Hiromoto honyaki gyuto impression?

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ynot1985

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Hi has anyone used this before?

Any pro/cons?

Haven't seen any reviews online and would like to know more.. Thanks
 
It caught attention cause it's so cheap for a carbon honyaki ...sometimes I wonder if it's not a knife that is raved on here by many people, does that mean it's bad?
 
i dont have the gyuto but have the honyaki santoku. I think hiromoto in general are not focused on the fit and finish, so as long as that is not a top requirement I believe they are solid. Loving my santoku so far.
 
As long as performance is good and cuts well.. Which is define as fit?

Fit and finish (F&F) could describe things including but not limited to handle scales/tang being flush with no gaps, roughness of choil, errant grind marks; overall aesthetics that aren't necessarily related to performance. My Sukenari honyaki Gyuto has a higher OOTB F&F than my Watanabe honyaki gyuto, but significantly improved the Watanabe by removing the grind marks on the emoto & choil, polished it up nicely
 
there are a number of glowing comments around about the bolsterless knife. supposed to be good value for money.
 
Fit and finish (F&F) could describe things including but not limited to handle scales/tang being flush with no gaps, roughness of choil, errant grind marks; overall aesthetics that aren't necessarily related to performance. My Sukenari honyaki Gyuto has a higher OOTB F&F than my Watanabe honyaki gyuto, but significantly improved the Watanabe by removing the grind marks on the emoto & choil, polished it up nicely

Actually tjangula, what's your impression of the Sukenari Honyaki?
 
Actually tjangula, what's your impression of the Sukenari Honyaki?

I like it but haven't used for awhile (spring/summer) as I took the handle off to do some polsihing, now I have the custom handle so should get back to it. There is at least one other member here who has one and really likes it, said in a thread in the same league as his shig and Carter.

I've had three Sukenari knives: the zdp-189 and AS (both stainless Damascus clad) gyutos, as well as the Shirogami#1 honyaki gyuto; I liked the others but when it came time to free up some funds, the honyaki is the one that stayed put
 
Thanks or the info Tjangula.. I think it will be on my wishlist then.. I wanted the shig Kitaeji from Japan wood worker but it became too problematic to get into Australia with the freight cost and import duties, I decided to use the expense else where.. this could be it

decided with the Hiromoto first and when i get the hang of the honyaki, I will get the Sukenari one when I visit Seki next year and see if I can drop by Koki's office to pick it up
 
Love both my 240mm gyuto and sujihiki. Look generic. The fit and finish is really excellent. Not what I was expecting from a Hiromoto.
 
The Sukenari is a little strange knife, meaning, the mirror polish, does not have the same standards all the time, sometimes, even among the two sides of the same blade. Yet, even when it is not perfect(I suppose, it must depend on the batches and the technician), it is still better than the Mizuno gyuto mirror finish level, which has stable quality. Sukenari also has half rounded spine and choil compared to Mizuno that is between eased and half rounded, but the only knife that I have with fully rounded spine(and by far in every detail best fit and finish is Hiromoto Yo Gyuto 30cm. Yes, that knife is the fit and finish champion.

I have used the Sukenaris very little, only at home, this will be their year. So far, by the ootb edge, which is decent, they cut great.
White 1 has more aggressive cutting properties than White 2(blue 2 as well), which makes me wonder why such a fever for Kato and Shigefusa( I never had one, or touched one -that's why I wonder - Idont mean to belittle the knives, still, they are cladded white 2).
As I read, here in the forums by someone, cladded knives are like wearing a condom( I am very satisfied with many cladded knives, but I agree with that statement, and I will add that monosteel feels natural, and Honyaki feels on viagra).

The strange thing about Sukenari Honyaki Gyutos, is that at all lengths, it is almost the same knife, but longer or shorter.
By that I mean: The Sukenari Honyaki Gyuto 27cm may be the exact same profile with the Masamoto KS 24cm gyuto(they are both around 255mm cutting edge). The tip is a little different though.
The gyuto 24cm Sukenari, is identical in everything with the 27cm, just shorter, and the same applies for the 21 cm.
That means that the 21cm is wide for a 21cm, and that the 27cm is narrow for a 27cm.
But they are all great and very beautiful!!! Also White 1!!! This is the most important.
And compared to Fujiwaras White 1, cheaper and mirror Honyaki, not rustique cladding, more expensive.

One more thing that I have to mention, is the profile comparison, between Sukenari and Mizuno 24cm gyutos.
Mizuno is thicker in the spine, taller and heavier.
Yet, the shape of the lower 50% part of the blade, over the edge, are almost identical.
The tip is at the exactly same height, the cutting edge is the same, all the edge profile is the same, with the exception of the 2 cm curve under the tip. the curve there at 1-2cm is a little different. So practically, they have the same profile, with Mizuno having extra cm in height. Over the edge, both are very thin with Sukenari being a very little thinner, and having edge out of the box.

About Hiromotos, I have written everything on previous posts.
I cant tell about the sujihiki, I havent used it yet, but out of the box it had worse edge than the gyuto.
I love the metal bolster gyuto version(I cant talk about the other version) the best western knife ever.
I have managed to mirror polish it evenly all over the blade, up to a degree, big upgrade.
I love mirror polish finishes.
I love as well the santoku with the more gyuto-ish profile.
 
