Budget Carbon Battle: Fuji FKH vs. Suisin High-Carbon?

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SolidSnake03 said:
That Rakuten link is actually really great! That is definitely a price I can stomach for this. I'm assuming it's the Virgin Carbon? It says "Mouthpiece" on it which isn't overly clear for me though....

That said, another option I just thought about is waiting for the Korin sale and saving 15% on the Suisin as well making it an even better deal. Tough choice here.

Lobby: Can you comment on the Fit and Finish issues? Stuff like rivets not being flush or gaps in handle?
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I would say the handle is finished overall pretty nice, albeit a little small for my tastes. Nothing sharp. No gaps. It looks like they did kind of a sloppy job welding the bolster. Theres a little welding blob (it is ground flush), and then it looks like they cut a little to deep.

83742d.jpeg


choil shot for anyone interested

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Reasoning on selecting the Togiharu Virgin Carbon over the others (Suisin High Carbon, Suien VC)?

Interested why you selected that as the one to go with
 
Never seen the Togiharu Virgin Carbon. Gave one of my nieces the Inox thin profile. That is a nice knife, you can feel the drop off down toward the edge. Makes it easy to sharpen and cuts well. She loves it over her German block set. Feeding 4 kids.:feedkids:

The Togiharus don't get much mention here, they are good knives at the price.
 
Fair points on the Togiharu, the 240mm Togiharu in particular is a good bit cheaper than the Suien VC and even more so when Korin has there sale....like ~$50 cheaper at that point.

Regarding the left handed thing, Benuser would you feel the same about getting a left handed Misono? I talked to Koki and apparently the Left Handed Misono's like a 240mm Misono Swedish Dragon would have a 15% up-charge but would be "100% left handed" in regards to blade grind angle and edge shape, also the engraving would be on the correct side for a lefty....

A Lefty 240mm Misono Swedish Dragon would run me maybe $20 more than the Masahiro Lefty when it's all said and done

This all said, the left option is really blowing my budget up when originally I had kinda planned on like a $85 Fuji FKH or a $95 Suisin High Carbon.... :angel2:
 
That Misono option is tempting, I would say. 15% premium is less than I had in mind. The Masahiro is a bit harder than the Dragon, though. But F&F by Misono are superior.
 
I pretty much have a lefty Misono Swedish Steel from every style there is, from the 80 parer up to the 360 gyuto with dragon. Make sure when you order that you tell Koki you want the dragon, the left hand versions usually ship within a couple days without, unless you request which will take extra time. For most of mine it was 45 days for the dragon/flower, but when I most recently ordered the 300 suji and 360 gyuto it was more like 75 days. For the 180 gyuto I got without the flower same with the dragon on the 165 yo Deba. Note that Debas honesuki and Hankotsu are 30% up cost. I actually have a lefty 240 gyuto with dragon on its way to bridge the gap between the 180 and 300 Gyutos
 
Regarding all the Misono Swedish Steel "Lefty's" you have, have you found a distinct improvement in performance over a "Righty" or Standard one? I know that might be a tough question or you might not have tried any of the standard one's but I guess I'm trying to justify the expense to myself and overall hassle in waiting time for it when a few vendor's (some approved on this forum and some not) have outright told me being a Lefty isn't that big an issue (single bevel's not included in this of course).
 
Solid snake, you need to find out for yourself. I know that I would be frustrated as hell using a lefty knife as a righty. Definitely worth the cost to find out for yourself...I don't really see what there is to justify, just look at that as the cost of the knife you want...these are all fairly inexpensive knives to start with...even with the surcharge, the prices are very reasonable. Kinda sucks the vendors playing this game...again I've not had a vendor tell me a lefty knife would be just fine...
 
SolidSnake03 said:
Regarding all the Misono Swedish Steel "Lefty's" you have, have you found a distinct improvement in performance over a "Righty" or Standard one? I know that might be a tough question or you might not have tried any of the standard one's but I guess I'm trying to justify the expense to myself and overall hassle in waiting time for it when a few vendor's (some approved on this forum and some not) have outright told me being a Lefty isn't that big an issue (single bevel's not included in this of course).
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I can't give a left vs right comparison of them. I was in the same situation you were and don't regret paying the 15-30% extra for proper left versions. If you're thinking of the 240 it's basically just $25 extra, the sayas Koki has fit the misono knives fairly well and are inexpensive too. I can't say I really see the asymmetry in the choil shot of the Gyutos and such, other than the primary bevel which is quite obvious, but I may not be noticing it as well as an expert would; the asymmetry of the Deba and honesuki are quite obvious. I can upload some pics of the various ones next week.

