Thoughts on Sukenari?

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choochoochop

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I was checking out the Sukenari 240 AS on K&S. The specs look interesting, midweight ~230mm. Has anyone tried one of these, or similar, and able to comment on profile/grind?
 
I really like mine, it is YXR7. Very nice middle weight. The profile is good, grind is midweight, not the thinnest behind the edge, but also not too wedgy. The size is good, mine is 230x51 I believe. All in all a very solid knife. Every once in a while I want to get one more, but in HAP40 this time around, just because I like the one I have a lot and like to play with different steels.
 
I really like mine, it is YXR7. Very nice middle weight. The profile is good, grind is midweight, not the thinnest behind the edge, but also not too wedgy. The size is good, mine is 230x51 I believe. All in all a very solid knife. Every once in a while I want to get one more, but in HAP40 this time around, just because I like the one I have a lot and like to play with different steels.

I recall reading somewhere that the profiles have a lot of belly. Does yours have a decent flat spot?
 
I recall reading somewhere that the profiles have a lot of belly. Does yours have a decent flat spot?
They used to have a decent flat spot, at least mine did. They laser cut or stamp most of their gyutos so they should remain pretty consistent.
 
I recall reading somewhere that the profiles have a lot of belly. Does yours have a decent flat spot?
It's pretty flat, good profile.

PXL_20210127_011103420.jpg
 
I really like mine, it is YXR7. Very nice middle weight. The profile is good, grind is midweight, not the thinnest behind the edge, but also not too wedgy. The size is good, mine is 230x51 I believe. All in all a very solid knife. Every once in a while I want to get one more, but in HAP40 this time around, just because I like the one I have a lot and like to play with different steels.

How's the YXR7 on the stones? Is your thinking on HAP40 would be to have higher HRC and thus thinner edge?
 
How's the YXR7 on the stones? Is your thinking on HAP40 would be to have higher HRC and thus thinner edge?
I really like yxr7 and originally picked it over hap40 because I believed that higher toughness is more important than wear resistance for a kitchen knife. Since then I learned that hap40 is tough enough for my uses and that it being harder is a benefit to me. I've also since then aquired quality diamond stones, so hard, high wear steels don't scare me anymore. Thinner edges is a possibility, but since I free hand sharpen, realistically all my knives get the same angle whatever it is. It is not optimal for all steels and sometimes I increase it on chippy or soft steels, but in general I don't mess with it. I measured my sharpening angle a few times and it is somewhere in the 15-17° per side range plus/minus the phase of the moon as compared to the time of day and time of year.
 
I really like yxr7 and originally picked it over hap40 because I believed that higher toughness is more important than wear resistance for a kitchen knife. Since then I learned that hap40 is tough enough for my uses and that it being harder is a benefit to me. I've also since then aquired quality diamond stones, so hard, high wear steels don't scare me anymore. Thinner edges is a possibility, but since I free hand sharpen, realistically all my knives get the same angle whatever it is. It is not optimal for all steels and sometimes I increase it on chippy or soft steels, but in general I don't mess with it. I measured my sharpening angle a few times and it is somewhere in the 15-17° per side range plus/minus the phase of the moon as compared to the time of day and time of year.
You should sell me that yxr7 and get yourself the hap40 :D
 
I recall reading somewhere that the profiles have a lot of belly. Does yours have a decent flat spot?
I have one in HAP40. I wouldn't describe it as having a lot of belly, and the back part is pretty flat. Maybe some lines have more belly? Mine is 230 x 50 and I really like it. Haven't found the steel to be chippy. I did give it some thinning soon after purchase. I wouldn't describe it as particularly thin, especially in comparison to some other knives, but I like the way it cuts. In my collection it complements a couple lasers and very thin behind the edge knives.
 
Yea, I guess I’m interpreting it as a finish with high grit lines extending basically the length of the blade, whether produced via hand sanding or some other method. But idk much here.
 
I have the ginsan version in 270mm, and agree with Barmoley and toddnmd about the grind. It's nicely convex with decent food release for its weight. Not really wedgy but tended to split the center of apples and potatoes instead of cutting completely through. I like mine a lot better after some thinning - it's so close to ideal that it's not much effort.

I also like the low-tip profile, and the lack of absolute flat spot. If you compare edge profiles it's very similar to the Masamoto KS but with more of a forehead instead of a pointy tip. I don't like dead-flat spots, they tend to stop the knife on the board. A very slight curve like the Sukenari helps keep the cutting motion continuous without leading to accordion cuts.

Another thing to note is the almost complete absence of distal taper, which can be a positive or negative depending on how you prefer the balance. It's come to feel very natural to me, like an old glove.
 
K-Tips Suke have more belly, gyutos a longer flat spot.

Profile choice notwithstanding they have just that right ballpark everything where it works: good weight and balance for length, right height, well finished choil and spine. Hairline finish is carried pretty beautifully (for what it is) on my SG2.