The Sukenari is a little strange knife, meaning, the mirror polish, does not have the same standards all the time, sometimes, even among the two sides of the same blade. Yet, even when it is not perfect(I suppose, it must depend on the batches and the technician), it is still better than the Mizuno gyuto mirror finish level, which has stable quality. Sukenari also has half rounded spine and choil compared to Mizuno that is between eased and half rounded, but the only knife that I have with fully rounded spine(and by far in every detail best fit and finish is Hiromoto Yo Gyuto 30cm. Yes, that knife is the fit and finish champion.

I have used the Sukenaris very little, only at home, this will be their year. So far, by the ootb edge, which is decent, they cut great.
White 1 has more aggressive cutting properties than White 2(blue 2 as well), which makes me wonder why such a fever for Kato and Shigefusa( I never had one, or touched one -that's why I wonder - Idont mean to belittle the knives, still, they are cladded white 2).
As I read, here in the forums by someone, cladded knives are like wearing a condom( I am very satisfied with many cladded knives, but I agree with that statement, and I will add that monosteel feels natural, and Honyaki feels on viagra).

The strange thing about Sukenari Honyaki Gyutos, is that at all lengths, it is almost the same knife, but longer or shorter.
By that I mean: The Sukenari Honyaki Gyuto 27cm may be the exact same profile with the Masamoto KS 24cm gyuto(they are both around 255mm cutting edge). The tip is a little different though.
The gyuto 24cm Sukenari, is identical in everything with the 27cm, just shorter, and the same applies for the 21 cm.
That means that the 21cm is wide for a 21cm, and that the 27cm is narrow for a 27cm.
But they are all great and very beautiful!!! Also White 1!!! This is the most important.
And compared to Fujiwaras White 1, cheaper and mirror Honyaki, not rustique cladding, more expensive.

One more thing that I have to mention, is the profile comparison, between Sukenari and Mizuno 24cm gyutos.
Mizuno is thicker in the spine, taller and heavier.
Yet, the shape of the lower 50% part of the blade, over the edge, are almost identical.
The tip is at the exactly same height, the cutting edge is the same, all the edge profile is the same, with the exception of the 2 cm curve under the tip. the curve there at 1-2cm is a little different. So practically, they have the same profile, with Mizuno having extra cm in height. Over the edge, both are very thin with Sukenari being a very little thinner, and having edge out of the box.

About Hiromotos, I have written everything on previous posts.
I cant tell about the sujihiki, I havent used it yet, but out of the box it had worse edge than the gyuto.
I love the metal bolster gyuto version(I cant talk about the other version) the best western knife ever.
I have managed to mirror polish it evenly all over the blade, up to a degree, big upgrade.
I love mirror polish finishes.
I love as well the santoku with the more gyuto-ish profile.


Thanks for the lengthy write up SuperSaiyan... I went with the non bolster version as Koki said the they are the same blade except one has the bolster and the other hasn't. The price difference was $160 so I went for the cheaper one. Let's hope it's as good as the one with the bolster
 
Actually, I am thinking of getting one as well :)

I have to mention, that I dont have a KS 240mm(i will get one at some point), But based on dimensions and the fact that first generation Sukenari used to work for Masamoto, makes me think that Sukenari Honyaki 27cm and Masamoto KS 24cm, might be almost identical profiles.
 
I forgot to mention about the Sukenari hamon. It is very unique, very different-original compared to all others, and the master who does the hamon, has really mastered his art, since below the main hamon pattern, the hamon has some...hamon dots?, I dont know how to describe it, look at photos on internet to understand what I am trying to say. For sure it takes special skill to predict the hamon pattern result in the final product
 
would love to see some pics of the bolster honyaki knives... especially the suji! but also the gyuto the 270 on JCK looks like it has just about a perfect grind on it.
 
I cant tell about the gyuto 27cm, I never had one.
I fell in love with 24cm at first touch, and after getting it in the kitchen, I got myself a second.

Also my Iphone's camera, after repeated falls these days, is not working properly anymore, but if you pm me your e-mail, I can send you some older ones
 
I just got my bolster less honyaki back from wa-conversion done by robin Dalman.... It is a brilliant knife now [emoji2]

I thought that these would be good candidates for handle reassignment surgery.


As for Sukenari…
I agree about the Hamon, has the wavy pattern but the dots as well. I also read that Sukenari made knives for other brands, do you recall where you came across this information SS3? Koki also indicates that Sukenari does honyaki well.

One thing though I'm not 100% on is the core steel of Shigefusa. They keep it secret, so although it may be (similar to) white #2, I recall its marketed as spicy Swedish steel and have also read it's similar to tamahagane.
 
I was surfing around the Sukenari website and it appears that they make limited runs for customers to spec... Hard to say because the JP-EN translation is poor. They have hap40 gyutos for sale atm.
 
I was surfing around the Sukenari website and it appears that they make limited runs for customers to spec... Hard to say because the JP-EN translation is poor. They have hap40 gyutos for sale atm.

I think the HAP40 are sold out since nov.
"2015.11.7 売り切れました"
 
I think the HAP40 are sold out since nov.
"2015.11.7 売り切れました"

Ohh, I wasn't sure because there was a button to purchase and a price- but I didn't click through. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't ship internationally.
 
I also read that Sukenari made knives for other brands, do you recall where you came across this information SS3?

I never said such a thing. I dont know, first time I hear about it

Actually, I am thinking of getting one as well :)

I have to mention, that I dont have a KS 240mm(i will get one at some point), But based on dimensions and the fact that first generation Sukenari used to work for Masamoto, makes me think that Sukenari Honyaki 27cm and Masamoto KS 24cm, might be almost identical profiles.

Sorry I read your previous comment wrong. I do recall seeing that Sukenari made knife for other brands but it was easily over a year ago so don't remember exactly where
 
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