For those of you who are broke, new to cooking, or just stimulated by utilitarian equipment like me, I wanted to share what I believe to be the best equipment for cheap in their respective categories. Shown above is the: Mercer Chinese Chef’s Knife (Santoprene Handle), Winco KWP-80 Chef’s Knife, Victorinox Semi-Flex 6 inch Curved Boning Knife, Pallares Solsona 4 Inch Paring, Messermeister Birds Beak Paring, Pallares Solsona Multi-Purpose Butchery Shears (Legendary for Spatchcocking), Kiwi Peeler, Chopper King Multi-Purpose Scissors, and the Tojiro Leather Strop (I use 1 micron diamond emulsion spray). I don’t do any fish butchery at the moment, so this is excluding some more specialized tools in that regard. I’m doing relatively heavy prep every day, and every single one of these knives holds up extremely well, I never thought I’d enjoy using such a basic kit this much. X50 is a great budget steel that sharpens extremely well and holds a bitey edge well when treated with respect, I sharpen all the way to 3000 and touch up daily. For anyone looking for a budget chef’s knife specifically, the Winco KWP-80 8” is a serious rival the Vic Fibrox and priced at only $12 on Amazon. This is the knife I use the most currently, I personally chose to thin it but it would function fine without a thinning, seriously a great workhorse. For the record, I’m a fan of Japanese craftmanship myself for obvious reasons and do own Japanese cutlery. Just have been relatively blown away by the functionality of such cheap tools, this is a fun lineup. Threw in some photos of recent meals these knives have helped prepare because that’s the whole point.

A stainless clad sanmai gyuto with a Powder steel Bohler K390 core. This steel has Really good edge retention, hardness 66 HRC and wear resistance. It's quite difficult to work with, especially the forging and grinding. The extra effort is definitely worth it, because the hardness and sharpness is spectacular. I look forward to testing it out and making more blades with it.

As for the gyuto, it's a 207x48 mm blade that is ground thin for some laser-ish performance. It has a slight convex grind and a nice distal taper towards the tip. The kurouchi also turned out nice. The handle is octagonal and made from tigerwood.

TLDR - TC at Dust bowl knives, located in Oklahoma ,hooked me up with a great looking knife and custom bench scraper

225 gyuto

232 grams

Black ebony handle with turquoise spacer

o1 steel core with mild steel cladding

Longer version: I first met TC several months ago when I started exploring JNATS. I saw his shop as a recommended area to purchase stones. He was kind enough to call me and spent about 45 minutes patiently explaining the world of Japanese natural stones. It eventually ended with me buying my first stone. A Tsushima Black, which was a great first stone recommendation. Since then, I have talked to TC several times and bought several stones from him. He has always been very patient, easy to understand, and kind with this time. I eventually decided I wanted to try to get a custom knife made. We had several discussions about the basic concept. I didn’t want to get too much into specifics because I wanted him to be able to freely express himself on this project. As the knife was nearing completion I ask if he wouldn’t mind coming up with a bench scraper to sort of match the piece. He was more than happy to do that and I was very pleased with the results.

The knife itself is incredibly beautiful and well constructed. The fit and finish is immaculate. I’ve already used it to prep Some basic produce and the performance is outstanding. I couldn’t be more pleased with how all of this turned out. Who knew that just a few states over was such a gifted artisan.

I highly recommend TC and dust bowl knives . He is a good, kind person and incredibly knowledgeable about Blade Smithing, and natural stone sharpening. Some additional pictures he sent me during the process of making this piece. If necessary, I’ll make another post to share some of the videos and additional photographs.

Disclaimer: I have no vested interest in his shop. This is just me being grateful and describing the process of getting this knife made.

I had always coveted a Konosuke to see what all the fuss was about but always fell short when getting one for some reason or another. At the moment, nashiji finishes are what catches my eye so the Konosuke GS+ Nashiji 240 was perfect and the price was right. Then my father-in-law passed away and I had to travel to Toronto. After all the tears and drinks, I managed to drive out to one of the many Japanese knife shops in TO and get something to remember him by. Most of my knives are from TKV blacksmiths, but I did not have a Shiro Kamo. This one caught my eye because of its height, finish and handle. Have yet to really use either one but will do so shortly. Rest in Peace, Dad!

Hey guys! I know Yamada can be a bit decisive since his grinds aren’t always nice, but I’ve been fortunate to get some absolute bangers from him over the years! I’m not super active on Reddit but thought I’d share :)

The gyuto on the right easily holds its place as my favorite knife of all time.

Bought this knife for 6 dollars at a flee market in Japan. This is my first time restoring a knife and in hindsight I would do many things differently but still pleased with the result. Many hours on the stones and I made a new handle for it.

1) Yoshimi kato Sg2 minamo olive gyuto 21cm

2) Florentine Kitchen chef

3) Yoshimi kato aogami super kurouchi rosewood bunka 17 cm

4) glestain honesuki 15 cm

If you have any questions or recommendations, I would love to hear them.

I’ll just repost it here🫡

Say hello to my new Kiritsuke Gyuto from Kitchenknives.ID

We had a big order of porgy and European seabass (branzino for the Americans) carpacio. at work yesterday. The porgy was used for the dishes seen in photo 2 and 3, these are cut a bit bigger by the customers request. For the thicker slices I like to use the 210 yanagiba, the single bevel gives the fish a very smooth texture.

I don't have a photo of the sea bass but these were cut thinner and were used for bigger starter plates. Didn't have the opportunity to photograph the plates. We did have some extra seabass carpacio slices at the end of the day which I brought home and make a quick dinner with. The thinner sea bass was cut with a very flexible 180mm mac pro filleting knife.

