Best options for a 240mm Gyuto Wa in the $175 range

Can you get into one for that price? I'm too lazy to look, but I will agree, they are fantastic knives.

 

Tanaka Sekiso is one of my favorite series hands down. I have some from Mark and some from Metal Master, who has lower prices, but higher shipping, too. I love the Blue steel, haven't used his VG-10 Damascus yet. I have a Ginsan here, too that is being donated as a raffle prize after some cleanup/prettying up. Ginsan F&F is lower than the Sekiso F&F though; spine and choil are sharp and squared, machi stuck out below the ferrule, too. Mark had Shigeki grind the Ginsans a bit thinner (more like the Sekiso Grind) than the ones I have seen from Metal Master, which had more of a workhorse grind.

 

Japanese kitchen knife Ginsanko steel Gyutou / Tanaka knive /western black handle/ho handle on Metal Master looks pretty good. I have no experience with it but definitely would give one a spin. The Misono Dragon and Hiromoto clad carbon are both all around solid knives in this price range that I Have tried.

 

Your right, I was thinking £ rather than $. Still $200 is still pretty good value.

 

Testing the Goku out for your Christopher So far so good other than the handle.

 

I got a 210mm Goko for myself, but my mom likes it now...there goes another knife!

 

Those Chestnut handles sure are a piece of ******** from one end to the other.

 

I've seen Burnt Chestnut handles from a few different manufacturers, don't care for the feel of any, especially with the plastic ferrule. They feel a little better if you sand down the burnt charred stuff off a bit, otherwise they feel kinda slimy/strange when wet.

 

These feel like plastic chestnut... kind of sound like it too

 

Thanks for the update. What do you like or dislike about it, other than the handle? Some reviews say it's thin and almost laser like, do you find that?

I've come to realize that any knife I get ( in my price range ) will need a better handle. Especially now that i've seen what some of our vendors are offering. I might try and order some product and attempt a rehandle myself. Beginner DIY threads are a hoot anyhow LOL. Don't mind throwing myself into that mix

 

I'm thinking about getting a 240mm Goko for my dad for his birthday. My parents have a small set of German knives in a block. The knives have thick blades and full bolsters. I know my dad has regretted that purchase ever since he saw our Global Chef knife. He's also retiring at the end of this year, and I think he'll start cooking. He's lost a bunch of weight and become very interested in healthy eating since he had a couple stints put in last year.

I have 2 concerns: 1) My dad is left handed and 2) I want to send the knife to someone to rehandle it, but I have no idea who to send it to. I don't have a huge handle budget, especially since the knife is $100. He may be better off with my Global Chef's knife, which is in great condition.

Does anyone know how the damascus pattern on the Goko is made? My dad has always wanted a damascus knife, but he's not the type to spend big on something like a kitchen knife. He likes nice things but rarely buys them for himself. Luckily, I have no such reservations.

-Andy

 

We have more then a few guys here in our vender area who handle that im sure can help you out Andy, as for the knife, I have no idea about any of that stuff

 

Oh, I know we do James. I'm just wondering about a rough price range for a re-handle. I don't want to spend $200 for a handle on a $100 knife. I think I may have the kitchen knife gift idea solved, though.

-Andy

 

The Goku was laser like. The light handle didn't bother me once I got into using it.

I sold the one I had already... new apprentice liked it that much.

CKTG I think has a $30 handle swap.

I have choil shot of it I can post when get home.

 

The "Damascus" steel cladding is layered steel of 2 different varieties. The steel is layered up and the forged together to make it a solid piece. The steel gets it pattern from the hammer blows used to forge the layers together and when the steel is ground, the layers appear. The layers are wavy because the hammer blows distort the steel/layers a bit, and when the steel is ground, it exposes different layers. So on the blade grind near the core steel, it will have closely spaced wavy lines and the pattern gets bolder as you go up the grind onto the surface of the blade where the steel has a much larger, more open pattern. The circles are from where the steel was hit harder and made thinner, so the circle shows more layers of steel. This cladding is laminated to the core steel (I dunno if they do the forging/laminating in 1 step or 2?), so you have 1 solid layer of the core steel and then the layered cladding on the sides.

Regular Damascus blades (pattern welded) are manipulated more to bring out the patterns. BirdsEye/Raindrop is taking a bar/billet of layered up steels (like the cladding above), drilling/making holes in it on both sides of the steel, going partially through the steel and then flattening the steel bar, which raises the levels that were exposed to the top and gives the raindrop/birdseye effect. Ladder damascus starts out with the forged laminated steel bar, and then grooves are cut into the steel, alternating on both sides of the steel and then hammered out. When flattened, the layers of steel that were in the grooves are now on the top. When the blade is ground, the pattern is slightly changed as the steel is ground away. So the cladding is a forged/layered steel that has been hammered, but not manipulated to show more of a pattern.

 

For that price range, I would suggest the Gesshin Uraku 240 SS from JKI (Japanese Knife Imports). Wa ho wood handle with matching saya and a black, blonde, or marbled ferrule for a mere $155. It's a phenomenal deal. Plus you get Jon's impeccable customer service and guarantee of excellent F&F. It's an all-around win-win-win. I think there's even free shipping these days?

I love all the knives I've gotten from Jon. They're solidly made and beautiful. All the times I've called them and when I went to visit the store, he and Sara were amazingly hospital and knowledgeable. Customer service and knowledge with a good product go a long way for me.

Cheers!

Gavin.

 

Hmm. I kind of convinced myself to get one haha!

 

As self-appointed king of sinistrality and curator of the lefty museum, let me ask you the following question: when you ask your dad to give you a can opener, does he give you a left handed one? Of course not, for two reasons:
1) He has spent his entire life adapting to a right handed world
2) He doesn't want to make fun of you as you struggle to use it

Gyuotos are double beveled, and even if they are asymmetrically beveled they present no problem for lefties. Your only concern would be in giving him a right handed single bevel knife.

 

Ha! Gotcha. That makes perfect sense, Jay. It's funny you mention adapting to a right handed world. He writes left handed, but he swings a golf club right handed and I think I remember him batting right handed when I was growing up.

 

Choil shot. Not the best- I'm still getting the hang of a camera... Point and shoots are a pain in the butt sometimes.