Cheapo monosteels

Advertise with us
Find deals on amazon
Kitchen Knife Forums

Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Danzo

Danzo

KKF Supporting Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2016
Messages
1,489
Reaction score
1,328
Location
Seattle
My co-worker wants to get himself a carbon monosteel blade. Honyaki stuff being out of his price range, he's choosing between these three:
Misono dragon
Masamoto HC
Sakai kikumori swedenkou
He's asking me the difference between the them, I don't have a good answer for him. Help!
 
misono, thin, narrow, needs some convexing to be at its best
masamoto beefy, tall, better steel but needs more work to cut better
there is also masahiro virgin carbon which has a nice profile and good steel but the grind is completely righty biased, it's too asymmetric even for my tastes. i like 80/20, this is 90/10
 
I am a big fan of the Misono Dragon myself. This knife is such a good performer for a decent price. And it has good reviews too.

I'd be interested in the Masahiro too if I was searching a gyuto in this price range.
 
He may consider the Fujiwara FKH as well. My most recent one -- gyuto 270 -- had an excellent F&F, and even an acceptable factory edge, which I can't said about the Misonos -- weak and overly convexed by factory buffering. Steel problem with sulphur seems to have been solved. Still not as refined as the Misono, though.
 
The Masahiro is a bit harder than both the Fujiwara FKH and the Misono Swedish. Masamoto still has to invent QC with their yo-blades.
 
i will admit, misono is my most used knife even though it's the cheapest and least performer i have. it does one thing better than all my other knives though, and that is break down whole parmesan wheels. it isn't whimpy like a laser, but it also wont wedge like thicker knives. i have done some work on the stones a bit, aggressively thinned the tip, and also added convexity about 3/4" up from the edge along the entire blade.

really though, it should come down to profile preference, all 3 that i mentioned are vastly different.
miso pointy, moto lowest nose, hiro biggest flat spot

miso easiest to sharpen but doesnt hold it well. moto hardest to sharpen but holds it well, hiro in between the two
 
So maybe the masahiro is the best choice considering all the options. I don't think he wil take the time to thin or work on the knife in anyway, I'll put a new edge on it for him. But other than that which one will perform the best without any work?
 
Danzo said:
http://www.knivesandstones.com/sakai-takayuki-aoniko-blue-2-carbon-steel-gyuto-chefs-210mm-8-25/

What about this Sakai Takayuki? How come certain steels are considered honyaki and others are just "monosteel"?
Click to expand...

That's the one I have. I have not tried any of the others you have mentioned so I can't do a comparison for you. It is a thin blade and mine has very good f&f. Decent ootb edge and nimble.

Btw honyaki is about the heat treat rather than simply being monosteel
 
My understanding is that Hoyaki refers to deferentially hardened blade. The top third of the blade (spine) is covered with a thick layer of clay mud that acts as a heat-sink during heat treatment.
If all done correctly, the blade has high hardness (great edge retention) over the cutting edge, while retains some elasticity on the spine (no fractures due to elastic movement/cushion of the spine).
Mizu honyakis are quenched in water (immense stress on a 1800 degree hot steel) that can cause high rates of failure. That's one of the reasons honyaki blades are expensive.
Other types of honyakis can be quenched in oil or saturated salt solutions.

Most, if not all honyaki blades are mirror polished to reveal the high contrast/hamon lines between the hard edge and the softer spine. That also adds work-hours and cost of abrasives/polishing compounds yielding to higher prices.

If looking for monosteel lasers, there are still a few Sakai Yuzuke available on ebay, new condition, from a trusted vendor, with quick shipping (270mm for around $280 with express EMS shipping from Osaka).
 
Is that Sakai with hitachi blue gonna be noticeably better than Swedish steels? Or is it a matter or preference? I have an old Swedish carbon no name I got from my uncle, love that thing, but I don't know anything about it besides that fact.
 
+1 for Masahiro. Love mine. It's a great work knife. Great price, profile, and steel. Not flashy at all.

Tps5kA1.jpg
 
Hard to tell really given we don't know exactly what the Swedish steel is that you have. blue#2 though won't disappoint you(the steel itself I mean). I would trust that the steel and the heat treat will be good and focus on profile, f&f, aesthetics and price for what you are after.

As I mentioned, the Sakai Takayuki is a very thin knife(read laser like) and even for a Yo handle (which in my opinion is really nice) is light and nimble.

Given how thin it is, there is a tiny bit of flex to the blade, but nothing you would ever notice in normal use.
 
Today's Swedish carbons are loved for the absence of "impurities", in the old times they were loved for the extra bite. Best makers in England, Germany and France used Swedish ore because of it.
 
Any idea what steel is used for VC series? Virgin Carbon=white #1?
 
I like V2. V2C it says to be a cleaner (purer) V2. I guess it's what Hitachi White #1 to #2 is.
I kinda want to try it now. Always wanted carbon monosteel and at fraction of KS cost.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top