# Review: Markin Gyuto 240 mm



## Bico Doce (Jan 8, 2022)

I recently received my custom from @Markin and I thought I would offer a brief review on this 240 gyuto.

First off, my qualifications. I have none. I am nothing more than a hobbyist whose outlay on kitchen knives has considerably outpaced his talent to use them. I will say I have owned and sold around 30 high end knives, so I feel like I have a decent baseline for comparison. I may mention another knife or maker in this review as a point of reference but not with the intent proclaiming a "winner". I will not be providing any measurements outside of the normal BST requirements because I personally am really only interested in the feel and not the numbers behind it.

Before digging into the knife itself I would just like to say that my dealing with Andrey was an absolute pleasure (this probably did not need to be stated). Looking back on our email thread I think there was a total of ~70 emails when it was all said and done. He was very informative, patient and responsive. I did waffle a bit on the build (which I imagine gets old very quick with makers) but he took it like a champ. In the end I asked Andrey to make me a knife that he would want for himself. I asked for around 240mm and told him I would like a handle with some contrast to it. He did the rest. Total time from first inquiry to receiving the knife - 5 months.

Here are the specs:
Length: 240 mm

Height: 54 mm

Weight: 206 grams

Handle: Snakewood

Steel: K390/Stainless Clad, 64 hrc

Here are some pics (there are professional shots on Andrey's maker's thread as well)


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## Bico Doce (Jan 8, 2022)

Fit and finish was some of the best I have experienced. Not only was the polish very well done but the spine and choil was rounded to perfection. Hands down one of the most comfortable knives I have handled. The handle job is on another level. Talk about a precision fit. Here are some pics to show you what I am talking about


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## Bico Doce (Jan 8, 2022)

Balance point for this knife is right at the heel which is a little more neutral than I am accustomed to but given how much I love the handle it is a price worth paying for such gorgeous wood.

In terms of performance - one of the most telling signs you know you will love a knife is that first cut. It glides thru that onion and you know - this thing is good. I would say it gave me some serious Toyama vibes in terms of how it felt going thru the onion. I know it's not even close to being the same profile but it had that feeling of just the slightest hint of resistance and then it was gone - a beautifully executed convex grind.

The profile reminded me of the Yoshikane SKD but without the flat spot that causes the knife to come to a screaming halt on the board. Food release was very good given how little cutting resistance you feel. I tested this out against the biggest sweet potato I could find and there wasn't any wedging to be heard of. Long story short, Andrey managed to hit all of the right notes that I look for in a knife while avoiding many of the pitfalls. It is an example of a beautifully crafted knife, balanced with the best traits. I do not say this lightly but it is one of the best I have had the pleasure of using and you will not be seeing this on BST in my lifetime. 

I can't speak to edge retention or ease of sharpening but it came with a razor sharp edge and I am interested to see how long that lasts given this being a high alloy steel.


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## Bico Doce (Jan 8, 2022)

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## Bico Doce (Jan 8, 2022)

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## Bico Doce (Jan 8, 2022)

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## Bico Doce (Jan 8, 2022)

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## Barmoley (Jan 8, 2022)

Beautiful knife and thanks for sharing.


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## jedy617 (Jan 8, 2022)

if you don't mind me asking what did something like this run you? Would love some k390 in my life.


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## Geigs (Jan 8, 2022)

Looks awesome. I have a few of Andre's knives and they are fabulous cutters.


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## AT5760 (Jan 8, 2022)

@jedy617 if you look at Andrei’s maker thread here, you will see his prices are really reasonable for custom/ one-off work. 

Great review, definitely a maker I’d like to try someday.


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## Brian Weekley (Jan 8, 2022)

_Great _review!

I would love to see it added to the Naughty Schoolboy - great potato slap down.


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## daniel_il (Jan 8, 2022)

very nice blade and handle, loved that the tip in particular


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## Bico Doce (Jan 8, 2022)

daniel_il said:


> very nice blade and handle, loved that the tip in particular


I was very impressed with the tip as well. Almost felt like a petty when I was cutting that shallot


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## jedy617 (Jan 8, 2022)

AT5760 said:


> @jedy617 if you look at Andrei’s maker thread here, you will see his prices are really reasonable for custom/ one-off work.
> 
> Great review, definitely a maker I’d like to try someday.


Yep I have a petty from him, was just curious on this build


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## Bico Doce (Jan 22, 2022)

I thought I would add a follow up since my first post. I have been using this Markin exclusively and I would say my initial assessment holds up.

As far as edge retention goes, I did notice today that the edge was not as sharp as OOTB which could easily slice thru a paper towel. It was still very sharp from a functional point of view because what who the hell is cutting paper towels for dinner? But nonetheless the edge had lost a little bit of its sharpness so i stropped the knife for about a minute on leather with .5 micron diamond paste and the Mac was back. K390 has been impressive so far. I’ll post another update when I actually hit the stones.

