# Review: Sukenari SG2 K-tip



## ModRQC (Dec 14, 2020)

*MAKER*​*Sukenari*​*TYPE & LENGTH*​*Kiritsuke 240mm*​*FINISH & STEEL*​*Hairline SG2*​*WEIGHT / BALANCE*​*187g / +30*​*HANDLE MATERIAL*​*Walnut & Buffalo Horn*​​​TOTAL LENGTH​386​BLADE LENGTH​245​EDGE LENGTH​*230*​​​HEIGHT AT HEEL​*50*​HEIGHT AT MID BLADE​44​HEIGHT 35mm TO TIP​35​​​*SPINE*​*THICKNESS*HEEL​*2.6*​MID BLADE​2.2​35mm TO TIP​2.1​10mm TO TIP​*1*​​​*THICKNESS OVER THE EDGE*​@ 10/5/1mm (Choil=True*)HEEL + 10mm​1 / 0.5 / 0.2​MID BLADE​1 / 0.6 / 0.2​35mm TO TIP​0.9 / 0.5 / 0.2​TIP**​1 / 0.6 / 0.2​
** True is in line with thickness at Heel +10mm. False is significantly different - see choil shot.
** Nearest to tip location where there's still 10mm perpendicular from the edge under the spine.


FIT & FINISH: 5.5/6

Handle: 2/2*






Wa handle: take a decent sample of beautifully patterned wood, sculpt and fit it to a T, and it’s going to be awesome.

Add a nice balance point that naturally blends with profile and a superbly smooth feeling in hand whatever your grip style, and it’s going to be perfect.

*Blade: 2/2*






This knife revels in the sheer gusto of its own blandness: the shaping of its everything is just so perfectly well-suited, so brilliantly apt, so welcomingly smoothed and rounded, that it just about feels generic. It’s almost its pitfall, that sort of… hollowness to it. But then you just reach for it, use it, wash it, and not until putting it back to storage do you stop to consider: hey, that went awesomely smooth.

*Finish: 1.5/2 *






Of course, Sukenari offers other finishes with their blades, but I hardly see why I would specifically seek these instead of this basic one here: another thing bland that is done so perfectly it is beautiful, befitting the knife. And when comes the time to take this to the stones for some major work, a hairline is the finish you want to have and be indifferent about. Still it’s nice that it doesn’t need any of that OOTB.

Scratches and fingerprints magnet though, and not something you’ll ever write home about. But it doesn’t matter: it’s Covid – you’re likely home already anyhow. Also, in line with my other reviews, it’s just way too simple and easy a finish to be warranting full score here. Maintenance is sure as easy as possible with this knife though.


*EXPERIENCE: 3/4

Box: 0.5/1*






Oh well… going that mile further to make every aspect of their knives nicer seems to be something Sukenari gets right like no one does. I haven’t seen any real magic with this knife yet like you do with knives that got some righteous character, but God do these guys know how to maximize everything they put into their customers hands. It’s your typical box… it’s even bordering cheap with just the VCI fold and handle inlay that is too short for the actual handle… but it looks nicer than most when you first land your eyes on it, and even feels nicer than plain textured cardboard to the touch.

*Performance: 2.5/3 *






While an almost all curve profile with little of a truly flat spot (note in the picture that the very heel section has a tiny amount of recurve) isn’t the trend with KKF, they work nice with K-tip Gyutos, and to many extents tend to work better than a truly flat spot when push cutting with a forward motion, though this may differ in opinions: the curve is indeed so gradual here that it can almost work like a fully flat profile does, only more natural.

Versatility is where some sacrifices are made: that profile is hardly so good at rock chopping, and absence of flat spot might make pull cutting a subpar experience. No real tapering to the spine to speak of until the tip area, and it correlates in this case with the absence of differential thickness in different segments of the blade, so while it’s a tremendously good all-around grind, you don’t get the progressive taper that makes some Gyutos seem to combine three knives in one. It really mostly excels in push cutting/slicing – but there, effortless and natural. You additionally can get nice tip work out of it, but no Gyuto ballpark kind of nice.






A fair bit of an asymmetrical grind (!) ( #leftyalert ), very well done and nicely thin behind the edge. There again, going with everything this knife does so nicely, I wasn’t surprised to find that thickness behind the edge was almost textbook @Benuser 's rule of thumb for thinning. Choil was indicated as “True” in the grid, and indeed the very heel’s thickness behind the edge is another set of the same measurements than any other spot of the blade. Sukenari sent this one just sharp enough to get some nice pure push cutting done. Transit in such poor packaging as “typical J-box and mere VCI fold” makes the edge catch into paper in a few spots though. Carton sheath, guys, I’m surprised you didn’t get this one right.









Slight convexity in the grind, mostly relatively far up the edge on the right side, and it goes in hand with the smooth hairline finish: decent food release, effortless to wipe what sticks on. Not much to count against the Sukenari here, but I removed half a point overall because of absence of versatility as well as the fact that, for me, it hits every note right but the intimate cords of deep satisfaction.

