# My collection



## pgugger

I'm a home cook who accumulated enough knives lately that it's fair to say I have a collection. I thought I would share it here and update now and then as it evolves. A few years ago, I bought a Masamoto VG as my first Japanese knife, which I found impressive at the time and still use for rougher tasks. Eventually, I learned of even better knives, so i bought a Kurosaki AS and Masakage Koishi, which were far more impressive for both their performance and craftsmanship. Since then, I have been fascinated by trying different styles and makers, especially those with long traditions or interesting stories, but only recently did I really go all in on exploring. Now, I have a small collection, which I hope to expand and then focus over time. 







From left to right:
Kurosaki R2 Hammered 150 mm petty
Ishikawa W#2 165 mm nakiri
Yoshimune W#1 165 mm nakiri
Kurosaki AS 210 mm gyuto
Konosuke Fujiyama FM B#1 240 mm gyuto 
Munetoshi W#2 240 mm gyuto 
Masakage Koishi 240 mm gyuto
Konosuke HD2 240 mm gyuto 
Toyama Noborikoi B#2 240 mm gyuto
Takeda NAS Medium gyuto
CCK 1303 cleaver
Moritaka AS 130 mm petty

Not shown: Masamoto VG 210 mm gyuto, Dexter 7" heavy-duty cleaver, and Victorinox bread, slicing, and paring knives

I also have a Teruyasu Fujiwara Maboroshi 180 mm gyuto on the way.


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## khashy

Nice gathering of blades. Which one is your favourite?


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## Runner_up

Nice collection!


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## pgugger

khashy said:


> Nice gathering of blades. Which one is your favourite?



Thanks! My favorites so far are the Konosuke Fujiyama FM and the Toyama - both acquired in the last few weeks. Instantly became favorites. They are both well balanced and match my cutting styles well, even though they are quite different knives. I also still like my Kurosaki AS, and the Takeda and CCK are fun. Still deciding on how I feel about some of the other gyutos, though.


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## Forsberg

Nice Collection. 
The takeda allmost looks like a santoku.
Is the cleaver a veggie cleaver? I'm super curious about those knives. [emoji85]


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## pgugger

Forsberg said:


> Nice Collection.
> The takeda allmost looks like a santoku.
> Is the cleaver a veggie cleaver? I'm super curious about those knives. [emoji85]



The Takeda does look like a giant santoku. I think mine is over 250 mm. Its a unique knife but great for food release, chopping, and the height is nice for moving food off the cutting board. It can wedge a bit on hard produce, due to the grind, but that same grind is what makes it excel at food release. 

Yes, the cleaver is a veggie cleaver, also great for chopping and doubles as a bench scraper. Really good value too; not very expensive for the quality. 

I find both these knives fun to use and recommend them.


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## Nino-chan

pgugger said:


> I'm a home cook who accumulated enough knives lately that it's fair to say I have a collection. I thought I would share it here and update now and then as it evolves. A few years ago, I bought a Masamoto VG as my first Japanese knife, which I found impressive at the time and still use for rougher tasks. Eventually, I learned of even better knives, so i bought a Kurosaki AS and Masakage Koishi, which were far more impressive for both their performance and craftsmanship. Since then, I have been fascinated by trying different styles and makers, especially those with long traditions or interesting stories, but only recently did I really go all in on exploring. Now, I have a small collection, which I hope to expand and then focus over time.
> 
> View attachment 69097
> 
> 
> From left to right:
> Kurosaki R2 Hammered 150 mm petty
> Ishikawa W#2 165 mm nakiri
> Yoshimune W#1 165 mm nakiri
> Kurosaki AS 210 mm gyuto
> Konosuke Fujiyama FM B#1 240 mm gyuto
> Munetoshi W#2 240 mm gyuto
> Masakage Koishi 240 mm gyuto
> Konosuke HD2 240 mm gyuto
> Toyama Noborikoi B#2 240 mm gyuto
> Takeda NAS Medium gyuto
> CCK 1303 cleaver
> Moritaka AS 130 mm petty
> 
> Not shown: Masamoto VG 210 mm gyuto, Dexter 7" heavy-duty cleaver, and Victorinox bread, slicing, and paring knives
> 
> I also have a Teruyasu Fujiwara Maboroshi 180 mm gyuto on the way.


look at the beast next to the cleaver


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## pgugger

A few additions over the last month 






Okeya W#2 24 mm wide kogatana
Okamitsu B#1 55 mm ginger knife
Teruyasu Fujiwara Maboroshi no Meito W#1 180 mm gyuto
Shigemitsu Ito Tamahagane 180 mm santoku
Yoshimitsu Tamahagane 165 mm nakiri
Yoshimitsu Tamahagane 210 mm gyuto
Jiro Tsuchime W#1 240 mm gyuto

Clearly, I have taken an interest in tamahagane knives - always impressive when the craftsman makes his own steel! On another note, the Jiro might be in the running for one of my favorites now. Good balance and heft (260 g). Great profile with tall heel, long flat spot, at the back and thin tip. Really nice tagayasan handle. Overall, a work of art and great performer.

