Gihei Blue 2 gyuto?

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T

trvn

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Anybody have any experience with the Gihei blue #2 gyuto? Haven't heard much about it in these parts from the forum search but it gets good reviews on CKTG.

If possible, a comparison to Kurosaki AS gyuto would be awesome!
 
Also forgot to add, the reason I'm asking is because I'd like to try out a heftier knife to compliment my Tanaka ginsanko nashiji and Gengetsu gyuto's...seems like those two get recommended quite a bit
 
Wonder if there's really a 2.4 oz weight diff between the 210mm and 240mm as listed on that site... Seems unlikely
Have you looked at Zakuri?
 
Looks like they use different wood on the handle on the 240 as well so that could count for some of the weight difference, I'd imagine

Have not looked at Zakuri, I'll check them out. Thanks!
 
foody518 said:
Wonder if there's really a 2.4 oz weight diff between the 210mm and 240mm as listed on that site... Seems unlikely
Have you looked at Zakuri?
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Does anyone actually have Zakuri in stock? I haven't seen any in months upon months...
 
Back from the depths!

I'm curious if anyone uses this knife and can compare it to other similar models. Other than CKTG, I don't see very many comments. While the spine seems overly thick, the knife overly heavy, it sure looks like the grind offsets those attributes well. I would be most interested in the 240mm model.
 
deskjockey said:
Back from the depths!

I'm curious if anyone uses this knife and can compare it to other similar models. Other than CKTG, I don't see very many comments. While the spine seems overly thick, the knife overly heavy, it sure looks like the grind offsets those attributes well. I would be most interested in the 240mm model.
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Honestly, it looks like a bargain knife at a bargain price. Actually, if memory serves the op bought this knife and eventually sold it.
 
Yes, it looks like a relative bargain given its ~$200 price point. It also looks like a good pairing with a really thin and light Santoku or Nakiri.
 
Every knife sold on that site gets otherworldly reviews on that forum.
...Just saying.
 
JaVa said:
Every knife sold on that site gets otherworldly reviews on that forum.
...Just saying.
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Which a big part of the reason I am asking here. :dontknow:

Is it all self-promotion and bias or, is it a good knife? There are plenty of "fanboys/fangirls" for other brands and vendors on other sites too! I really want to know about the knife, not the politics and personal biases of a segment of the knife knutt collective or knife business community! :)
 
I had the opportunity to try this knife. While the balance and heat treat were on par with the similarly weighted Toyama, the grind was lacking for my cutting style. I feel like the Toyama does most anything better, but this is not to say that the Geihi is a slouch. I think that it has a strong standing in it's price point for a blue steel workhorse. The tip was useable but not as nimble as the Toyama. It's overall performance is better than its price would lead one to believe, in my experience anyway.
 
dwalker said:
I had the opportunity to try this knife. While the balance and heat treat were on par with the similarly weighted Toyama, the grind was lacking for my cutting style. I feel like the Toyama does most anything better, but this is not to say that the Geihi is a slouch. I think that it has a strong standing in it's price point for a blue steel workhorse. The tip was useable but not as nimble as the Toyama. It's overall performance is better than its price would lead one to believe, in my experience anyway.
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How does it compare to the Toyama? Good, better or, worse? What 'style' does it work better or worse for?
 
deskjockey said:
How does it compare to the Toyama? Good, better or, worse? What 'style' does it work better or worse for?
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I could see that some may favor the Geihi over the Toyama as is evidenced by at least one review on the other forum. I think they were compared side by side in a pro kitchen. When I used them side by side at home, the Geihi felt like I could beat on it a little more, but I'm certianly not one to go hard on a knife. I favor the Toyama for ease of cutting and it's tip that seems to move through anything well. The Geihi may be better where volume and speed in a pro kitchen is a top priority. I really can't say because I am not a pro and don't use them this way. Food release and seperation were comparable, but for me, the Toyama is better at everything I had the opportunity to cut. I think the other reviewer had them neck and neck with the Geihi edging out the win in a pro kitchen. Obviously the stainless cladding on the Geihi is a plus in a busy kitchen and it's price point is half of the Toyama. The Toyama beats it hands down in fit and finish but the Geihi has a nicer stock handle.