See also this thread from this post onwards:

http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/s...for-my-First-Carbon-Gyuto?p=348883#post348883
 
I read pretty recently, 1-2 months ago, while surfing, that you can order the Misono Dragon at a different version than the usual, with the Masahiro grind. But I cant help pointing where you can do that
 
tjangula said:
I can't give a left vs right comparison of them. I was in the same situation you were and don't regret paying the 15-30% extra for proper left versions. If you're thinking of the 240 it's basically just $25 extra, the sayas Koki has fit the misono knives fairly well and are inexpensive too. I can't say I really see the asymmetry in the choil shot of the Gyutos and such, other than the primary bevel which is quite obvious, but I may not be noticing it as well as an expert would; the asymmetry of the Deba and honesuki are quite obvious. I can upload some pics of the various ones next week.

See also this thread from this post onwards:

http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/s...for-my-First-Carbon-Gyuto?p=348883#post348883
Click to expand...

Here are some pictures, I had to go under a shop light to get (the choil shots) with contrast:

IMG_1232.jpg
Partial family photo (180 gyuto, 300 gyuto, 180 santoku, honesuki, 165 deba)

m180.jpg
180 gyuto

m300g.jpg
300 gyuto

m180s.jpg
180 santoku

mhonesuki.jpg
honesuki

m165d.jpg
165 deba

I can see it more now in the gyutos but not as much in the santoku (probably the angle I'm holding it at). Hopefully that is helpful.
 
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Is KU out of the question?

Because there's always Zakuri blue #1!
 
SolidSnake03 said:
Hey Everyone,

Ok so slightly silly title aside, does anyone have some experience with these knives for comparison purposes? I know the Fuji FKH is a go to favorite for a budget carbon knife and is all around fairly well regarded but I personally know next-to-nothing about the Suisin. Price wise the Suisin is about $30-$40 more at the 240 and 270mm sizes, the 210mm doesn't interest me at all.

The Suisin is sold exclusively at Korin but there aren't many details given and honestly don't know anyone that owns one.

Was hoping someone that own's these knives specifically the Suisin might be able to chime in about the differences and if you think I should just save $30-40 and get the Fuji FKH? Basically looking for an all around home use Carbon gyuto just for some fun (make cool forced patina designs etc..) and I always like trying out the "budget" stuff to see how it stacks up performance wise to some more costly things.

Thanks!
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Hey Solid,

Remember that in addition to the knife, you should consider another $50-60 for 1 or a couple of whetstones. So, if you are truly trying to maintain a budget, got the more affordable option.

But as to the difference, you'll get a SLIGHTLY better grade knife with Suisin. The steel and handle will be ever so slightly better on the Suisin. In the steel part, I don't think you'll notice much of a difference, but the FKH's handle is slightly more angular. A bit of sand paper will take care of it.

Have you considered a Japanese handle at all? Western handles are fine and all, but see how you feel about getting a knife with a Japanese handle. They are a lot more fun, and eye catching, in my opinion.
 
I have a few stones already and will be selling some of my extra's in the near future so that part of the budget is already taken care of so to speak.

I haven't considered a Japanese handle because that really wasn't the purpose of this knife. This knife was supposed to be a fun budget carbon western just to play around with and see what I think. I've owned a whole lot of knives and can say quite certainly that after years of use and kinda lying to myself, I just don't like Octagonal WA handles that much. A well tapered D-handle or a Western just fit and feel so much better in my hand so I've larger moved away from WA's except for a few knives that I just can't bring myself to get rid of yet.
 
Well, in that case, the ball is in your court. I usually try to purchase the "best" knife I can within a budget. If you are the type that likes to buy and sell gear and try out new stuff, get the cheaper one first, and see how you like it. Then, if you want, sell it and try something else. I went and purchased a few Masamoto Western handles to try, and love them. The CT, and HC are both Western handle knives, with really nice handles, and the blade profiles are pretty much perfect. But, you now $30-$40 on top of the Suisin.

What stones are you currently sharpening with? Just curious
 
labor of love said:
I have a worn down fujiwara carbon 270mm suji that you can have. Its oversharpened a little and the profile lost a bit of its curvature, but you could still test it to see how you feel about the steel. Sharpens very easy and forms an extremely stable patina if thats your thing. PM me if youre interested.
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Still got her?
 
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