cool development-I'd rather one like yours. It's cool that they changed it up, which is something maxim has done before with the brands he carries.

Interesting. Only noticed this now, going back to the pics.

I'm on the fence about ordering a 180 gyuto. Wondering if it has been "upgraded" as well...

 

[valgard]

Both are Mazaki 240mm gyotos. Quite a difference between the two, right? Left is the photo from OP JDA_NC. Right is mine.

wow, that's some change of pace, in the right direction IMO

 

[naifu]

Did some cutting today with the Mazaki 240. Tiny bit of wedging when I cut a large red onion in half. When cutting large beets in halfs and quarters, no wedging as long as forward thrust cutting. If just straight chopping in half without a cutting motion, wedges in large beets. Dices onions beautifully. The tip is thin. Not very reactive. Glides through everything.

Wonderful cutter. This is my favorite gyuto.

 

[Choppin]

Has anyone here gotten the 180 gyuto recently? I was wondering if the recent change in grind that apparently happened to the 240 also applies to the 180 now.

 

[naifu]

Has anyone here gotten the 180 gyuto recently? I was wondering if the recent change in grind that apparently happened to the 240 also applies to the 180 now.

I just ordered a 180 Mazaki today. I will let you know in a couple of days if the grind matches up with my 240.

 

[labor of love]

What's interesting is that maxim told me all mazaki knives have shinogi lines. He didn't know what "blade road" meant though, as I was trying to see if I could get one like Naifu's(seemingly without a shinogi line).

 

[XooMG]

What's interesting is that maxim told me all mazaki knives have shinogi lines. He didn't know what "blade road" meant though, as I was trying to see if I could get one like Naifu's(seemingly without a shinogi line).

In maksim's defense, "blade road" is a bit confusing and I am not sure who came up with it, because it is not a translation of a Japanese word or anything like that.

Also many knives with shinogi do not show them strongly in choil shots. It is one reason I rarely take such photos these days.

 

[Choppin]

I just ordered a 180 Mazaki today. I will let you know in a couple of days if the grind matches up with my 240.

Many thank’s naifu, please let me know.

 

[Andrey V]

My 180-er gyuto has a kinda " shinogi" and is damn thick. I have compared it with my Butcher and it's even thicker then the Butcher( Itinomonn/ Munetoshi)!
So it's a kind of Mioroshi Deba rather then a gyuto. Of course if you tried to cut veggies with your beautiful Iti Butcher you know what i mean. I love Butcher, it's an amazing meat knife, indestructible indeed, but pretty useless on hard veggies. Mazaki is a bit different due to it's profile- it's pretty tall, but tends to crack the veggies- you can see it even in Maksim's video.
It wasn't properly sharp when it came , i always resharpen new knives. What is pretty funny-the knife builds up quickly an obvious burr on JNATs([emoji15]), which is pretty weird, it's my first knife showing this feature such obviously.
I don't use synthetics, only some coarse like JNS-300, Shapton Glass Pro 500.
All the rest is natural. But it feels like you " squeeze " the metal out of the knife similar to squeezing off the toothpaste out of the balm.
It gets proper edge easily, no problems at all, just a notice.
Then it cuts into the hard veggies easily ( because of the given edge), but when it comes to the split the thick spine does the cracking job.
To be happy i need to change the profile and to polish the sides. Then it may helps a bit. I love sturdy knives but.. it has same weight as the Butcher btw, 176 gr for 180 Gyuto.
Ok, my Kikuryu is 100 gr heavier[emoji847], but It's a sword [emoji23].
So I'm confused a bit. Will try soon his Suji- will see... i check then all Mazaki knives Maksim has to see if that's me who's lucky or if it's the general idea..

 

[labor of love]

What's interesting is that maxim told me all mazaki knives have shinogi lines. He didn't know what "blade road" meant though, as I was trying to see if I could get one like Naifu's(seemingly without a shinogi line).

On the page before this one Naifu states that his mazaki gyuto doesn't have either "blade road" or shinogi and he included pics comparing his mazaki to a Toyama(honestly I can't make out which is which). I'm basically searching for a way to communicate to Maxim that I want a Mazaki like his.

 

[JBroida]

Why not just email or message him on FB? I've never had trouble getting a hold of him. Pictures always help, but of course I have not clue what he actually has in stock. For some reason it seems like people have trouble reaching him, but every time I reach out to talk to him he's pretty quick about responding. Then again I'm not a customer so who knows.