Hope this helps.
 
Thanks DWalker! I stumbled into a couple threads over on that forum but, I'm a little leery of Fanboys and Fangirls on a site that appears to lack some unbiased objectivity.

At ~1/2 the cost of the Toyama, the Geihi is more attainable for a larger segment of society at large so that seems like a huge plus in general for those knives. I have also looked at a couple 'Damascus' knives only to discover they were carbon Damascus too so, that's another significant tipping point for me to get a Geihi over a Toyama for easier upkeep of the stainless cladding. The reality for me is that while an all reactive knife may be super pretty, I question my discipline everyday to be totally on it everyday to keep it in pristine shape versus wiping some superficial streaking off an exposed edge I can easily touch up on a stone if I have too due to a lapse on my part keeping it dry and protected.
 
OP here. I did buy this knife, and sold it just the other week. I thought it was a fantastic knife for the price. Great blue steel that puts on a cool patina, thin behind the edge without being delicate, good fit and finish. The only thing I didn't really care for is the shape of the tip. It's a little santoku-like and didn't feel very nimble.
 
Another knife along these lines is the Kohetsu Blue#2 Nashiji. Believe it is the same sold on Blueway with a variety of handle choices. They are out of stock. Sharpened a 240mm Kohetsu blade looks identical. These are thick in the spine, good cutters, food release is better than average. Steel easy to sharpen.

They look cool too, the stainless cladding mist finish on bottom part of blade usually gets a little beat up in production kitchen. Then again that is true of many clad knives.
 
keithsaltydog said:
Another knife along these lines is the Kohetsu Blue#2 Nashiji. Believe it is the same sold on Blueway with a variety of handle choices. They are out of stock. Sharpened a 240mm Kohetsu blade looks identical. These are thick in the spine, good cutters, food release is better than average. Steel easy to sharpen.

They look cool too, the stainless cladding mist finish on bottom part of blade usually gets a little beat up in production kitchen. Then again that is true of many clad knives.
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I’d grab one of these before a gihei.
 
I don't know about the Kohetsu B2 line, but the Kohetsu HAP40 is the worst knife I've ever bought.
 
I used a Gihei 240 blue 2 for a while. Comes out of handle thick but distal tapers to the 2.3-2.5mm range and holds till tip. Heat treatment is fantastic, grind took multiple sessions to flatten/thin/even out. Great project knife for the price given youre willing to put in the work and enjoy the profile
-Trey
 
JaVa said:
I don't know about the Kohetsu B2 line, but the Kohetsu HAP40 is the worst knife I've ever bought.
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I am not sure how they come up with the Kohetsu line. I am certain that the Nashiji are sold with different handles under other brand names. The western handle Blue#2 regular san mai gyuto at 110.00 for a 240mm is a pretty good knife at the price. It is a inexpensive intro. to carbon core Japanese gyuto.

The AS core at the price around 200.00 for 240mm is not as good as the JKI AS core laser + Jon's comes with a wooden saya.

Have sharpened a few western handle Hap40, never used it, curious why do you call it your worst knife?
.
 
keithsaltydog said:
I am not sure how they come up with the Kohetsu line.
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Isn't this the CKTG store brand?

keithsaltydog said:
The AS core at the price around 200.00 for 240mm is not as good as the JKI AS core laser + Jon's comes with a wooden saya.
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Where do I find this JKI AS core laser? I did not see it on Japanese Knife Imports. Did I miss it?
 
labor of love said:
I believe Keith is referring to Ikazuchi knives at JKI.
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Thank you! That does look like a very good knife and the price is super at $200USD with the included Saya.

https://www.japaneseknifeimports.com/collections/ikazuchi/products/ikazuchi-240mm-stainless-clad-blue-super-wa-gyuto

  • Handle Length: 142mm
  • Handle Height: 25.34mm
  • Handle Width: 21.02mm
  • Handle to Tip Length: 260mm
  • Heel to Tip Length: 245mm
  • Width of Spine at Middle: 1.83mm
  • Width of Spine 1cm from the Tip: 0.73mm
  • Width of Spine at Handle: 2.26mm
  • Width of Spine above Heel: 2.21mm
  • Blade Thickness 1/2 way between the Spine and Edge: 1.77mm
  • Blade Height at Heel: 49mm
  • Weight: 143g
 
Yes meant the Ikazuchi it comes with a nice octagon handle with buffalo horn collar & the saya.

