Best blacksmiths for blue #2 heavy workhorses

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Besides the obvious like kato, shig, Toyama, and Watanabe, what other smiths produce some really good heavyweight workhorse gyutos made of blue #2?

Have you have a look or try Gihei..? It fits the profile that u mentioned, workhorse made of blue #2..
 
How would you compare and contrast the differences in your knives?
  • Tanaka ginsan
  • Yoshi skd
  • Hd2
  • Gihei
  • Watanabe
That Gihei looked better than I expected. 👍

Actually I forgot how good is the gihei, i didn't used it for a long time. after some stropping it became very sharp, and f&f is nothing fancy but spot on. i will give it more use in the following days, but it doesn't wedge for me although my carrots are that evil. i did cut some Brunoise and it preform very good.

  • Tanaka ginsan - really like it for being tall(53mm), very good stainless, solid feel at 195gsm. almost a laser but feel more robust. profile is kind of unique with big sweep to the tip. very well balanced knife. best VFM?
  • Yoshi skd - best cutter, very flat knife, and maybe perfect f&f, skd steel almost a full stainless and easy to sharpen. on the other hand as a daily driver i prefer the feel of a more solid knife.
  • Hd2 - second best cutter by small margin. very good steel doesn't patina at all, takes a great very easy, feels very solid for a laser. not a fancy knife but very effective, was my pick for going into a pro kitchen.
  • Gihei - this feels like a tank, very flat and low tip(remind me a santoku), very good HT on the steel.
  • Watanabe - only got this a couple of weeks ago. steel is really special-super hard and toothy edge, 250gsm of joy. this thing is a unique beast. its just force through everything.
i would say the watanabe is my fav but its matter of taste.

also got gyutos from anryu, kono fujiyama, takeda and matsubara but i think they are less relevant to this case.
 
I just looked at my specs for the Togashi-tosa blue 2 Gyuto I have and it meets workhorse criteria;

260x 55 mm heel
291 gm

This one is a beauty!
 
Here are the photos of the Togashi-Tosa, blue 2 iron clad WH
291 gm - specs are above
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A6AF42B7-BFCB-44E3-A293-C8B28505B4B7.jpeg
8D2EDB62-1431-4A89-A7AC-1F9C2736D6CA.jpeg
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The Kochi KU is awful thin. I’ve owned 4, would not call them workhorses. Yoshi-like grind.

Maybe just Yoshi-like in terms of thinness behind the edge? In general I think of Yoshikane grinds as a nicely done subtle and thin convex, whereas Kochi KU is concave (IIRC?) with a shinogi. Or maybe there are Yoshikanes with grinds I haven’t seen.
 
You get to test it out yet? How does it compare to Toyama?
The Wakui seiryu is just a THICC, super heavy workhorse. Nothing special about it. It might be too heavy actually. I prefer using my shi.han 52100 over it. This and Toyama are completely different. Toyama is more of an all rounder. Closer to a kochi migaki.
 
Maybe just Yoshi-like in terms of thinness behind the edge? In general I think of Yoshikane grinds as a nicely done subtle and thin convex, whereas Kochi KU is concave (IIRC?) with a shinogi. Or maybe there are Yoshikanes with grinds I haven’t seen.
I've heard the concave thing before. When I held a straight edge up to the blade road on mine, convex. Ymmv 🤷‍♂️
Maybe I need to check again.
 
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The Wakui seiryu is just a THICC, super heavy workhorse. Nothing special about it. It might be too heavy actually. I prefer using my shi.han 52100 over it. This and Toyama are completely different. Toyama is more of an all rounder. Closer to a kochi migaki.
I recently got the Kaeru Wakui Workhorse which I think is similar grind to the Seiryu, but even thicker. I agree, both my Shihan and Watanabe/Toyama are both better all arounder knives.

I do think the Wakui workhorse is really well made. The grind is very even and the spine and choil are rounded really well. Obviously not great at every task, but cuts better than you would expect based on the specs. Not a knife I would recommend to someone unless they really liked thick spine, heavy WH style knives. I started thinning it and there’s absolutely no low spots on either side. Someone who is good at kasumi finishes and polishing would really enjoy it.

I never really thought about it before, but Wakui has got impressive range. He is supposedly just a one man workshop, but he does his migaki line and wide bevel knives, he does stainless clad, he does the Kaeru WH and Damascus/Seiryu and he makes those Kaeru honyakis and you rarely here any complaints about his knives.
 
I do think the Wakui workhorse is really well made. The grind is very even and the spine and choil are rounded really well. Obviously not great at every task, but cuts better than you would expect based on the specs. Not a knife I would recommend to someone unless they really liked thick spine, heavy WH style knives. I started thinning it and there’s absolutely no low spots on either side. Someone who is good at kasumi finishes and polishing would really enjoy it.
I'm curious by the "no low spots" - is the Wakui WH a wide bevel knife, disguised by the sandblasted kasumi finish? I recently got the 210 and 240 and I had the impression they had a fully convex grind, but I might be wrong.

Also, the Seiryu you guys mentioned is from JNS? I really liked the specs from JNS's website but don't dig damascus... a kasumi/migaki version would be fantastic
 
Kaeru WH and the Seiryu are basically Ryo-deba's in a more Wa Gyuto format.
I think it’s just a little thinner BTE and at the tip than a ryo-deba, but similar thickness along the spine and midsection. I would like to try and break down some fish with it, just to see how the steel holds up.
I'm curious by the "no low spots" - is the Wakui WH a wide bevel knife, disguised by the sandblasted kasumi finish? I recently got the 210 and 240 and I had the impression they had a fully convex grind, but I might be wrong.

Also, the Seiryu you guys mentioned is from JNS? I really liked the specs from JNS's website but don't dig damascus... a kasumi/migaki version would be fantastic
They are fully convex, but convex ground knives have low spots too. I’ve had 3 Watanabes and a Toyama, all with very consistent, nice grinds and all with low spots, some worse than others. My Shihan had a small one that came out really quickly. Pretty much every knife I’ve owned and thinned has had a low spot (or multiple). They don’t bother me unless they affect performance or maybe if they’re super big for some reason. I thinks it’s very rare for a knife not to have low spots unless you’re paying a lot for something that’s known to not have low spots or it’s hand finished on stones like Mazaki, Manaka, Jiro and a bunch of western/custom makers.

I’m like the 3rd owner of my Kaeru Wakui WH and it was starting to get a little thick BTE so I thinned it. The scratch pattern went about halfway up the face of the knife, higher near the tip, and I didn’t find a single low spot. I don’t think it’s a huge deal, just found it impressive.
 
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