Kagekiyo Blue 240 vs Sakai Kikumori Choyo blue Gyuto 240

[shauk]

Hi all,

Has anyone been fortunate enough to handle both of these blades?

Got a couple of questions hoping KKFers can chime in and provide some feedback.

How are the fit and finish on the tang/handle side on both of these bad boys? Do they use hot glue or are they cemented/epoxied into the handle?

I think they're both forged by Y Tanaka and but curious about the sharpener, can anyone comment on the grind?

How reactive is the Ironclad on both of them?

For context, my current go-to knife is a Hitohira Togashi blue in stainless clad 240 gyuto in wide bevel.

I am leaning towards the Kagekiyo cause it comes with a matching lacquered Saya, but I do prefer the logo on the Choyo.

 

[myguidingmoonlight]

I'd go for the Kagekiyo; personally, I dislike the upwards slanted choil of the Choyo and the inferior ho wood handle compared to the Kagekiyo's black lacquer handle.

The Kagekiyo kanji is inlaid with the same black lacquer, looks utterly gorgeous and is one of my favourite kanji signatures out there.

 

[myguidingmoonlight]

The grind on my old White 2 Kagekiyo is fantastic; it ghosts through onions. Not as smooth when cutting root vegetables, but not much wedging on medium carrots.

 

[gentiscid]

Sharpener is Morihiro

 

[shauk]

I'd go for the Kagekiyo; personally, I dislike the upwards slanted choil of the Choyo and the inferior ho wood handle compared to the Kagekiyo's black lacquer handle.

The Kagekiyo kanji is inlaid with the same black lacquer, looks utterly gorgeous and is one of my favourite kanji signatures out there.

Yeah the ho wood handle kinda puts me off a little too, how would you compare the fit and finish of both knife?

 

[myguidingmoonlight]

Yeah the ho wood handle kinda puts me off a little too, how would you compare the fit and finish of both knife?

Kagekiyo's fit and finish is amongst the best in any J-knife brand I've tried. I'll list things I really liked about my Kagekiyo White 2.

1. The handle is coated with a thick and even layer of genuine urushi lacquer, making the handle waterproof yet decently grippy.
2. The choil is mirror polished and rounded for comfort. The spine has a double chamfer making a trapezoid shape extended all the way to the tip, all sides are polished.
3. The Kagekiyo kanji is deeply impressed into the hira and inlaid with the same lacquer, making a very clean look.
4. Diagonal migaki on the hira while the kireha has an artificial kasumi with a scratch pattern horizontal to the edge.
5. The shinogi, while clean, is eased to reduce wedging.
6. The saya is also coated with black lacquer and magnetized to ensure a snug fit.

If you can't tell by now, I'm a big fan of Kagekiyo blades.

 

[shauk]

Kagekiyo's fit and finish is amongst the best in any J-knife brand I've tried. I'll list things I really liked about my Kagekiyo White 2.

1. The handle is coated with a thick and even layer of genuine urushi lacquer, making the handle waterproof yet decently grippy.
2. The choil is mirror polished and rounded for comfort. The spine has a double chamfer making a trapezoid shape extended all the way to the tip, all sides are polished.
3. The Kagekiyo kanji is deeply impressed into the hira and inlaid with the same lacquer, making a very clean look.
4. Diagonal migaki on the hira while the kireha has an artificial kasumi with a scratch pattern horizontal to the edge.
5. The shinogi, while clean, is eased to reduce wedging.
6. The saya is also coated with black lacquer and magnetized to ensure a snug fit.

If you can't tell by now, I'm a big fan of Kagekiyo blades.

Sold Sold Sold, now the million dollar question, I've seen it being posted before but just to confirm the Gessin version is essentially marked so that Jon from KNI is able to track which kagekiyos are from him vs other retaillers.

 

[chefwp]

Kagekiyo's fit and finish is amongst the best in any J-knife brand I've tried. I'll list things I really liked about my Kagekiyo White 2.

