Monosteel Whites..

[dough]

To the question of masamoto KS being worth the higher price?
Imo no but at that price point you stopped paying for a knife that can hold a good edge and you are paying for other things in this case its a profile and a name because the finish of most masamotos leaves something to be desired. I think masamoto is not the best first purchase its more ok I tired many knives and I keep hearing and seeing those masamotos everywhere.... to settle my curiosity I must try one. let me tell ya do yourself a favor and just go for a custom pierre or mario or marko because those are cut soo much nicer with similar profile. I have also seen all these makers at competitive prices but I realize these makers are not local for you however my point is with these makers you get a knife worth every penny and I'm not so sure thats the case with the masamoto.
Reading this you might think I dislike the KS and that's not true. It's one of my favorite knives on the line for general prep.

 

[masibu]

I feel like I might be making a bad choice now but I dropped the money on the Masamoto. I guess curiosity got the better of me. If it doesn't sit well with me, hopefully I can just sell it off without losing out too much. I have a few others to sell off soon anyway. I still have a bit of a soft spot for my Sugimoto 240mm Wa-Gyuto despite the fact it's definitely not my best knife. It was the first Japanese knife I ever bought after using Germans for years and it pretty much convinced me to find out more about different steels. It's been great for me to practice sharpening on and is a bit of a beater knife of sorts. I've never had any issues with it other than all the grind marks from my first sharpening sessions (one of these days I'll polish them out). It's probably the only knife I won't end up ever selling off, not that anybody tends to really want it anyway.

I am curious about getting a custom knife made for me, perhaps that will be the next step after trying out all these different steels I have..I have a 210mm Artifex in m390 and was pretty underwhelmed. It came with a tiny bevel and a relatively thick grind (at least to me) and has proven to be pretty ridiculous to sharpen up. It needs a lot of work and I don't really have the time to reshape it. It threw me off a little so I've been working with stuff that's easier and less time-consuming for me. If I had a custom knife made for me with good steel and grinds I would probably happily pay the extra money to have a professional do it and I would only need to maintain it then

 

[harlock0083]

I feel like I might be making a bad choice now but I dropped the money on the Masamoto.

I really don't think a Masamoto would be a bad choice by many accounts.