Gyuto heel height
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A 5mm spined knife would need more height to develop into a more gentle convexed grind, but a 2mm spined knife don't need that, with more height it just become more flimsy, at least in my experience
bahamaroot
Idiot Savant
Ooooh gotcha, thanks!
myguidingmoonlight
Senior Member
Because distal taper helps too, 50mm heel height is fine if the front part of the knife is thin like a laser's.
If the Kato is 7mm throughout and only 50mm tall it'll cut like crap.
bahamaroot
Idiot Savant
And how often do you ever see a knife 7mm throughout, they're just so popular....
myguidingmoonlight
Senior Member
I'm just saying the Kato can get away with thick spine at 50mm because it has strong distal taper for a thin tip.
There’re always outliers
Jovidah
I'll make you a sponsor offer you can't refuse...
I don't think there's necessarily a direct relationship between a person's size and blade height preference. I'm about 6'2-6'3 (1,90), my counters aren't particularly tall, and I still prefer lower blade height.
tim huang
Well-Known Member
ill say 55 or something else for a actual 240mm gyuto, but if the actual length is 230 or even 225 (YES, SAKAI 
), them 53 would be good for me.
), them 53 would be good for me.
sumis
Senior Member
yeah. it’s relative to workbench height. a tall knife needs a lower working surface. or high heels.
workbenches are usually too le for me, so yes, when working in someone else’s kitchen i should probably bring a taller knife. but a low working surface pisses me if anyway for other reasons. at home i’ve tweaked everything too my 185cm stature
.
plantgainz
Well-Known Member
The higher the better for me 
would like at least 55mm
would like at least 55mm
Under 240 length I would not want a gyuto profile. I would go with either a rectangle or a sujihiki. Knuckle clearance is not an issue either way. Rectangles have plenty of clearance. I don't use sujihikis for board work.
At 240-250 I would want nothing taller than 45. I prefer a gyuto-hiki line knife kind of profile at this length with a laserish grind.
At 250-300+ I want enough meat that the knife doesn't feel bendy. But I am pretty open beyond that. Thick grind, thin grind, tall, short, I like to have different arrows in the quiver for different tasks. And I prefer most of my arrows to be 250-300mm long.
At 240-250 I would want nothing taller than 45. I prefer a gyuto-hiki line knife kind of profile at this length with a laserish grind.
At 250-300+ I want enough meat that the knife doesn't feel bendy. But I am pretty open beyond that. Thick grind, thin grind, tall, short, I like to have different arrows in the quiver for different tasks. And I prefer most of my arrows to be 250-300mm long.
48mm-51mm. Maybe it’s just the taller ones that I’ve tried, but above that, I feel like the elbow angle gets changed and it’s less comfortable. No issues with a 57mm-60mm nakiri.
The taller the better, 50 mm minimum, +55 mm great, closer to 60 mm… yasss! 
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A bit surprised about all these wide gyutos. Recently got a 255mm NOS Sukehisa from JNS, and must admit, at the first look it was a bit narrower than I expected. But an extremely comfortable lightweight, to me at least. The discussion made me to measure my favourites: NOS Sab 250 Nogent, the forementioned Sukehisa 255, the 1922 Herder 230, all around 46mm. Vintages I use a lot have got even narrower. Above 52mm only 270s. Is there a tendency to have common 240s wider than they used to be?
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Yeah I’d say with the rise of custom work among western makers there’s going to be an increase in atypical things like super tall blades. Now it’s just becoming the norm for lots of smiths.
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I checked my most ground down line knife. It's the absolute minimum height that works for knuckle clearance without having to adjust my grip, 43mm for my large hands and long fingers.
This is why you should always do a little maintenance thinning of the handle every time you sharpen!
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It is very interesting and somewhat surprising that so many like shorter at the heel knives and yet such knives don’t seem to sell very well on BST. I like around 53 for a 240-245 length but 48-55 works for me for that length. Taller and I might start having to think about which board to use. Lately I’ve gotten a few excellent knives that are 49-52. Knuckle clearance is not a problem even shorter and very much depends on how tall the neck or the handle of the knife is as well as the handle angle to the edge.
Jovidah
I'll make you a sponsor offer you can't refuse...
It's possible that the people doing the selling and the people with the preference are not in geographic locations. I've seen many interesting things on BST that I'd have happily jumped on if it was sold in Europe.
aporigine
The slow blade penetrates the winter squash
Officer thinking, that
parbaked
Senior Member
You jest, but here's Masaharu Morimoto's knives - they're all the same knife, newest to oldest. Oldest is 3 years old. Pretty crazy amount of thinning on the steel for just 3 years, never mind the handle. I guess at some point he swaps over to using his yani as a petty.
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What’s the rationale behind sanding away mainly the middle of the handle instead of sanding the entire handle equally overtime as the blade reduces in size?
I suspect he sands the handle more for cleaning vs thinning. So he's just focusing on where his hand lands.
Is not sanding…
Is handing!
Is handing!
Byphy
By
Personally, I don't equate lower heel height w more skill, just more comfort. If I could handle a big Chinese Cleaver with accuracy and precision, I bet I'd have fun using it
or he has crazy grip strength…