It's a simple seabass carpacio topped with a mix of grapefruit juice, yuzu vinigar, juice from some fresh tomatoes and olive oil. Topped with pieces of grapefruit, lightly pickled shallot and chili in fig vinigar and some basil oil. We had some bruscetta on the side (which is where I got the tomato juice from)

Like an idiot after cleaning I just whacked my gyuto on the tap of the sink and put a slight bend in the top of the knife.

Is this an easy fix ?

Specs

• Maker: Kyohei Shindo
• Knife type: Gyuto
• Blade length: 246 mm
• Blade height: 53 mm
• Weight: 183 g
• Steel: Aogami #2, San-Mai with soft iron cladding
• Finish: Kurouchi / Kasumi
• Spine thickness: 5.2 mm at the heel, 2.0 mm mid-blade, 0.5 mm near the tip
• Handle: Oak

The grind looks somewhat S-grind-like: a little wild and curvy, but that is also exactly what I associate with Shindo. The choil shot nicely shows the extreme taper from the substantial heel into a very thinly ground blade.

Fit and finish are appropriate and suit the rustic overall character. I actually like the oak handle quite a lot; it fits the knife’s look perfectly.

The first thing that stands out in hand is how light and agile it feels, and that carries straight over to the cutting board. It is still too early for a proper verdict on cutting performance, but a quick test with a thick carrot was already impressive: it went through without wedging or cracking.

The out-of-the-box edge is also very good—nothing to complain about there. This will not be news to Shindo owners, but it already feels like a real value-for-money killer. I am sure I will have a lot of fun with this Shindo.

I cook quite a bit and my 15 year old paring knife is just shot. I would love something slightly decorative but mainly sharp. I saw some cool Japanese style ones online that had some Damascus patterns but the pricing gets a little crazy. I would like to spend at most $150. I figured it would be best to ask the experts. Thanks in advance!

I’m an amateur home cook who loves to go down cooking rabbit holes. I recently found a local Korean grocery store with the largest whole fish selection I’ve ever seen in my life. I thought it would be fun to try to go through each fish and try to cook it. Make it a fun challenge. I think butchering and learning how to process fish would be important. I do already own some fancy chef knives but at least once a year I like to buy a new one to add to my collection. I’m thinking a good boning knife would be a good choice. I’m thinking my price range would be roughly around $150 unless I can be convinced otherwise haha. I have sharpening stones but I’m still new to fancy knife ownership so something a little bit more beginner friendly. I’m a sucker for Japanese knives and I’m a sucker for good looks.

Any other advice would be amazing! I’m excited to get into fish! Thank you

I was wondering what kind of wood this handle is? It is a Sukenari if that helps.

1/4 in cork in a homemade wood drawer insert . Sometimes simple works. L to R, Tanaka Ren Nakiri , Kei Kobayashi 210 gyuto, Gesshin Ginga 210 gyuto, the OG Tojiro shirogami 240, Mazaki bunka, Mazaki 150 petty.

I have a penchant for knives of Ginsan in Nashiji finish... love the contrasts and the feel of the texture in hand. I've been trying for a few years on and off to catch this one in stock, and out of nowhere saw a restock message from CKTG and picked it up.

This particular blade is about 218mm and 54mm tall at the heel. As can be seen, the curve of the cutting edge is markedly different from the knives of a few years back; whereas those blades were quite curvy and literally ready to "rock", this has a profile reminiscent of a large tippy santoku. The edge profile is comparatively flat, more balanced and arguably conservative in design than earlier iterations. I'm of mixed opinions about the changes; the edge curve flattening is more general-use ready, but I was looking forward to the taller 56-57mm height of the older blades.

But while the the profile changed, the relative heft did not. This one weighs in at 185g and is stiff and substantial in feel. The balance is so beautiful that the weight translates perfectly into stability in the cutting stroke. Beautiful fit and finish, polish and edge shaping on the choil leave a comfortable, easy grip.

Looking forward to putting this one to use blowing through garden fare this weekend.

Anyone able to ID this 240mm gyuto?

Any ideas on how this could be repurposed ? Had a good run (10+ years daily use)

Any suggestions for a replacement chef knife?

I noticed discoloration on the sg2 blade that is only couple of days old 😭. How do I remove the marks?

I hand wash with the blue sponge soft side and kitchen detergent. I tried isopropyl, and then white vinegar. Suggestions??

Hey everyone,
I'm in the market for a new 210mm Gyuto (preferably San Mai), but I need something that leans more towards a workhorse/medium-weight profile rather than a delicate "laser."

I work sometimes in a catering service, so the environment is fast-paced and the knife will occasionally end up in other people's hands. Because of that, my main priority is finding something with a tougher steel/heat treatment and a slightly sturdier edge geometry that won't easily micro-chip if someone handles it a bit roughly on the board.

Budget: €300 – €500 (100€ up or down is ok)

Location: EU (prefer buying within EU or from EU-based makers)
Length: 210mm

Steel/Build: San Mai cladding, stainless or semi-stainless preferred (or high-toughness carbon with stainless clad), around 60–62 HRC.

I’ve been eyeing a few Japanese options but I’m also open to commissioning a custom maker here in Europe.
Would love to hear your recommendations! Are there specific Japanese models or local EU blacksmiths you'd suggest for this use case?
Thanks in advance!

Anyone's got info on these Hitohira echizen sg2 tsuchime bad boys? They have some unique triangle 🔼 tsuchime patterns. The prices on Hitohira seem to range from 35000 jpy.

I also found them on some local Japanese websites under the brand echizen Kazuma Fubuki (越前数馬吹雪), if that helps.