Your favourite gyuto under 300$

[JaVa]

I would also like to add to the hardness/edge retention discussion one professional point of view. When we talk about the different steels and knives and how they compare in edge retention, what in a home environment stretches out to several weeks or even months, in a pro kitchen can be reduced hours and/or days.

 

[Matus]

Absolutely. I am just a home cook, but I know a guy who took knives out of rotation, because they would not last the shift (I do not wonder with his cutting style, though ) I mean - HRC63 D2 blade lasted him 4 or 5 days. That would last me 2-3 months (and I keep finer edge than he does)

 

[malexthekid]

I would also like to add to the hardness/edge retention discussion one professional point of view. When we talk about the different steels and knives and how they compare in edge retention, what in a home environment stretches out to several weeks or even months, in a pro kitchen can be reduced hours and/or days.

Of course and my comment was just stating that HRC alone isn't the best reflection of that... the aritsugu is a good example of that. In my uses as a home cook? Probably using for 2ish meals a week on average, after 6 months the edge is still slicing tomatos relatively easily without any form of stropping.

Now whether the quoted HRC is just wrong who knows.

Not trying to talk you out of anything.. was just trying to see if it was a specific need that was driving the push to high HRC. If you just want high HRC because in your experience you like high HRC as they feel better to you thats all good.

 

[supersayan3]

Wow, What happened? There's probably something like over ten vendors selling that line and just six months ago I could find it in stock at several vendors, but now it's out of stock everywhere???

Could Takamuras popularity finally started to get to the level they deserve or has their focus shifted more on the little cheaper VG10 lines that seemed to be popping up at some places?

Irrelevant...but this post mad me think of older threads comparing Ryusen and Takamura. This post made me realize that inside Japan, Ryusen must be considered better than Takamura, since they stopped exporting because they couldn't cover the demands on Japanese market, so I suppose Takamura took the overseas market.

When I got my last Blazen, the gyuto 21cm, I got it through Korin France, I got lucky, because exports had already stopped, but someone from the shop happened to be in Japan and fixed me.
I tried to order and some Blazen stones, but no luck.
By the way, Dominique, owner of Korin France, had been a very nice person to deal with. I had gotten my 24cm gyuto from them as well

I don't support that the one is better than the other, since the original Blazen was co created by both of them. They both own the secrets of the Blazen.
I like the triad logo on Takamura better, but I like the magnetic saya on Ryusen better.
Too bad the name Blazen was dropped, very inspiring, blaze + zen

 

[Matus]

I always found the name 'Blazen' very funny, because it means 'fool' in Czech language (which I speak and undestant very well)

 

[JaVa]

I always found the name 'Blazen' very funny, because it means 'fool' in Czech language (which I speak and undestant very well)

Well, I think it's very fitting since you have to be a complete Blazen if you don't like a Blazen. :tease:

 

[Matus]

I have just their 110 R2 parer and it is just onthe way to Dave for some cool handle. That is how much I like mine

 

[JaVa]

Unfortunately I don't own one so maybe I'm a Blazen, but maybe having the Takamura R2 is enough to get me out of that category? :scratchhead:

 

[supersayan3]

Hahahaaa

 

[BlueSteel]

Received the Wakui 270 (actually 276mm straight line from heel to tip) yesterday and used it on dinner last night. What a diamond in the rough! This blade is really impressive, and stunning for the price. Threw carrots, peppers, avocado, tomato...bunch of veg at it, and it cut soooo well. No wedging. (I had Bernal sharpen before shipping...it was tomato-ready when it arrived!)

The edge profile is interesting - not much of a flat spot at all...sweeping gentle curve from the heel to the very thin and sharp tip. I guess that would make it a real nice rocker, but I was mostly push cutting last night with great results. Came out of the box with a shiny edge and within an hour of chopping had already acquired significant patina on the edge...very reactive (white #2)!

At $228 USD this is an outright steal.

But the handle...lol. What can I say? I wanted the stock octagonal handle because (a) I'm a lefty, and (b) I did not want to pay the upcharge for the right-handed D-shaped handle offered by the retailer. So the stock handle is a very large (bigger than any other handle on any knife I own) octagonal ho (magnolia) handle with a nice horn ferrule. The wood is kind of bad from an aesthetic perspective (my opinion...yours may differ). The size I like (I have big hands). But that wood looked ash grey right out of the box. I strongly suspect, based on the superb quality of this blade, that this one will be getting a handle upgrade soon. The ferrule is quite nice. But the join between the wood and the horn is not as smooth as one might like...you can feel the "lip" the whole way around...not that much, but it is there.

