White 1 vs ?

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brooksie967

No more Ashi
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I have knives in Aogami Super and blue 1.

Based on what I've read white 1 will take the sharpest edge but requires the most maintenance. I'm ok with that since I don't work in a kitchen and will only use this at home.


I'm looking for your personal experiences with this steel and how it stacks up against others you love/hate.

What are your thoughts on White 1 vs all the other options out there. I don't mind you getting into powdered, stainless, etc.

If anyone can touch on how heat treatment/manufacturing can affect the qualities of the steel from blacksmith to blacksmith that'd also be great :)

Thanks all!
 
I think you should definitely try out white 1 or 2 for yourself. Such ease of sharpening. Gets really sharp.....a must try!
You will notice a huge difference between white and your blue or AS.
We know you're looking for your 1st single bevel, why not pull the trigger on a moderately priced yanagi or usuba? Yoshihiros can be had for pretty cheap and are actually pretty good(just one brand/maker example)...
....I didn't start spending big bucks on knives until I had personally tried out some different steels and styles first hand.

Bottom line though, I think you've gotta try it out for yourself.
 
I prefer the ease of sharpening, toughness, and most importantly the ease of touchup of white steel over blue.
It's definitely something that you should try. I can repeat my Yoshihiro/Uraku recommendations, they are really a standard for intro single bevels. Very few of the more expensive knives I've tried have truly justified the cost.
 
I have had a handful of knives in white #2. though they were great in a lot of ways, I would probably not go out of my way to get this steel again, save from an exceptional smith (I've heard Kiyoshi Kato likes White#2 and I'd not hesitate to buy anything forged by him). The edge taking of white #2 is excellent, and sharpening is very quick and pleasant, but IMO edge retention is poor, which can be annoying at times.
As for white #1, Iwasaki-san's swedish steel (which Shigefusa and Heiji use) is supposed to be similar and possibly purer. Having used a few shigs I'd say it might be my favorite type of steel. The sharpening experience is bliss, and the edge taking is exceptional. I prefer a very pure carbon steel myself and don't mind the maintenance. I found AS by comparison to be dreadful to sharpen (I also found Takeda's knives to be underwhelming in general as a side note).
Cheers
Matteo
 
brooksie967 said:
white 1 will take the sharpest edge
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I don't know where this comes from. Every knife can take the sharpest edge. Does white get there easier, sure. But I can make any knife as sharp as any other knife. There is no difference in final edge. Does it hold that edge as well as others is another factor too.
 
ThEoRy said:
I don't know where this comes from. Every knife can take the sharpest edge. Does white get there easier, sure. But I can make any knife as sharp as any other knife. There is no difference in final edge. Does it hold that edge as well as others is another factor too.
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Respectfully, false.
Carbide size, smaller grain, capability of finer edge.
 
Have had white & blue yanagiba's. Hard to tell much difference. Really did love my white steel single bevel as Dardeau said ease of sharpening and touchups.
 
Dardeau said:
I prefer the ease of sharpening, toughness, and most importantly the ease of touchup of white steel over blue.
It's definitely something that you should try.
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I feel the exact same way. Super great edge retention isnt that important to me as I find myself touching up my knives maybe once a week anyway and thats about all I need to do for my wh2 knives, and maybe going back to a mid grit stone once a month. Also, I might just be delusional but I prefer Wh2 in sanmai knives as opposed to mono white steel knives. I know nothing about heat treat stuff but Im assuming different methods are used for these 2 different knife types and Ive found that often the performance of sanmai white steel to be more favorable. Generally speaking ofcourse.
 
Of you fancy White1, you should try c145. It white1 on steroids....
 
The main difference i noticed is in the edge retention area, blue super and blue better than white (Takeda and Watanabe, for instance). As a home cook, that doesn't matter too much anyway. Not only the steel, but the marriage maker/HT/steel is nice to keep in mind. I learned here that an artisan/maker that one likes you may dislike and vice-versa. Don't forget to get some sharpening stones if you don't already have them!
 
TheDispossessed said:
Respectfully, false.
Carbide size, smaller grain, capability of finer edge.
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Respectfully true. Abrasive cut trough carbides and grain boundaries just fine. You just need to use lighter pressure, very hard and fine abrasives and you can get any edge you want. Whether this is exercise in pointless, if the edge will crumble after a tomato is other question.
 
Lizzardborn said:
Respectfully true. Abrasive cut trough carbides and grain boundaries just fine. You just need to use lighter pressure, very hard and fine abrasives and you can get any edge you want. Whether this is exercise in pointless, if the edge will crumble after a tomato is other question.
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hmm, ok i'm going to have to look into this. thanks
 
TheDispossessed said:
Respectfully, false.
Carbide size, smaller grain, capability of finer edge.
Click to expand...

While that's true, I think only a microscope could tell the difference if any. In practice I don't think there's any discernable difference. A 5k edge is a 5k edge. All of my blades can shave arm hair, push cut paper, tomato test etc. What do I know though? I haven't done any scientific tests nor do I plan to. I'll save that bs for Kenny Schwartz lol.
 
ThEoRy said:
While that's true, I think only a microscope could tell the difference if any. In practice I don't think there's any discernable difference. A 5k edge is a 5k edge. All of my blades can shave arm hair, push cut paper, tomato test etc. What do I know though? I haven't done any scientific tests nor do I plan to. I'll save that bs for Kenny Schwartz lol.
Click to expand...

I agree, while in theory white 1 gets sharper than blue 1, that is not at a grit level that a normal user would want to venture into. So practically speaking, the difference between White and Blue should really be the edge retention vs toughness rather than how fine it is.

It's like Ferrari vs Porsche, you don't normally say: oh my Ferrari does 10mph faster than your Porsche at top speed.
 
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