# Marko Tsourkan Prototype Honesuki



## knyfeknerd (Feb 19, 2013)

Grabbed this one from Marko because I was lucky enough to be stalking KKF one morning. Great price for a Marko, whether it's a prototype or not. 
I have been using a Tojiro DP honesuki for the past 10+ years. This is probably my second most-used knife. I cater and Beef tenderloin is the lifeblood of our business. I clean hundreds of these in any given week. I find my honesuki to be the perfect knife for this task. 
I got the knife from Marko a couple of weeks ago. The steel is 52100, cocobolo handle and multi-colored horn ferrule. I might add the knife looks beautiful. This is my first knife in 52100 as well.
I apologize for not doing any measurements, weight, etc. but I'm sure Marko has already recorded this data.
The knife feels great in hand. The handle is a little longer than I'm used to, but my previous honesuki was a western handle. Did I mention how pretty the multi-colored horn is on the ferrule?
The blade itself is slightly hollow-ground on the back side, with no discernible ura-at least not the kind I'm used to seeing on my single-bevel J knives. I'm fine with this, as I have turned the edge on my old honesuki into more of a 70/30 edge.
The knife didn't feel adequately sharp OOTB, so I did a 4k, 6k, 8k and some push strokes on the back side with the 8k. This thing is intimidatingly sharp now.
I've gone through about 250 beef tenders with thing so far. This knife is perfect for my needs and has made cleaning tenders a joy-seriously-BRING 'EM ON!!!!
I've done some poultry work too, it carves through chicken beautifully and makes paper-thin slices for paillards.
The edge retention on this is grand. I don't make much board contact, so it remains sharp. I haven't even stropped it yet.
Great steel, excellent HT, good to look at and feels good in my hand.
What more could you ask for???
The only thing this is missing is Marko's maker's mark on it!
Some pics, pre and post patina.




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Thanks Marko


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## apicius9 (Feb 19, 2013)

Thanks for the report. I love honesukis and had my eyes on that one also, but you clearly make more and better use out of it than I could in a home kitchen. 

Stefan


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## DeepCSweede (Feb 19, 2013)

You beat me to that one Chris, but you are definitely getting a lot more use out of than I would. Good score and congrats. With the new baby, I am just working on pheasants from the freezer this winter.

I am still waiting on a gyuto from him but if I can pick up one of the random Honesuki's he is prototyping I am going to be all over it.


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## Marko Tsourkan (Feb 20, 2013)

Glad the prototype worked for you. I would recommend regular stropping and periodic touch-up on a diamond plate(if you have one in 5-8K range). You will not need to sharpen your knife for a long time. This should prolong the life of a knife considerably. 

M


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## don (Feb 20, 2013)

Thanks for the review, been very interested in Marko's honesuki. Your review makes me want one even more.


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## TB_London (Feb 20, 2013)

Nice write up and pics. Looking at the profile the only thing I'd change is a narrower tip, but that's a personal preference based on pictures rather than use, so mostly meaningless lol


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## turbochef422 (Feb 20, 2013)

I want one bad and I do so many beef tenderloins, strip steaks , ribeye it would be my first justified purchase in a while


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## pumbaa (Feb 20, 2013)

Nice man that thing is beautiful. That tojiro you have had so long when I saw it I don't even think the kanji was there anymore


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## jgraeff (Feb 21, 2013)

looks awesome have been planing on upgrading my tojiro dp honesuki.... hmm


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## pumbaa (Feb 21, 2013)

ohh and what you doing with the tojiro? you know me lol


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## ThEoRy (Feb 21, 2013)

pumbaa said:


> ohh and what you doing with the tojiro? you know me lol



Knifeknerds Tojiro??? There's nothing left on that thing but a freaking handle!!! :knife:


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## pitonboy (Feb 21, 2013)

Had the same style prototype from Marko and it became my favorite small knife not just for disjointing chickens, but also in-hand work, fine dicing, etc. If I had a carbon and a stainless one I could think of dumping all my smaller knives. These are very versatile and with the straight blade, VERY easy to sharpen.


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## pumbaa (Feb 21, 2013)

ohh theory i know lol seriously it had no kanji left on it that i remember


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## Mike9 (Feb 22, 2013)

Thanks for the review Knerd - Mark got any plans for a Hankotsu version?


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## Marko Tsourkan (Feb 22, 2013)

Mike9 said:


> Thanks for the review Knerd - Mark got any plans for a Hankotsu version?



Hankotsu never appealed to me, to be honest, so the short answer is no.


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## Mike9 (Feb 24, 2013)

Sorry to hear that Marko - that is one badass looking profile and I can imagine it in a 210mm length.


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