You might want to check this out:

https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/threads/review-sukenari-sg2-k-tip.50893/
 
I’ve owed (240 gyutos)
ginsan / k-tip hap-40 / YXR ... and still own a dammy zdp.
I think they are really under rated. mainly because they had variances in the grind Pre-2013 models (That I’ve handled) But I think they lost a lot of market share of vendors and people latching on to the brand because of it.
post 2014 (all of what I’ve owned) ... have been consistent grinds. Yes can be slightly thicker, but behind the edge is very good. I keep resenting not owning more, but I just Enjoy the maintenance of carbon ... at least for now.
their HT is very very good, i don’t know if any having a bad heat treat also, which I have come to learn is pretty amazing.
 
I’ve owed (240 gyutos)
ginsan / k-tip hap-40 / YXR ... and still own a dammy zdp.
I think they are really under rated. mainly because they had variances in the grind Pre-2013 models (That I’ve handled) But I think they lost a lot of market share of vendors and people latching on to the brand because of it.
post 2014 (all of what I’ve owned) ... have been consistent grinds. Yes can be slightly thicker, but behind the edge is very good. I keep resenting not owning more, but I just Enjoy the maintenance of carbon ... at least for now.
their HT is very very good, i don’t know if any having a bad heat treat also, which I have come to learn is pretty amazing.
Did you also find that they didnt have much of a distal taper?
 
Did you also find that they didnt have much of a distal taper?
No they All didn’t. After some use, you really get use to not having a distal taper.
really A lot of great knives don’t have distal. Off the top of my head Morihiro grids /tanaka forged/ shirki forged, all the honyaki’s I’ve owned, all the KU blades I’ve ever owed, TF’s, and of the Dammy Stainless blades I’ve ever owned. With Distal I think mazaki/ kato/ shig / jiro ... maybe yoshikane. And those are not my style. .... maybe I’m wrong ... can somebody else chime in on this sukenari distal vs other brands distal.
 
Sukenari spine as per my review: 2.6 heel / 2.2 mid / 2 @ 35mm to tip / 1 @ 10mm to tip. Not much of anything going on there. Then 10mm behind the edge is the same heel to tip. A decrease of 1.6mm from heel to tip at the spine for a 230mm edge is almost a straight line.

Most knives don't have much tapering going on from mid-blade to 35mm to tip - no matter Sanjo or not.

But take a Yoshikane 3.9 / 2 / 1.7 / 0.7 and that's saying something for a 214mm edge. From mid blade to tip there is about as much taper as for Sukenari's whole blade. That's 107mm edge length with the distal taper of a Sukenari's full 230mm edge. 10mm behind the edge, the Yoshikane goes from 1.1 / 0.5 / < 0.1 at the heel to 0.7 / 0.4 / < 0.1 at the tip. So the whole grind, until the very edge, carries that distal taper to some extent.

Y. Tanaka are usually nowhere near Sanjo like at the heel, but I always found they had a nice taper thing going on, still no more of it in the mid blade to 35mm to tip area though. Mine 200mm is 2.9 / 2 / 1.7 / 1. Former 240mm taller Tanaka was 3.7 / 2.2 / 1.7 / 0.8 for 243mm. I call this taper, but still Yoshikane does more with more than an inch less length.

What sometimes look like dramatic taper in Sanjo knives happens from handle to somewhere between heel and well before mid-blade. I find this rather artificial. Like mine Toyama 4.1 / 2.2 / 2 / 1.6 or something like that.
 
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I have a YXR7 k-tip and an AS gyuto. Both at the very thin end of middleweight. Generous convexity given their thickness. Fairly thin behind edge given their thickness. Both pretty flat profiles. Not much taper.

They are good knives. And Sukenari seem pretty serious about their heat treatments.
 
I had a HAP40 and a Ginsan and they are super solid Allrounders in my esitmation. And reasonable priced too. Good convex grind, profile and heat treatment.
Only things I would change are a slightly thicker back out of the handle for comfort and maybe a tad thinner behind the edge, but that's also subjective...
 
Had a/have a sg2 (240 sold and a 270 I kept) by Sukenari and it was one of the best versions of sg2 I’ve used rivaling Ryusen in terms of heat treat. Really durable, wasn’t super micro chipping either out of box or after initial sharpening, nice fairly middle of road profiles, felt good on stones. Doesn’t feel like White #1 on stones or something but better than you would expect. Sukenari does a really nice job and their Stuff is a good deal.

have a zdp 189 Damascus as well that is absolutely wonderful, expensive and hard to say if it’s “worth it” but damn is it nice and performs great. Also zdp holds an edge for a long long long time under normal use especially at this high of hardness. Check out some of Kippingtons old videos of him with his zdp 189 gyutos, they are way tougher than one would think
 
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I've heard really good things about Sukenari's HT. I'm really excited to receive mine - hairline 240 k-tip ZDP. It was supposed to arrive last tuesday, but FedEx has had fun with me and I'll only finally receive it tomorrow.
 
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