I want to thank everyone on KKF who recommended this knife. I never would have known about it otherwise. I think it is a real gem!

Cheers,
Blair

 

[labor of love]

Sounds like your handle was sub par, mine wasn't-guess I was lucky.

Received the Wakui 270 (actually 276mm straight line from heel to tip) yesterday and used it on dinner last night. What a diamond in the rough! This blade is really impressive, and stunning for the price. Threw carrots, peppers, avocado, tomato...bunch of veg at it, and it cut soooo well. No wedging. (I had Bernal sharpen before shipping...it was tomato-ready when it arrived!)

The edge profile is interesting - not much of a flat spot at all...sweeping gentle curve from the heel to the very thin and sharp tip. I guess that would make it a real nice rocker, but I was mostly push cutting last night with great results. Came out of the box with a shiny edge and within an hour of chopping had already acquired significant patina on the edge...very reactive (white #2)!

At $228 USD this is an outright steal.

But the handle...lol. What can I say? I wanted the stock octagonal handle because (a) I'm a lefty, and (b) I did not want to pay the upcharge for the right-handed D-shaped handle offered by the retailer. So the stock handle is a very large (bigger than any other handle on any knife I own) octagonal ho (magnolia) handle with a nice horn ferrule. The wood is kind of bad from an aesthetic perspective (my opinion...yours may differ). The size I like (I have big hands). But that wood looked ash grey right out of the box. I strongly suspect, based on the superb quality of this blade, that this one will be getting a handle upgrade soon. The ferrule is quite nice. But the join between the wood and the horn is not as smooth as one might like...you can feel the "lip" the whole way around...not that much, but it is there.

I want to thank everyone on KKF who recommended this knife. I never would have known about it otherwise. I think it is a real gem!

Cheers,
Blair

 

[Badgertooth]

Mine had burn in marks on the blade. Not a show-stopper, just a bit of personality

 

[BlueSteel]

Sounds like your handle was sub par, mine wasn't-guess I was lucky.

I would say the handle is aesthetically sub par for my taste (and I tend to prefer dark wood handles, but I knew I was not getting one on this), but functionally quite good for me, mostly because I have bigger hands. The join of the wood and horn is a minor F&F issue that is really only noticable in comparison to some of the beautifully smooth stock ones I have on my Takeda, Shibata Kotetsu, and even Masakage Kumo line.

I certainly don't mean to nitpick this knife too much - I really think it is a gem of a performer and also a great value! I have zero disappointment, and I highly recommend the knife to others!!!

Cheers,
Blair

 

[JaVa]

Time to wrap this up, at least for now.

what I got from this thread was just what I hoped for. Many new very interesting prospects to be added to my hit list of future acquisitions. Some I wrongly discounted earlier and some I hadn't even thought about before.

In no particular order: Shibata Kotetsu, Wakui Kasumi, Yoshikane SKD, Sukenari SG2, Masamoto KS are all in that group.

So what did I get?
Well James came along and mixed things up with the new Tanaka offerings and I just had to get the Ginsan Migaki. I've been looking for one for about a year and I had mostly given up hope. And now it seems even better then before and I actually was able to get one. Lucky me!

...But since I was already buying from K&S and regardless that my budget was hurt by the Tanaka, I thought why not get the Shiro Kamo Syousin Suminigashi R2 in the same shipment. It was the whole time in a serious contender anyway. Because the Tanaka purchase drained some of that budget the Syousin Suminigashis lower price was easier to swallow.

...and then in a momentary laps of reason, I threw in a Tanaka VG10 damascus petty for good measure. Which kinda killed the whole budget reasoning for good. :lol2:

Thanks for everyones help and suggestions! It was all very much appreciated! :thankyou333:

...So what did I get from this thread again?
The short answer would've been: Suoysin Suminigashi R2 240 gyuto

 

[Badgertooth]

#enablers

 

[Nemo]

So what did I get?
Well James came along and mixed things up with the new Tanaka offerings and I just had to get the Ginsan Migaki.

...So what did I get from this thread again?
The short answer would've been: Suoysin Suminigashi R2 240 gyuto

JaVa, I'm keen to hear what you think of both of thes knives when they arrive.

 

[DanHumphrey]

#enablers

I'm going to be so very proud if that takes off.

I mean, I have two more knives on the way myself. So there's that.