ginsan knives-- Sukenari vs Takada

[chefwp]

I was looking at possibly getting a 210 Ginsan gyuto. MTC has a Takada to the tune of about 430 bucks, I also came across this Sukenari from JCK for half the price. I am wondering if anyone has any experience with this Sukenari. I'm guessing the spine and choil won't be as finely crafted as the Takada, which I assume is based on another Takada I have. Any thoughts out there?

 

[Jovidah]

No experience on the Takada so I can't make a direct comparison, but the few things that come to mind about the Sukenari:

-Quite nice F&F for the price.. the octagonal ho wood handle is nothing fancy but was still nicely rounded and polished on mine. Have had worse handles on significantly more expensive knives. Choil was actually suprisingly nice on mine, spine was just okay (eased, but not luxuriously rounded like you'll find on some more expensive knives).
-Blade finish is rather bland on the Sukenari. Simple belt finish / polish. Perfectly functional but no kasumi polish or cladding contrast bla bla. Lacks sexyness in that regard.
-Not much distal taper, the only taper you really get is in the last few centimeters from the normal vertical grind.
-Pretty 'middle of the road' grind. Not fat, but certainly no laser either. Basically the knife you can give to your parents or your girlfriend without worrying.
-No complaints about the HT; sharpens really nicely, good edge retention.
-They run consistently about 10mm short in edge length. So a 210er will be a 200, a 240 will be a 230.

They got a bit more expensive; they used to be stupid cheap (I paid 145 euros for one a few years ago; they're up to 180 euros now), but they're still great value.

 

[chefwp]

No experience on the Takada so I can't make a direct comparison, but the few things that come to mind about the Sukenari:

-Quite nice F&F for the price.. the octagonal ho wood handle is nothing fancy but was still nicely rounded and polished on mine. Have had worse handles on significantly more expensive knives. Choil was actually suprisingly nice on mine, spine was just okay (eased, but not luxuriously rounded like you'll find on some more expensive knives).
-Blade finish is rather bland on the Sukenari. Simple belt finish / polish. Perfectly functional but no kasumi polish or cladding contrast bla bla. Lacks sexyness in that regard.
-Not much distal taper, the only taper you really get is in the last few centimeters from the normal vertical grind.
-Pretty 'middle of the road' grind. Not fat, but certainly no laser either. Basically the knife you can give to your parents or your girlfriend without worrying.
-No complaints about the HT; sharpens really nicely, good edge retention.
-They run consistently about 10mm short in edge length. So a 210er will be a 200, a 240 will be a 230.

They got a bit more expensive; they used to be stupid cheap (I paid 145 euros for one a few years ago; they're up to 180 euros now), but they're still great value.

Thanks for your reply. Funny, I heard the Takada Ginsans also run short the same way you describe.

 

[Jovidah]

Oh another thing that came to mind. CKTG has a video on the Ginsan; might be worth having a look at to get a feel for the actual profile.
There's also some reviews on other Sukenari knives floating around here and they sounded very much like 'same knife, just in different steel' to me, so most of what is written in there should also be reasonably representative of the ginsan line.

 

[JimMaple98]

Sukenari ginsan is good value with a nice profile and grind IMO, choil and spine are eased enough they won’t be uncomfortable, but not fully rounded like on Takada.

cant go wrong with either but I would put my cash on the Sukenari and finish it up myself.

 

[daniel_il]

sukenari are nice knives, fairly sturdy feel, very nice f&f and good all around profile but they are quite short at the heel.

personally i tried the sukenari side by side with my s.tanaka, for me the tanaka is better because of the extra height and thinner behind the edge.

iv'e also got takayuki ginsan (yamasuta) which is very well made, but the 240 is actual size is 230*49 so i hardly using it.