TLDR: Markin’s work is top notch and highly underrated


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## Bico Doce (Feb 9, 2022)

I just realized I tagged some random member in my first post at the top as opposed to @Andrei . I would correct it but I can no longer edit the post


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## Bico Doce (Feb 15, 2022)

I thought I would add a note here for sharpening. The edge retention was too good and I did not want to wait a year or however long to sharpen this knife so I did the logical thing and blunted it on the side of my gesshin 220. Once I could feel all of the bite of the edge was gone against my finger nail I gave this knife a full sharpening.

I had read that you could use conventional whetstones for sharpening high alloy steels at lower grits so I started with a NP 400. Terrible choice. The stone felt glassy as if it were doing nothing. I tried to make up for it with increased pressure which sort of worked but it is harder to maintain an angle when you start dialing up the pressure. I was persistent and stuck with it until I felt the slightest burr form (hell, it may have been imagined by that point just so I could move on). I de-burred, stropped a bit on the stone and the knife was reasonably sharp. Enough to cut paper, sort of cut paper towel but not enough to shave hair. 

From here I moved on to a Naniwa Diamond 1000. This was a much better experience. On this stone the steel sharpened almost like a low alloy steel would on conventional whetstones. I was able to raise a burr easily and I could feel that the burr resembled of a "negative burr" which is to say small and brittle. After removing the burr the knife was much sharper. 

I then used a Venev Phoenix Fine/Extra Fine combo stone to refine the edge. I thought this stone performed pretty well for $100. I preferred the feel of the Naniwa but for the price I thought it was great. By the time I finished with both sides of the stone the knife had a great edge with plenty of bite and could slice a paper towel cleanly. I did strop afterwords with 1 micron diamond paste and then some green compound (I did this because I had read that finishing off with AlOx exposes a bit more of the carbide at the edge, giving it a more aggressive feel).

Tldr: if you have diamond stones, sharpening k390 is a breeze. Venev offers some options at a good price, you could get 4 grits for $200. I am thinking I will grab a course combo stone from them so I dont have to muck around with that NP 400 again. Overall this steel has been fantastic, great edge retention and enough toughness where I haven't had any issues with chipping.


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## Bico Doce (Feb 15, 2022)

Ok, here’s the last piece of the review, a toughness test. This video is me cutting a kabocha which is pretty damn hard. I didn’t record the whole thing because it would have been too long but I cut and peeled the whole squash. That involved some awkward cutting that made me think I would leave with a micro chip or two but the edge held up beautifully.

Long story short k390 at 64 hrc is a really great steel choice for a kitchen knife.





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## DF18 (Feb 17, 2022)

This is really awesome! Thank you for putting this out there. I grabbed one of his “budget” knives that he posted on Instagram a while ago. I’m still waiting on it to depart Russia. I also put in an order for a custom from him that is about 4 months out!


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## Bico Doce (Feb 17, 2022)

DF18 said:


> This is really awesome! Thank you for putting this out there. I grabbed one of his “budget” knives that he posted on Instagram a while ago. I’m still waiting on it to depart Russia. I also put in an order for a custom from him that is about 4 months out!


Thanks! I dont see myself doing a lot of reviews but I thought it was worth it for this knife because there isn't a lot of information out there on Markin's knives. What do you have planned for your custom if you don't mind me asking?


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## DF18 (Feb 17, 2022)

I can imagine, just because a review this in-depth takes a lot of time I’m sure! I haven’t heard much about his knives, but everything I have heard has been positive. 
I asked for one of these: 
Monosteel workhorse, 8mm to 1mm taper.


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## Geigs (Feb 18, 2022)

DF18 said:


> I can imagine, just because a review this in-depth takes a lot of time I’m sure! I haven’t heard much about his knives, but everything I have heard has been positive.
> I asked for one of these:
> Monosteel workhorse, 8mm to 1mm taper.



Oh man that's nice. I have 3 markins but no workhorse, perhaps time I had a 4th....


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## DF18 (Feb 18, 2022)

His “budget” drop will be my first, hopefully quickly followed by the workhorse. The budget is supposed to keep me tided over. and I’m telling myself I’ll only keep one…..


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## Rangen (Feb 18, 2022)

Wow. Great review of what sounds like a great knife.

Do you need my shipping address, to send it to after you get tired of it?


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## daddy yo yo (Feb 19, 2022)

Rangen said:


> Wow. Great review of what sounds like a great knife.
> 
> Do you need my shipping address, to send it to after you get tired of it?


Get in line!


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