New to Japanese style knives

[CaptainRon23]

Everyone is talking up the FKM. Sounds like I can't go wrong with choosing that. Told my wife all about the choices last night over dinner. I'm going to go with that to start with. My parents are always looking to get me stuff for christmas. I'll ask for sharpening stuff from them.

Thank you for all of your help. Its really been very helpful.

[Musashi]

Hi Ron,

I know I'm quite late to the party on this one and you've made an excellent choice for the money on the FKM. I just wanted to throw out one other option from what's been presented so far: (the Takamura Migaki R2 Gyuto 210mm) https://www.chefknivestogo.com/takamura.html

When searching for my next knife I really wanted R2 powdered metallurgy steel for its sharpness and edge retention. And the Takamura met that criteria. At $180 it's on the other end of the price spectrum from the FKM. But, who knows, you might catch the Japanese Knife bug and add to your collection down the road. Well, this knife is a superb choice. Had I started with this Takamura when first getting into Japanese knives, the need for lesser (although good) knives would've been unnecessary - and saved me lots of time and money. But that's how life goes and it's part of the learning journey IMO the Takamura has zero buyers remorse and offers continual kitchen delight. (from one home cook to another).

[Afjagjones]

Sharpening is key. A sharp crappy knife is better than a dull great knife. You can also do the edge pro sharpening rig. That’s what I did. Sort of idiot proof, although you do get better with time.

[Cutuu]

Chefspence's vg10 in the classifieds could be a good choice, especially for the cash and u will get the damascus that u like.

[CaptainRon23]

Well I was all set to buy the FKM. I was going to do it when my kids went to bed last night but, took me and my wife 2 hours to get my son to sleep. Ended up sleeping next to him on the floor in front of the fake fire place.

I just looked at Chefspence's vg10 in the classifieds. Would this be a good choice for me or just stick with the FKM.

[Kit Craft]

Well I was all set to buy the FKM. I was going to do it when my kids went to bed last night but, took me and my wife 2 hours to get my son to sleep. Ended up sleeping next to him on the floor in front of the fake fire place.

I just looked at Chefspence's vg10 in the classifieds. Would this be a good choice for me or just stick with the FKM.

It would be a great choice. That smith does a hell of a heat treat with all steel he touches and has stellar grinds!

[Chefcallari]

Well I was all set to buy the FKM. I was going to do it when my kids went to bed last night but, took me and my wife 2 hours to get my son to sleep. Ended up sleeping next to him on the floor in front of the fake fire place.

I just looked at Chefspence's vg10 in the classifieds. Would this be a good choice for me or just stick with the FKM.

It would be a great choice. That smith does a hell of a heat treat with all steel he touches and has stellar grinds!

+1

[CaptainRon23]

There are quite a few good answers to this request.

The Tojiros are not a bad place to start. They're capable, well made knives. There is nothing particularly special about them, but there is nothing particularly wrong with them, either. I think their strongest alternative is the Fujiwara FKM line, and I do in fact like the Fujiwaras more. They're a little more expensive but I think the grinds on them are better enought ot be worth it. The grind is how the knife is shaped behind the edge; how thick or thin a knife is at certain points along its height impacts both how durable a knife is and how well it cuts food. The Fujiwara's grind is an excellent balance between performance and retention while the Tojiros can be a little thick, particularly at the tip. I would say the Tojiro is the cheapest "good" knife I know of and the Fujiwara is the best bang for the buck budget knife. I consider both knife lines definitely preferable to Globals.

You could beyond that step up to a similar but slightly better made knife like a Kanehide or a Takayuki Grand Chef. The first thing you would notice about these knives is that they get a little more care than the the budget knives when they're assembled. Where the Tojiro or Fujiwara might come out of the box with some slightly rough edges or a little gap where the handle scales meet the tang, you can generally expect these more expensive knives to have something close to perfect fit and finish. They're also likely to have slightly better grinds than the Tojiro, though no better I think than the Fujiwara, and are often made from boutique steels that last a bit longer or sharpen a bit more easily. The different between the steels will not be otherworldly, but it is there. If you do not expect to learn to sharpen and would instead have the knives sharpened by a professional these will not be tremendous gains. These are good knives to consider if you want easy to own knives but might want to learn to sharpen a little.

Beyond something like those you're getting into somewhat more exotic choices. The biggest points, as mentioned in the questionnaire, are handle type and steel type. Japanese handles are quite easy to adapt to and no one I have ever worked with or taught to use a knife struggled to do so, but in your budget they're a little cost prohibitive. You might consider a Kohetsu Nashiji Blue #2 or SLD lines, which I have not tried but suspect are competent knives from trying similar knives. Steel type is a little more open. If you wanted to learn to sharpen you could consider a reactive steel, which all else being equal will be much easier to sharpen than a stainless steel at the cost of more devoted care. The care needed is modest but is not something that can be shirked without penalty. As a home cook adapting is certainly doable if you want to consider it. The other end of the spectrum has some modern high alloy steels, called PM steels. There steels are roided out with more alloying agents than traditional steels can hold. Not only does this mean these knives will be typically be stainless, they are also able to hold an edge longer then traditional steels. Their biggest drawback is that they're a little (or sometimes a lot) harder to sharpen. A knife like the Yahiko R-2 is one such example; if you don't want to sharpen your own knives and you just want the best knife you can get in budget, that's what I would pick for you.

Finally, a word on sharpening. Any knife you buy here or anywhere else will, eventually, dull. That's okay. Good knives are made to be sharpened. You can do it yourself or you can find a highly skilled pro to do it for you, but my foremost advice is to consider that beyond anything else, before even buying this knife. Your Calphalon properly sharpened will outperform any dull knife on earth. Unfortunately most professional knife sharpeners do not do work appropriate to the knives you would be considering, so finding a good one might be a little work, but it is what it is. We could perhaps point you toward good sharpeners based on where you live if you'd like and we could certainly point you toward some good sharpening tutorials. You could spend as little on equipment as maybe $35 and be able to get extremely sharp knives. $60ish would buy you a great beginner's set that is easier, more versatile, and more pleasant to use.

I ended up buying a used Tanaka VG-10 (which I have been very happy with) from the classifieds and I also bought about a week later a sharpening starter set https://www.chefknivestogo.com/coshstset.html. I've practicing sharpening on my Calphalon knives. I wasn't having much luck with the Calphalon (they are pretty thick) sharpening but, it seemed easier or more noticeable with a thinner knife I had laying around not sure the brand.

After rereading your post today everything makes so much more sense after I have tried sharpening and compared cutting using VG-10 to the Calphalon.

A quick question is it going to less effort to sharpen the a Japanese knife compared to German because they are a lot thinner? I know it depends on the steel but, I'm looking for a more general answer.

Not sure if this knife comes with a working edge https://www.chefknivestogo.com/risa10chkn.html but the tip was dulled and I used my grinder and water stone to put an edge on the tip and blade. I used it today and seemed to work really good for push dicing/chopping. I'd like to think that after spending an hour or so sharpening that it, I made some progress. Once again thank you for your help.

[Lepus]

I'm glad it's working out well. At this point if you are able to take a knife and get it sharper, that's a win. If you can get the next knife sharper than the last, that will also be a win.

Yes, I do think Japanese knives can be much less trouble to sharpen because they are thinner.

[dsayes]

I found that glestain knives are a good bridge to Japanese style knives. Single bevel, great edge, take a beating, easy to sharpen, and have the weight of more traditional western style knives.