Masamoto KS Preview

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Salty dog

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I'm doing the whole shabang on a KS gyuto. Here are two preliminary shots.

Honyaki left, KS right

IMG_5298.jpg


After polishing

IMG_5302.jpg


More to come
 
I have been looking at this knife on and off for a while , cant wait to hear what you have to say about it salty
 
Really looking forward to this. I have been looking at the KS for a while, seems like a great value.
 
This should be an interesting one. The only person i know of that has both knives actually prefered the KS.

I personally doubt the honyaki is worth the extra $800 or so, even if it is the better knife.
 
After polishing it they sure look alike minus the hamon. The KS is lighter and a tad smaller. (163g vs 177)
 
Looking forward to the review!
 
Can't wait to see the result and your opinion Salty..... I'm about to pulled a trigger on one of those, this is a prefect time.......
 
Looking forward to the review!

+1!!!

Seems to me the main advantage to a honyaki over a solid steel blade such as the KS is the hardness. Honyaki's, in gerenel, to me, seem to be on the thicker side and that can give the opportunity for wider bevels and greater convexivity (there's a new word, lol!); but single steel lasers have their advantages too.

This should be good!!!
 
Yay! Love this idea. Also hoping somewhere down the line we might see the Mizuno Akitada Hontanren blue 2 wa guyto vs your suminigashi Miz gyuto vs. your honyaki Miz gyutos.... (crosses fingers).
 
The KS appears to be a hair shorter and a fraction of a hair thinner at the spine in the first pic; can't wait to see some profile comparisons.
 
Img938.jpg


I think it is this one. I was wondering about why it was so thin. That it is made of solid steel explains it.

M
 
I think this one has more curve toward the tip. Still like the profile a lot.
 
I wasn't 100% sure and I also didn't know that they made a gyuto with this different shape and not clad. If it's been out for awhile then I somehow missed it.
 
Cool Salty can't wait to see the results. Wonder if there would be much difference between one of those and a Kono? Think that would be interesting to see.
 
I wasn't 100% sure and I also didn't know that they made a gyuto with this different shape and not clad. If it's been out for awhile then I somehow missed it.

Yeah, this is the gyuto that people are talking about when they say Masamoto KS gyuto. I know that Masamoto makes a clad gyuto, but I have never seen one. Not a single pic from a forum member that I have ever seen. I thought it was the white rhino.

You must have seen them before though Dave, as obviously when someone says Masamoto wa gyuto you think clad. Interesting.
 
Discussion of the mysterious clad Masamoto. From FF

Look at the Masamoto catalog carefully, and note the difference in price between sanmai and non-sanmai within a given style and line. You'll notice that sanmai costs a LOT more than non-sanmai. For example, the KS-3127 wa-gyuto (my beloved gyuto!) lists for ¥29,820, but the KS-2927, described exactly the same except for the phrase "three-sheet forged," i.e. sanmai, lists for ¥58,380. Masamoto most certainly charges a premium for being Masamoto, but I have never heard it suggested that you don't get what you pay for -- and they're charging double. That's not a game or a ripoff. And while I don't surf the American e-tailers of these knives much, I have not seen this KS-29XX gyuto series for sale in them, and suspect that the market is exclusively Japanese -- and unquestionably professional.

You don't like sanmai, many others we like to chat with don't like them, I haven't used them anything like enough to have an opinion, but it appears that there are folks with very high standards and serious professional skills who prefer them and will pay big bucks for them. Why, I honestly don't know, but I do think that the blanket dismissal is somewhat inaccurate.

For those who read Japanese, which I fake from Chinese, here is the text:

KS-31XX: 水牛柄牛刀
[I read this "water buffalo horn handled gyuto"]
KS-3124 (240mm): ¥26,880
KS-3127 (270mm): ¥29,820
KS-3130 (300mm): ¥33,810
KS-3133 (330mm): ¥41,790

KS-29XX: 水牛柄三枚打牛刀
[ I read this "water buffalo horn handled three-sheet struck gyuto"]
KS-2924 (240mm): ¥54,390
KS-2927 (270mm): ¥58,380
KS-2930 (300mm): ¥64,470
 
Discussion of the mysterious clad Masamoto. From FF

Look at the Masamoto catalog carefully, and note the difference in price between sanmai and non-sanmai within a given style and line. You'll notice that sanmai costs a LOT more than non-sanmai. For example, the KS-3127 wa-gyuto (my beloved gyuto!) lists for ¥29,820, but the KS-2927, described exactly the same except for the phrase "three-sheet forged," i.e. sanmai, lists for ¥58,380. Masamoto most certainly charges a premium for being Masamoto, but I have never heard it suggested that you don't get what you pay for -- and they're charging double. That's not a game or a ripoff. And while I don't surf the American e-tailers of these knives much, I have not seen this KS-29XX gyuto series for sale in them, and suspect that the market is exclusively Japanese -- and unquestionably professional.

You don't like sanmai, many others we like to chat with don't like them, I haven't used them anything like enough to have an opinion, but it appears that there are folks with very high standards and serious professional skills who prefer them and will pay big bucks for them. Why, I honestly don't know, but I do think that the blanket dismissal is somewhat inaccurate.

For those who read Japanese, which I fake from Chinese, here is the text:

KS-31XX: 水牛柄牛刀
[I read this "water buffalo horn handled gyuto"]
KS-3124 (240mm): ¥26,880
KS-3127 (270mm): ¥29,820
KS-3130 (300mm): ¥33,810
KS-3133 (330mm): ¥41,790

KS-29XX: 水牛柄三枚打牛刀
[ I read this "water buffalo horn handled three-sheet struck gyuto"]
KS-2924 (240mm): ¥54,390
KS-2927 (270mm): ¥58,380
KS-2930 (300mm): ¥64,470

Like I said, white rhino. I'd love to see a pic of one, see if the profile and everthing else is the same. I also assume that you could probably get a suminigashi version, though it might be more expensive than the honyaki, if Masamoto follows Mizuno's pricing scheme.
 
My guess is a san-mai Masamoto gyoto is done in a traditional (forging) way, while a solid steel is likely made from sheet steel, hence the price difference. Solid steel knives can also be ground thinner, though I have seen very thin san-mai construction knives.

M
 
Yeah, that's definitely why there is a price difference. I just wonder if there is a difference in profile and geometry.
 
Yeah, that's definitely why there is a price difference. I just wonder if there is a difference in profile and geometry.

Monosteel is thinner than Masamoto honyaki (whichi is much thinner than san mai gyuto) and has, what it looks like, a little more curve toward the tip. Scott mentioned that it as thin as a suji.

M
 
I'm willing to bet the monosteel is thinner only on the heel half of the knife. The tip half of the honyaki is quite thin and esp near the tip.
 
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