u/Dorei21

My first completed spearhead! Now gotta work on bloodwing legion and hurakan vanguard 😅

Hi Guys, got the spearhead and may end up going deep into lumineth because i find their lore & playstyle fun and interesting.

I will however be avoiding painting trim to start out since i want to play more than to get the perfect paint job on. I will eventually do the trim at a much later stage once i have them all board ready at the very least.

i chose colour schemes i liked and would like your opinion. Left is what i've painted and right is with AI to get the colours i am considering.

Which of the 2 is better to you?

Hi All,

Have bought, used & sold a lot of knives over past few months and tried my best to abide by my 5 max knives rule.

Following those rules i've set for myself as to not go overboard - these the the current knives i've ended up with in my roster that i am very pleased with aesthetically & performance wise.

I am now looking for 1 more to fit in the last slot and have a few interest in mind as to what will slot in there.

But of all the knives i've used so far - these 4 are what sit at the top of what i've had the chance to handle.

Xinguo AU Mizu Honyaki Gyuto 240mm
Edge Length: 240mm
Height: 56mm
Weight: 236g
Tang Thickness: 3.3mm
Heel Thickness: 3.0mm
Mid Thickness: 2.2mm
Tip Thickness: 0.6mm

Kagekiyo B1D Black Dye Gyuto 240mm
Edge Length: 229mm
Height: 49.5mm
Weight: 178g
Tang Thickness: 4.5mm
Heel Thickness: 4.0mm
Mid Thickness: 2.2mm
Tip Thickness: 0.5mm

Kisuke x Xinguo B1 Tsuchime Gyuto 240mm
Edge Length: 239mm
Height: 59.6mm
Weight: 228g
Tang Thickness: 4.0mm
Heel Thickness: 3.2mm
Mid Thickness: 2.2mm
Tip Thickness: 0.5mm

Wakui W2 SS Clad Migaki Gyuto 240mm
Edge Length: 245mm
Height: 51.7mm
Weight: 227g
Tang Thickness: 4.0mm
Heel Thickness: 3.5mm
Mid Thickness: 2.5mm
Tip Thickness: 0.5mm

I started out wanting mainly stainless/semi stainless & look at where i ended up.

Hi All,

Looking to sell my SKD yoshikane as i recently got a Wakui 240 gyuto that i prefer thanks to the height. Cutting wise they are very comparable but they are too similar for me to keep both.

There are mine scratches that can be seen near edge of blade in the right lighting as shown. Came from sharpening early on and doesn't effect performance. Have only sharpened once on 3k shapton rockstar.

Looking for $440 AUD PPGS or $430 AUD PPFF/Wise inclusive of shipping in AU. For international will cover first $15 AUD

Comes with a K&S magnetic knife cover.

Sakai Kikumori stamped Ashi Knives available on Chefs edge.

They've however requested sharpener & maker to not be named. If it's exactly the same as previous months though - they should be Ashi.

https://www.chefs-edge.com.au/collections/eofy-26/products/sakai-kikumori-swedish-stainless-gyuto-240mm-dark-maple

https://www.chefs-edge.com.au/collections/eofy-26/products/sakai-kikumori-swedish-stainless-gyuto-240mm-ebony

https://www.chefs-edge.com.au/collections/eofy-26/products/sakai-kikumori-swedish-stainless-gyuto-240mm-sandalwood

Heyo,

Got the Tetsujin to give it another shot in Ginsan since i've tried the b2. Great cutting but didn't like food release on this either.

Also after using 240's a 210 feels too small and short for me.

Used for some test cuts

Edge length: 198mm

Height: 47.5mm

Weight: 181g

Heel thickness: 3.0mm

Mid thickness: 2.3mm

Tip thickness (1cm): 0.4mm

Asking 570 AUD + shipping (approx 32-48 AUD to US/EU) - SOLD

My first sweet potato test cuts on my B1D Kagekiyo after fresh shapton rockstar 1000 > 3000 sharpening.

Kinda blew me away with how easy it was.

Hi All,

Just sharing a cutting video with my recently acquired Wakui from a novice.

Joy to cut with - suggest you to try if you haven't had the chance! really amazing for it's price.

Also i noticed my horizontal cuts aren't level... haha i'll improve.

apologise for the abrupt cuts. just strung together a bunch of clips since i thought i could upload multiple clips.

Hi All,

Another one up.

I have the B1D black Dye kagekiyo already and they are quite similar enough.

I aim to only own a few so feels redundant to have both

Have only used for 3 meals.

In one of the pictures theres some light hairline scratches that can be seen but it came with it bnib. Otherwise condition is as close to bnib - edge never touched or stropped.