Yeh I know that Kohetsu is a CKTG brand. They claim that the Nashiji Blue #2 is made exclusively for CKTG. Couple years ago bought a 240mm Ichimonji Kichikuni Blue steel Nashiji 240mm for 130.00. It had a wooden oval handle & wood collar. Used it as a pass around at culinary school. A number of them were bought by students from Blueway Japan on E-Bay. They are good knives for the price. Thick spine & thin behind the edge.

Have used and sharpened quite a few of them. Some of the handles are sub par with plastic collars. I only see one 240mm in stock with a Ebony handle over 200.00. Recently a student brought in a Kohetsu Nashiji it is the same blade made & sold under different names.

The Akifusa sold by EE with SRS15 powder steel is also sold under different names.
 
keithsaltydog said:
Yes meant the Ikazuchi it comes with a nice octagon handle with buffalo horn collar & the saya.

Yeh I know that Kohetsu is a CKTG brand. They claim that the Nashiji Blue #2 is made exclusively for CKTG. Couple years ago bought a 240mm Ichimonji Kichikuni Blue steel Nashiji 240mm for 130.00. It had a wooden oval handle & wood collar. Used it as a pass around at culinary school. A number of them were bought by students from Blueway Japan on E-Bay. They are good knives for the price. Thick spine & thin behind the edge.

Have used and sharpened quite a few of them. Some of the handles are sub par with plastic collars. I only see one 240mm in stock with a Ebony handle over 200.00. Recently a student brought in a Kohetsu Nashiji it is the same blade made & sold under different names.

The Akifusa sold by EE with SRS15 powder steel is also sold under different names.
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The Kohetsu Nashiji looks like yet another rebrand of Tadafusa. Not to say that is a bad thing, I like my Tadafusa.
 
keithsaltydog said:
Have sharpened a few western handle Hap40, never used it, curious why do you call it your worst knife?
.
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I have the 240 WA version. Biggest problem is how it's marketed. Like I said everything on that site is promised to be the second coming. The knife is nothing like what they promise.

Laser: NOT. More like a thin-ish middleweight
Is fine for left handed use: Steers like crazy. Definitely NOT for left handed users.
Thin tip: Fattest tip out of all my knives.
Moves thru onions easily: Seriously, they need to stop the BS. Welcome to wedge town.
Great fit and finish: You should've seen the condition my knife came in.
Great F&F on the handle: Bring out the champagne, They actually got one right. The handle is well made.

The design of the blade is all over the place. Left side is almost flat. It's actually very close to a single bevel knife.
On the right side there's a distinct shoulder behind the edge which makes it wedge. Which for such a thin middle weight is hard to achieve.
Food release is horrible.
Edge profile has an annoying bump. Which you can actually see on their video. Doesn't look that bad, but in practice drives me crazy.
The horizontal grind marks on the cladding are very rough and deep. They add significant amount of friction. Takes away the feeling of falling thru food
The cladding is the softest, gummiest, grabbiest and most wear resistant crap steel I've ever seen.

And then there's the manufacturing faults. Burs all over the place, at the heel, on the spine and at the tip. Blade was bent in two places. At the middle and at the tip. There was three noticeable low spots on the left side blade face. One low spot at the tip that resulted the tip to bend. To fix that I had to grind the blade 5mm shorter so the low spot thins out with the tip now.

They even compare it to the Takamura R2 and those knives should NEVER EVER be mentioned in the same sentence. There should be a law against it with a severe penalty. The Kohetsu HAP40 is NOTHING like the lovely Takamura R2!

And then there's one of the worst customer service experiences I've had in a long time. There was absolutely no interest in taking any responsibility in the products being sold. Let's just leave it at that.

Luckily with some help from my fellow KKFers and the questionaire I found the exact knife (Itinomonn SS) I thought I was buying when I ordered the Kohetsu.
 
Wow:O I wish the Takamura R2 came in a 240mm. That sounds as bad as the CKTG AEBL cleaver I only wanted to throw in the trash.
 
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