Which one?

[Dave Martell]

Richmomd AS Laser 240mm - if it is <$50 might be worth considering

Moritaka Supreme in AS - whacked out grinds (7 out of 10) plus it's thick at the top of the blade road grind

Tanaka Damascus - of the three I like this. Try looking on JapaneseChefsKnife, BluewayJapan, or ebay, I think there's some good ones out there on one of these sites.

 

[Lefty]

Tanakas are nice

 

[chefcomesback]

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/xpwgj4zq5rsaeas/TvhH0ndF3L?n=181720308
Today I had a bit spare time and I have taken the pictures of Kono 240HH (not the Funayuki ) and Richmond Laser AS .
First of all Richmond Laser is thin behind the edge but as You can see from the pictures it is not a true laser. When I was looking for AS core SS clad Gyuto it become available and I bought it. Knowing they are made in Japan (probably by Konosuke ) and something similar (wa , AS ,SS clad ) would cost more I didn't mind buying it.
It is a good cutter , I like it being tall and it is not very reactive . It is 240+ mm as advertised 240 compared to being short with Kono being 236.
Handle is the really small for its size and food release is not very impressive .
I You look at the pictures you can see how thin overall Kono is overall and behind the edge . Being convex food release is really good . I have the ebony handle which was a pricey upgrade but I know even the standart ho handle would be fine and made it lot lighter .
Fit and Finish and Kono is really good altough with the increased sales some users are commenting the quality being not the same.
I haven't had Gesshin Ginga but having dealt with Jon couple times I m sure You will get a great product and all of your questions will be promptly answered. Plus even being slightly cheaper they come standart with sayas too.
I do like the AS but I would remove the laser tag from it , if You are looking for true laser Gesshin ginga and Sakai Yusuke are your other alternatives (not putting Kono here as you already said you will be getting it)

 

[labor of love]

FWIW I also think konosuke had their hand in the making of the Richmond laser. But that shouldn't matter at all to a potential buyer.

 

[TheDispossessed]

i'll throw some more ginga love in the thread here. mine has been great to me

 

[CoqaVin]

i'll throw some more ginga love in the thread here. mine has been great to me

Ok still not sure which Ginga or maybe a Yusuke...but not to keen on the typical wa handle....who is the easiest cheapest nicest custom handle maker

 

[stereo.pete]

Ok still not sure which Ginga or maybe a Yusuke...but not to keen on the typical wa handle....who is the easiest cheapest nicest custom handle maker

You get what you pay for so choose wisely. There are many great handle makers on this forum, none of which I would consider "cheap" but they are reasonable for the amount of work that goes into a nice handle. I've had handles by Dave Martell, Marko and Mr. Henry, all of which have been fantastic!

 

[CoqaVin]

You get what you pay for so choose wisely. There are many great handle makers on this forum, none of which I would consider "cheap" but they are reasonable for the amount of work that goes into a nice handle. I've had handles by Dave Martell, Marko and Mr. Henry, all of which have been fantastic!

Obviously not cheap but cheapest out of them like the newest is usually cheapest i just dont know who that could be

 

[mhlee]

You may want to use your knife before you rehandle it. Wood used for rehandling is generally going to be noticeably heavier and denser than the magnolia (ho) wood that's generally used, so the balance of the knife may change with the new handle.

Since you're getting a laser, I'm going to go so far as say that changing the handle will most likely change the balance and feel of the knife, unless the maker/installer can get the new handle to the be close to the same weight as the original handle.

 

[labor of love]

Ok still not sure which Ginga or maybe a Yusuke...but not to keen on the typical wa handle....who is the easiest cheapest nicest custom handle maker

cheap nice custom handle maker is an oxymoron. if youre on a budget you might want to just worry about which blade suits you the best for the time being. I love gingas, sakai yusukes quite abit, konosuke almost as much.

 

[CoqaVin]

cheap nice custom handle maker is an oxymoron. if youre on a budget you might want to just worry about which blade suits you the best for the time being. I love gingas, sakai yusukes quite abit, konosuke almost as much.

I was just saying maybe people who are not as established but make good custom handles would be cheaper that's all

 

[mhlee]

I was just saying maybe people who are not as established but make good custom handles would be cheaper that's all

There's a reason that people who are not established, are not established. There's also a reason why they're cheaper.

Do you have a budget?

 

[stevenStefano]

I was just saying maybe people who are not as established but make good custom handles would be cheaper that's all

I get what you're saying, but in this case you definitely want someone who knows what they're doing. It takes a lot of know-how, expertise and experience to get handles just right. I've seen many that just look plain wrong and you don't want to end up with something like that

 

[CoqaVin]

I get what you're saying, but in this case you definitely want someone who knows what they're doing. It takes a lot of know-how, expertise and experience to get handles just right. I've seen many that just look plain wrong and you don't want to end up with something like that

I hear ya...its not something u want to cheap out on

 

[chinacats]

The best deal that I've seen for both a nice laser and a handle to suit may be the Gesshin Ginga with special re-handle service available at JKI here. The handle will be installed properly and you will have one badass knife.

Also curious if you will be sharpening these knives yourself?

Cheers

 

[WiscoNole]

I'll make a suggestion that some may consider outdated...Tadatsuna. My 270 gyuto as thin as most of the 240's I've had. The 240 gyuto is a laser by any standards. They have the nicest stock wa handles around, considering the mosaic pin. The accompanying saya is also well above average, in terms of quality. It sharpens in a flash and gets absurdly sharp. I have Tadatsunas and have had/tried all the newer, trendier knives, and it stacks up. Some may say you can get better for cheaper, but I think they are worth the price.

 

[easy13]

Tanaka Damascus is quite nice but the handle on it is pretty garbage.

 

[CoqaVin]

yea at a good price as well...maybe b/c it is at a good price I can afford to do a rehandle since it is garbage