I also got rid of the Konosuke HD2, and I am thinking of parting with the Masakage Koishi 240, Masamoto VG 210, Yoshimune nakiri, and Dexter cleaver. Gotta make room for more!


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## pgugger

Got rid of the 4 knives I mentioned in my last post, and just bought 4 in their place. Only fair, right? 




Toyama 270 mm sujihiki
Manaka (Kisuke) B#1 240 mm gyuto
Mazaki Kurouchi Nashiji W#2 240 mm gyuto
Watanabe Pro B#2 180 mm Kurouchi nakiri


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## Malcolm Johnson

Wow you have some great blades.


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## pgugger

Thanks! Now it's hard to decide which to use every time I cook, haha.


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## pgugger

Updated photo of the collection... unfortunately, low quality due to bad lighting and old phone...


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## FishmanDE

koolio


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## pgugger

Been getting into sharpening and went a little nuts on stones. Started with synthetics and now on to natural stones. Mostly I use them for knives but I also have some woodworking tools and a kamisori.

*Synthetic stones*





*Natural stones*









I need to update these pics later with better lighting.

I haven’t had a chance to try all these yet, but among synthetics I really like the Shapton Glass 500, Shapton Pro 2000, Naniwa Pro 800 and 3000. Rika and Kitayama are nice of course. Still need to try the Gesshin stones. Among the natural stones, I really like the Aizu from Watanabe and the Jun Sei Honyama from Bernal. The coarse stones are kind of fun. Just got the Shouboudani from JNS and Ohira Tomae so haven’t used them.


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## pgugger

Updates to my collection:





*TOP*
Gesshin Hide B#1 290 mm Yanagiba
Gesshin Hide B#1 195 mm Kamagata Usuba
Gesshin Hide B#1 186 mm Deba
Toyama Noborikoi B#2 303 mm Sujihiki
Tosa Tadayoshi B#1 277 mm Sujihiki
Migoto W#1 259 mm Gyuto
Takeda NAS Medium 255 mm Gyuto
Takeda AS Medium 253 mm Gyuto
Jiro Tsuchime W#1 250 mm Gyuto (#54)
Kisuke (Manaka) B#1 245 mm Gyuto 
Mazaki Kurouchi Nashiji W#2 244 mm Gyuto (2020)
Toyama Damascus B#2 242 mm Gyuto
Toyama Noborikoi B#2 245 mm Gyuto
Tetsujin B#2 Metal Flow 232 mm Gyuto
Takada Suiboku B#1 230 mm Gyuto
Konosuke Fujiyama FM B#1 230 mm Gyuto
Gesshin Kagekiyo W#1 226 mm Gyuto
Kurosaki AS 213 mm Gyuto
Henckels 8" Chef's Knife (grandmother's ~50 year old knife; repaired broken tip)

*BOTTOM*
Takahashi W#2 110 mm Fruit Knife
Otsuka B#1 100 mm Petty
Yoshimitsu Tamahagane 210 mm Gyuto
Yoshimitsu Tamahagane 165 mm Nakiri
Shigemitsu Ito Tamahagane 180 mm Santoku
Zakuri B#1 183 mm Tosagata
Tsubaya (Miyazaki) B#2 182 mm Hakata
CCK 1303 210 mm Small Chinese Cleaver
Watanabe Pro B#2 175 mm Nakiri
Toyama Noborikoi B#2 172 mm Nakiri
Ishikawa W#2 165 mm Nakiri
Munetoshi W#2 170 mm Butcher
Kurosaki R2 Hammered 148 mm Petty
Okamitsu B#1 58 mm Ginger Knife

Not shown: Zihr 600 mm Turkish Mincing Knife, kiridashi, a few single-bevel knives for practicing sharpening and polishing.


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## Homechef

I love this last picture because my collection is starting to look like your first post. The future looks bright! Any advice on the message track with the significant other justifying more knives than days of the month or should I start hiding them?!


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## pgugger

Haha, no sage relationship advice from me, but probably better to discuss openly, at least at first or from time to time, to set the broad parameters, rather than hiding it! I justify it as reasonable to have a hobby that my income can support after all the necessities and savings. Plus she gets gourmet meals routinely, and here we all know that 15 gyutos are the key to good home cooking!


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## matchplay18

Paul I like your collection.


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## matchplay18

After reading your post much wisdom sound reasoning


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## krstf

How do you like the shigemitsu ito? Not much info to be found regarding these?


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## pgugger

Honestly I only did some test cuts with it, but I thought it cut really well with good food release. Nice convex zero grind. 



krstf said:


> How do you like the shigemitsu ito? Not much info to be found regarding these?


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## DrD23

incredible collection! Favorites?


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## simona

Nice. How is the handle feel on the Otsuka?


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## pgugger

DrD23 said:


> incredible collection! Favorites?


So hard to pick because they are all good in different ways. But if I have to then my favorite gyutos are probably the Migoto and Toyama (all of them), followed closely by Takada, Konosuke Fujiyama and Jiro. Still need to use the Tetsujin and Kagekiyo more to compare. 



simona said:


> Nice. How is the handle feel on the Otsuka?


It’s awesome. It fits my hand perfectly. Feels like it should be a big steak knife but works as a small petty.


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