1. The handle is coated with a thick and even layer of genuine urushi lacquer, making the handle waterproof yet decently grippy.
2. The choil is mirror polished and rounded for comfort. The spine has a double chamfer making a trapezoid shape extended all the way to the tip, all sides are polished.
3. The Kagekiyo kanji is deeply impressed into the hira and inlaid with the same lacquer, making a very clean look.
4. Diagonal migaki on the hira while the kireha has an artificial kasumi with a scratch pattern horizontal to the edge.
5. The shinogi, while clean, is eased to reduce wedging.
6. The saya is also coated with black lacquer and magnetized to ensure a snug fit.

If you can't tell by now, I'm a big fan of Kagekiyo blades.

I have the blue and I concur with all of these things, it is the finest knife I've used/owned.

 

[shinyunggyun]

Kagekiyos are pretty awesome. The better rivals to pit it against are the hitohira Tanaka kyuzos and the Sakai Kikumori Damascus wide bevel at strata. They are all on par in terms of performance.

 

[myguidingmoonlight]

Kagekiyos are pretty awesome. The better rivals to pit it against are the hitohira Tanaka kyuzos and the Sakai Kikumori Damascus wide bevel at strata. They are all on par in terms of performance.

Now I'm curious how Kagekiyo fares against Hado's wide bevels, the Hado's have pretty awesome F&F too, and I heard the grind is amazing.

 

[shinyunggyun]

Now I'm curious how Kagekiyo fares against Hado's wide bevels, the Hado's have pretty awesome F&F too, and I heard the grind is amazing.

This is just my opinion, but hado(Maruyama), I would put in the same tier as choyo. Also, I don’t think the current choyos and kagekiyos are done by morihiro anymore. Morihiro is supposed to be retired.

Kagekiyos, along with konosuke fm(myojin), takada, yohei, kyuzo, and nomura are the top tier Tanaka knives.

They all perform differently, but they all have this eerily similar Tanaka vibe about them when you use them. Top tier Tanaka vibe that is.

 

[chefwp]

I'd like to do a Kagekiyo blue 240 vs Takada suibuko blue 240. The Takada's are not easy to find now, but I'm gonna pull the trigger eventually I hope. I have a nakiri in that line, and its fit and feel are the only thing I've found so far that come close to the Kagekiyo's.

 

[chefwp]

Now I'm curious how Kagekiyo fares against Hado's wide bevels, the Hado's have pretty awesome F&F too, and I heard the grind is amazing.

Is Hado available in Blue steel, I've only seen white or ginsan?

 

[blokey]

This is just my opinion, but hado(Maruyama), I would put in the same tier as choyo. Also, I don’t think the current choyos and kagekiyos are done by morihiro anymore. Morihiro is supposed to be retired.

Kagekiyos, along with konosuke fm(myojin), takada, yohei, kyuzo, and nomura are the top tier Tanaka knives.

They all perform differently, but they all have this eerily similar Tanaka vibe about them when you use them. Top tier Tanaka vibe that is.

Any insight on who would be the new sharpener? I have seen some Yauchi Takeshi's work, they seems to be really good wide bevel.

 

[ahhactive]

Now I'm curious how Kagekiyo fares against Hado's wide bevels, the Hado's have pretty awesome F&F too, and I heard the grind is amazing.

incidentally i am also interested in the Kagekiyo. I have with me a Hado shiro1, Kikumori's tanaka damascus shiro 1 and also Takada Suiboku ao1. I can say that the Hado is no slouch. that knife is always in my rotation. its a stainless clad and i do love the grind. just pure heaven on onions, cabbages and the likes. As a homecook, i cant really differntiate on the edge retention, but I had to strop my hado after sharpening in ferbruary. So YMMV

 

[shauk]

This is just my opinion, but hado(Maruyama), I would put in the same tier as choyo. Also, I don’t think the current choyos and kagekiyos are done by morihiro anymore. Morihiro is supposed to be retired.

Kagekiyos, along with konosuke fm(myojin), takada, yohei, kyuzo, and nomura are the top tier Tanaka knives.

They all perform differently, but they all have this eerily similar Tanaka vibe about them when you use them. Top tier Tanaka vibe that is.

Yeah they were all on my list, it was very hard for me to decide between Togashi & Tanaka and went with Togashi cause I liked the shape of their gyuto more compared to Tanaka which has more of a curve near the tip.

Now that I've gotten a taste of Togashi with a stainless clad I'd like to try out Tanaka's works, this time in full reactive iron clad.