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dragonlord

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What type of knife(s) do you think you want?

I've been browsing this and other knife forums for a couple of days and I've narrowed it down to these 3

http://www.akro.co.uk/kai_shun_chefs_knife_25cm.php

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000VRXU0Y/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

http://www.japaneseknifecompany.com...TEEL/SUISIN/GYUTO240MM/tabid/290/Default.aspx

Why is it being purchased? What, if anything, are you replacing?

As I'm getting better at working in the kitchen my current £20 knife is showing it's limitations

What do you like and dislike about these qualities of your knives already?

Edge Quality/Retention-
Blunts far, far to quickly (after a punnet of mushrooms)

What grip do you use?
Still developing my grip

What kind of cutting motion do you use?

still developing

Where do you store them?

currently in a drawer, but will be buying a magnetic wall mount.

Have you ever oiled a handle?

nope, but will if necessary

What kind of cutting board(s) do you use?

wooden or plastic

For edge maintenance, do you use a strop, honing rod, pull through/other, or nothing?

Mino sharp and steel atm
Have they ever been sharpened?

yes

What is your budget?

£100-200
What do you cook and how often?
anything we decide to eat for dinner, and pretty much once a day every day.


Which of the knives above do you recommend (or any others), and which suppliers would you recommend for them?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I recommend a gyuto. Most here recommend 240 or 270, but for a home chef I found 225 to be ideal. However they are hard to find so 210, would be a good length for you :)

If you want carbon: 210 Carbonext is a hottie
If you want semi stainless the Konosuke HD 210 is a hottie
If you want stainless I would go for torjo DP or Fujiwara FKM series (these are really cheap and great starters)

The Hiromoto is also a knife you would find fun to start off with. Its a nice learner knife...
 
Would any of the knives I linked to be appropriate ? As I'd rather not import if possible
 
I was lucky enough to use a Suisin at JKI. Thats a great knife and the last of the ones you have listed.

Pesky
 
If I had to choose between the three you listed as finalists I would go with the Suisin as well (based solely on my reading here and elsewhere).
 
I have a Tojiro Senkou 240mm that I am very happy with. But it's a somewhat different style than the one you linked with here (which in the states is called Flash). Cutleryandmore has what I'm talking about, and it's listed on Tojiro's site too. Not too expensive, very sharp, very nice fit and finish.
 
I have a Tojiro Senkou 240mm that I am very happy with. But it's a somewhat different style than the one you linked with here (which in the states is called Flash). Cutleryandmore has what I'm talking about, and it's listed on Tojiro's site too. Not too expensive, very sharp, very nice fit and finish.
I think senkou and flash are different lines of Tojiro. I have a couple tojiros I like them a lot. That being said I ditto the Suisin comment. It is on my list of better knives also based solely on reading about them.
 
Would any of the knives I linked to be appropriate ? As I'd rather not import if possible

from my experience it is better to import, can sometimes even work out cheaper...but saying that you can't get knives that you find from CKTG and JKI on any site in the UK. I bought a konosuke fujiyama 240mm gyuto from chef knives to go and with shipping it came to $230 which is less then £200 pound. It worked out abit more with import duty but i suppose its worth it. You should check out the konosuke HD or White #2 gyuto. You can get sharpening stones from edenwebshops.co.uk for a reasonable price at a later date to keep your knife in check...the prices on there to the uk are pretty good.
 
Just used this site to work out how much an HD-8 would cost to import (before post office holding charges) and it works out at £182 total cost to land, which unfortunately is at the top end of my budget

edit : corrected price
 
I have a similiar shun, 8" hollow ground. I really like the knife, really sharp.
 
Just used this site to work out how much an HD-8 would cost to import (before post office holding charges) and it works out at £182 total cost to land, which unfortunately is at the top end of my budget

edit : corrected price

import duty will be nil with jck unless you want to tell them otherwise.
 
ok, how does that work? or do they just not label the package with anything useful?
 
ok, how does that work? or do they just not label the package with anything useful?

Japanese EMS shipping is awesome. Very fast and reliable.

140 quid for that Suisin moly is an absolute rip off. Everything on that japanese knife company site is wildly overpriced. Some of the descriptions/prices for what are OEM blades are ridiculous.
 
As others have said, I'd recommend you narrow your search to JCK. $7 shipping and it usually takes 3 days, pretty amazing service. Basically there is nowhere in the UK I'd buy a knife, they all rip you off and try to blind you with ********. As Tim says, so many of the knives are just rebranded and pretty low quality but from the marketing speil and price you'd think they were Centuries old samurai swords. Getting things from the US and Japan from other vendors is always very smooth, import duties usually aren't too bad, just a bit of a delay that is all. But you don't need to worry about that with JCK, I'd go for the Carbonext or Hiromoto AS if I were you
 
I'd put tax around £25-£35 if shipped from the US, i may order from jck in future if tax is nil
 
As others have said, I'd recommend you narrow your search to JCK. $7 shipping and it usually takes 3 days, pretty amazing service. Basically there is nowhere in the UK I'd buy a knife, they all rip you off and try to blind you with ********. As Tim says, so many of the knives are just rebranded and pretty low quality but from the marketing speil and price you'd think they were Centuries old samurai swords. Getting things from the US and Japan from other vendors is always very smooth, import duties usually aren't too bad, just a bit of a delay that is all. But you don't need to worry about that with JCK, I'd go for the Carbonext or Hiromoto AS if I were you

^ This.

Carbonext clearly a value leader. Hiromoto G3 a solid option in stainless, made from Hitachi's highly tegarded ginsan-ko steel.
 
Ok, new list of 2

Hiromoto As 240mm gyuto
Hattori hd-8 (also 240mm gyuto)

Note : can't find carbonext on the site
 
Most would plump for the Hiro, which was the "it" knife (or very close) at one point. The Hattori will be panned by the Vg10 haters, others will say Hattori Vg10 > other Vg10
 
I have been thinking about buying that knife from there, just to see if I like the style. I have spent more for knives I don't like so good deal.
 
Ok, so maintainance wise, the hiro g series and carboNext series would be good, what advantage would the hiro as or Hattori hd series give me, as a relative beginner with quality knives?
 
AS is carbon core, stainless clad. Requires more maintenance, slightly harder steel. easy to sharpen imo. carbonext is semistainess tool steel. Easier to care for than the hiro as. G3 is one piece of stainless steel, decently hard, easy to sharpen imo. Hattori is stainless clad vg10. Not made by hattori iirc, an OEM blade (rebadge). Poor value for money imo.

Lots of reports saying that the carbonext has a crap edge out of the box, which may be a concern.
 
hattori hd is a beautiful knife with great fit and finish and it's nice and thin behind the edge. the vg-10 core steel is only mediocre though.

the hiro AS can take a mean edge and hold it a long time; basically it gives you the advantage of having a good carbon steel without the maintenance.

Of the 4 knives, here's the preference for me: carbonext=hiro AS -> hiro g3 -> hattori hd.
 
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