Show me your flatspot

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danemonji

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Hi guys,

I have a sort of a dilema concerning the flatspot of a gyuto. I recently purchased a Shiraki 240mm gyuto . After putting it to work i have noticed that if i rest it on the cutting board, there is no clear dead flat area starting from the heel other then the first 3 cm. And this knife is supposed to have a good flat.
Can anyone help in showing what a true flat spot should look like...or at least some pictures (in countrejour) with the heel resting on a board.
Maybe there is no such thing as perfect flat or makers tend to give it a small curve towards the heel to satisfy all cutting styles.
Thanks
 
Oh man, i guess you bought the knife from James for the Jikko B#2 version ? yes, it's true that no knive will have absolute flat spot for the whole blade. it will slight cruved a little bit and that makes you will have much better cutting feeling rather than a full flat blade. by far ux10 240MM have the flatest belly in my collection.
 
Misono dragon 24 is pretty flat
A 27 Hiromoto As i have has a generous flat area
 
My Misono Swedish Carbon 24 has strictly speaking no flat spot but a continuous curve. Works like a deadly flat spot, only better IMO.
 
Very few of my knives have a true flat spot and those that do don't have it for very much length. I find a very slight continuous curve to be functionally flat. At least in that in use it works as if it were flat.
 
Those flat sections on Sabs are used for chopping herbs with the blade parallel to the board, one hand at the bolster and one somewhere at the middle.
 
Very few Japanese Chef's knives have a true flat spot as they are not really designed with rock chopping in mind.
 
For rock chopping a really flat section isn't that comfortable either. The transition to the flat section will cause a break.
 
Or a Chinese-style veggie cleaver even? There's no shortage of vegie destroying flat profile tools out there.
 
As a generalization, from the knives I own the ones with the most significant flat spots on them are 270mm knives. I think they tend to be flatter because many makers have their 270 as low at the heel as (or even lower than) their 240. That plus the longer blade tends to add up to less curve (or more gradual curve) on the edge.

Cheers,
Blair
 
This has the biggest flat in a gyuto I know of:
Masashi-Gyuto-SLD-240.jpg
 
My Misono dragon 24, is more than 1/3 length flat towards the heel, just checked it.
Sukenari Honyaki 24, around 1/2 flat (different profile than the as suk)
 
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