Kagekiyo Ginsan Gyuto 240mm Wide Bevel

Edge length: 230mm

Height: 51.2mm

Weight:183g

Heel thickness: 3.8mm

Mid thickness: 2.8mm

Tip thickness: 0.8mm

Blacksmith: Nakagawa

Sharpener: Nishida

Looking for 710 AUD g&s, 700 f&f/wise including shipping (auspost).

edit: updated pricing on shipping based on weight of package.

Hey Y'all,

Wakui came in today from the knifewear garage sale (came earlier than expected too) and looking forward to trying this out..

Edge: 245mm

Height: 51.7mm

Weight: 227g

Tang thickness: 4.0mm

Heel thickness: 3.5mm

Mid thickness 2.5mm

Tip thickness: 0.5mm

Picture next to the yoshi too - interested to how it will compare.

SOLD

Hi All,

Selling these 2 knives as i only want to keep hold of limited amount of knives & making space

Have used both for about 5-6 meals over last 2 weeks. Both never sharpened & only stropped on leather & in perfect condition.

Ashi purchased from Chefs Edge and handle option was due to marketed ebony handle not being possible i asked for carbon fibre handle. Shindo purchased from knife gallery. Shindo has some blue patina on it from normal use.

Selling close to cost + shipping to get that back.

Ashi Swedish Stainless Gyuto 240mm

Edge length: 231.5mm

Height: 47.8mm

Weight: 177g

Heel thickness: 2.2mm

Mid thickness: 1.8mm

Tip Thickness: 1.0mm

Asking $450 AUD PPGS or $440 PPFF/wise + Shipping

Shindo B2 Kiritsuke 210mm

Edge length: 216.5mm

Height: 49.2mm

Weight: 160g

Heel thickness: 4.6mm

Mid thickness: 2.4mm

Tip thickness: 0.8mm

Asking $280 AUD PPGS or $270 PPFF/wise + shipping

Will prioritise people wanting to purchase both > within AU > the rest.

SOLD

2 weeks ago had 2 new knives arrive & got them due to the reputation of them in this community and have primarily been using them in this time.

Rule#5

Ashi x SakiAEB-L Swedish Stainless Gyuto 240mm (Sakai Kikumori collab version from Chefs Edge)

Edge length: 231.5mm

Height: 47.8mm

Weight: 177g

Heal thickness: 2.2mm

Mid thickness: 1.8mm

Tip thickness: 1.0mm

Shindo B2 Kiritsuke 210mm

Edge length: 216.5mm

Height: 49.2mm

Weight: 160g

Heel Thickness: 4.6mm

Mid thickness. 2.4mm

Tip thickness: 0.8mm

Tested them side by side and used them for about 2 weeks cutting primarily: sweet potato, potato, carrots, onions, apples, zuchinni & capsicum.

Feel in hand (how comfortable it felt to hold & balance)

Ashi - 7.5/10

Shindo - 8/10

Ashi feels comfortable to hold and smooth surface of blade felt nice against guide hand as i cut. Due to it being thin however it didn't feel as comfortable as other knives i used & when the knife gets wet it sometimes does move a little bit. Choil not polished & rounded so that takes some points off.

Shindo is slightly wider at the spine and might just be my version but theres a little extra on the spine on the right side and honestly made it very comfy to hold. Choil being wabisabi felt fine but also not as comfortable due to that.

Cutting performance ( i push chop 90% of the time and only tap chop the other 10% on low ingredients)

Ashi - 8.5/10

Shindo 7.5/10

Ashi reputation is justified and it cuts extremely well. Due to it's thinness the only struggle so far has been halving a large sweet potato but otherwise it has cut very well and went through everything easily otherwise.

Shindo reputation also justified, especially for its price. Just cut very smoothly and in isolation it feels great. It's only when i compared it to certain other knives i own side by side do i feel that it lacks in some areas but i doubt everyone does that. Same as ashi, didn't do the best when initially halving large sweet potatoes but cut everything else nicely during normal use.

Food release

Ashi - 6.5/10

Shindo - 9/10

Ashi on very wet & dense products has the usual sticking but because of the smooth surface, as you cut it will drop off easily and pushing it off the blade is also very smooth & no suction issues. Does not in practice cause any issues for me and i am pleased enough with it.

Shindo however, probably likely due to the wabisabi nature & S grind has the best food release of the knives i've used so far. Cutting through tomatoes is where i noticed it most and inconsistently on carrots on potatoes too, it would cut through and come out of the product without any sticking to blade at all. Was the most impressive part of the Shindo

Aesthetics (purely personal preference)

Ashi - 8/10

Shindo - 8.5/10

This is the most subjective of the above ratings and it may change weekly haha.

Ashi looks very clean & the handle i got to choose since Chefs Edge advised that they couldn't fit the ebony handle it was meant to come with & was given free choice of their available handles. Decided to try to carbon handle as it was light and would be closer to the standard ashi in weight balance.

