Hello from PA

[shanooo97]

Hello!
I have been interested in Japanese Knives for awhile and have been reading the forums to learn as much as I can. Looking forward to posting more often and learning from all of the members here!

I have a mushrooming knife, fin and fowl, and a couple pocket knives. No Japanese Knives yet but hoping to pick one up soon.

I like the idea of iron clad and deciding between these two knives. Any recommendations between 210 vs 240 in general for a gyuto?
1. Hatsukokoro Komorebi B2 210 Gyuto
2. Yamamoto Asai Aogami Super Kurouchi Tsuchime Ironclad 240 Gyuto

Is it better to start off with a "less expensive" knife to learn how to sharpen properly on or do I just bite the bullet and learn on the way? Hmm... what are your thoughts!

Thanks!

 

[daveb]

Welcome.

If you fill out the "Which Knife?" questionnaire, you'll get recommendations that are (mostly) tailored to your requirements.

 

[shanooo97]

@daveb Thank you! I will fill out the questionnaire

 

[birdsfan]

Welcome neighbor! By all means, the questionaire will help you get more focused recommendations. Generall speaking, I would recomend getting an inexpensive simple carbon steel knife to learn to practice sharpening with. When I first got into this, I thought I could practice on my old Germans. Sharpening that is very different than sharpening something made from Japanese steels. It was frankly disheartening trying to get a good edge on it with my King KDS 1000/6000 starter stone. (and it loaded the stone)

 

[shanooo97]

Welcome neighbor! By all means, the questionaire will help you get more focused recommendations. Generall speaking, I would recomend getting an inexpensive simple carbon steel knife to learn to practice sharpening with. When I first got into this, I thought I could practice on my old Germans. Sharpening that is very different than sharpening something made from Japanese steels. It was frankly disheartening trying to get a good edge on it with my King KDS 1000/6000 starter stone. (and it loaded the stone)

Hello!
I grew up in the Philly suburb area in Montgomery County but live in Central PA now. Thanks for the advice! I have a carbon steel fin and fowl knife I should practice with more. Probably a good idea and less future heartache to start with a less expensive knife but my heart says to go with one I'll be most excited to use. Do you recommend the King KDS 1000/6000 stone?

 

[birdsfan]

I am presently in Montco, but that central PA area is a nice place to be!

Hah, believe me, I can empathize with your desire to go for a fun knife right out of the gate. The KKF enabler in me says "hey, get both!" If you do start with an expensive one, just go slow with sharpening at first. You can't put the metal back on once it comes off.

The King was a fine starter stone for me. Honestly, the 6000 side is sort of a waste. Even now, I rarely go above 3000. Just my preference, for what I cut, peppers tomatoes etc, a toothy edge sort of works better. I am not a sharpening guru, my knife craft time is spent more on other aspects of the hobby. That said, I don't feel qualified to render much advice on stones. I presently really like cerax 1000, and Belgium blues, but I am sure there are better starter stones out there.