Kurouchi + wabisabi look is quite fun to look at and i think it looks quite cool.

I'll probably use same format for future reviews of knives i use and will reference number system i have used for myself and it'll be a comparison amongst each other.

For reference so far i've used or have on the way the below (some sold some kept):

Kagekiyo B1D Black Dye 240mm gyuto

Kagekiyo W2 210mm gyuto (borrowed from friend & a bit banged up though)

Kagekiyo Ginsan 240mm gyuto

Kei Kobayashi R2 Damascus 240mm gyuto

Tetsujin B2 Metal Flow 240mm gyuto

Yoshikane SKD 240mm Gyuto

Wakui W2 240mm Gyuto

Takamura SG2 170mm Santoku

Masutani VG1 170mm Santoku

Tojiro DP3 240mm Gyuto

I'll probably drop reviews for those above at some point but will depend on my motivation & if people care about the opinion of a random home cook.

I've only "recently" gotten really into this hobby and i've been quite lucky to have met great people who have given great advice & recommendations. Thanks y'all.

End of the day all this is subjective and depends on the version you got due to the knives variance due to handmade nature & number rating is how i feel best to compare & summarise how they felt to me & best way i could feel to differentiate them.

May look to move on the Shindo soon as i only want to have 5 knives max on hand at any point in order to not have too many knives & i don't like to keep knives around that'll be unusued.

Selling my Kei Kobayashi Damascus 240mm Gyuto.

Bought from Hocho Knives (no engraving/stamp).

Has been sharpened on Shapton 1000 + 3000 & used for 3 meals.

Looking for $490 AUD paypal G&S or $470 AUD paypal f&f/wise shipping included for AU. WW will contribute $15 AUD to shipping.

Blade edge Length: 241mm

Total length: 395mm

Weight: 178g

Height at heel: 52mm

Width at spine: 2.2mm

Steel: SG2/R2

Finish: Damascus

Handle: Dark-red Cashew lacquered septagonal wood

Selling my Kei Kobayashi bought from Hocho Knives. FnF is amongst best class and feels amazing in hand. Blade is sharp but i've touched it up on Shapton 1000 -> Shapton 3000 progression to give it some better bite. Have used for about 3-4 light meals and only used on vegetables like carrot, potatoes, zuchinni, tomatoes & sweet potato.

Letting it go because i've found i prefer the heft of my Yoshikane and this laser doesn't suit me so much. Performance is great and the dark damascus on this had me staring at it for too long. Has one tiny microscratch on blade as shown in last picture from usage & believe it'll continue to show up with use.

Looking for $600 AUD paypal G&S or $580 AUD paypal f&f/wise. Free shipping within AU otherwise shipping on your end WW.

Prefer not to send into US to start because don't want to deal with tariffs.

Blade edge Length: 241mm

Total length: 395mm

Weight: 178g

Height at heel: 52mm

Width at spine: 2.2mm

Steel: SG2/R2

Finish: Damascus

Handle: Dark-red Cashew lacquered septagonal wood

Hey all,

Got the chance to borrow my friends Kagekiyo w#2 wide bevel 210mm gyuto. He let me borrow as im using it test since im interested in getting the ginsan 240mm kagekiyo gyuto.

I cut up some carrots & potatoes to make a mash. I did same cuts with both first but squaring off, then cutting into strips and then dicing. With the squared off cuts i tap choped them into thin slices.

So my experience so far is based on the above & this is the first cut with it so i'll update after a week or 2 more.

My initial impressions so far however:

I'm a little dissapointed. When doing the strip cuts the kagekiyo was lifting the center pieces due to stickiness/suction which the takamura did not - maybe this is the thickness or grind?

The cuts through the food also felt like the takamura was much more effortless and ghosting through. This was especially apparent on the carrots. On potatoes both were great but using it back to back you can feel the difference

I've included pictures as my friends kagekiyo has seen action in a working environment for 1-2 years but he recently (last month or so) took it to get professionally sharpened. So it should be pretty tip top form.

I am pretty new to getting into higher end knives so please don't be harsh & please give me some of your reasons for why kagekiyo wide bevels are high on your performance list.

As i've said i've only used in the above scenario so far and my opinion may evolve. So far

Cutting effort(push & tap chopping): takamura > kagekiyo

Stickiness: takamura >kagekiyo (kag stickier)

Appreciate any feedback from your experiences and maybe this is to be expected with a laser vs a wide bevel?

Pics & choil shots for reference. Maybe his knife is thicker behind the edge? Showed a friend and he thinks it looks fine.

TL:DR Kagekiyo w#2 210mm gyuto feels stickier and doesn't cut as well as the takamura sg2 santoku for me so far based on 1 head to head comparison.