*Overall Score: 8.5/10






Personal take: *bought this to take the place of my Takayuki VG-10 Kengata 200mm – a knife I liked some, and especially grew fond of when I got around to thin it a fair bit, but never could love entirely. Here I got everything to fit a more appropriated ballpark to me: longer, heavier, better steel, better F&F, higher pride of ownership. Also of worthy note that absolutely no work needs to be undertaken to make it perform right – so it’s definitely worth twice the price of a Takayuki, it’s even goddamn cheap for how good it is. Still, to say that I love it… I don’t know. Might stay with me for years, might hit BST in the near future. And that’s where it isn’t worth it’s price: north of 300$ nominally for a knife, and in this case, north of 400$ nominally, I’m always kind of “meh” if it isn’t unconditional love from the onset. Even in the lower-mid end of the price bracket, when a knife is just very good, without deeper bonding involved, it’s a lot of dough to spend. So it might grow further on me (if Takayuki could, this one can too – but I bought this especially because the Takayuki grew on me, so I don’t know that there is still room for more), or it might hit BST in a near future – fate undetermined! I also have flashes of me grinding the K-tip to a Gyuto's, and give a good thinning session especially targeting last third to tip area. Don’t know where these come from – I’d never do that…..


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## ModRQC (Dec 14, 2020)

... BTW there's also THIS review that it seems almost no one has seen. Perhaps I shouldn't post in the dead hours of the night. Leaving a note in case it helps get more answers to the query it comes with. Thanks!


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## spaceconvoy (Dec 14, 2020)

Nice review of a nice knife - I've got the more basic ginsan version, 270 with regular tip. I like your handle, looks nice a nice upgrade to the stock ho wood which feels too light and porous. Which retailer did you get it through, it doesn't look like any of the handles at JCK.

One thing I noticed about my Sukenari after thinning it a bit, they seem to do some grind-fakery just before the choil to make it look thinner than it actually is. Might just be the lighting, but I think you can see it in your fourth photo under Performance. I personally like the grind, mine is almost textbook midweight-convex, but it feels like the choil shots I've seen don't tell the full picture.


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## ModRQC (Dec 14, 2020)

spaceconvoy said:


> Nice review of a nice knife - I've got the more basic ginsan version, 270 with regular tip. I like your handle, looks nice a nice upgrade to the stock ho wood which feels too light and porous. Which retailer did you get it through, it doesn't look like any of the handles at JCK.
> 
> One thing I noticed about my Sukenari after thinning it a bit, they seem to do some grind-fakery just before the choil to make it look thinner than it actually is. Might just be the lighting, but I think you can see it in your fourth photo under Performance. I personally like the grind, mine is almost textbook midweight-convex, but it feels like the choil shots I've seen don't tell the full picture.



I think, but could be wrong because I didn't go verify this - that if you had shopped specifically for a SG2, or one of their PMs, you'd have come across a whole lot more of this handle. Bought at Cook's Edge in Canada - but Ai and Om has the same handle for their ZDP, and KNS same handle on their SG2s and other PMs as well.

You may be right, but...


ModRQC said:


> Choil was indicated as “True” in the grid, and indeed the very heel’s thickness behind the edge is another set of the same measurements than any other spot of the blade.



Also, I see a lot of knives with a thinner very heel myself - AND most often times you'll come across someone on KKF that did some thinning, you can see a change in scratch pattern/contrast nearing the heel. I always thought though that it was either part of the rounding of the choil (with a Suke for example where they do round it) or some attempt at easing the choil a tad in the same motion as grinding the bevel. Once again, I could be dead wrong.


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## Pertti (Dec 14, 2020)

Very nice review!

I find my Sukenari SG2 210 gyuto to be nice all around and cut pretty well. Im not feeling overly attached to it emotionally, though, but I do like it. So I think I know how you feeling.. 

I bought the Sukenari with the idea to have a nicely performing stainless knife, that I dare let my partner to handle. Shes picking the Wusthof creme 16cm chef I also bought though now all the time.


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## ModRQC (Dec 14, 2020)

Pertti said:


> Very nice review!
> 
> I find my Sukenari SG2 210 gyuto to be nice all around and cut pretty well. Im not feeling overly attached to it emotionally, though, but I do like it. So I think I know how you feeling..
> 
> I bought the Sukenari with the idea to have a nicely performing stainless knife, that I dare let my partner to handle. Shes picking the Wusthof creme 16cm chef I also bought though now all the time.



Better she leaves the Suke for you... man, 6 inches Wusthof is all too much curve to way too high a tip and no fun!


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## Pertti (Dec 15, 2020)

ModRQC said:


> Better she leaves the Suke for you... man, 6 inches Wusthof is all too much curve to way too high a tip and no fun!



With all the twisting she does, maybe it indeed is for the better xD. She is near incapable of drying a blade after use too still, but that I knew going in, so the SG2 .

The wustie indeed has a bit too much curve for my liking too! It's my honesuki now, since I dont have one.


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## ModRQC (Dec 15, 2020)

Pertti said:


> With all the twisting she does, maybe it indeed is for the better xD. She is near incapable of drying a blade after use too still, but that I knew going in, so the SG2 .
> 
> The wustie indeed has a bit too much curve for my liking too! It's my honesuki now, since I dont have one.



That’s alright, redefining uses for poorer knives is a key process of buying more good knives.


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## Pertti (Dec 15, 2020)

ModRQC said:


> That’s alright, redefining uses for poorer knives is a key process of buying more good knives.


Lol yes! My like button has disappeared.. what the..


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## Jovidah (Dec 15, 2020)

Funny... this read almost like a review of the 210 gyuto in ginsan (the cheap one on JCK) that I gifted my girlfriend. But that one is significantly cheaper, making it a very different situation. I don't know if there's anyone who has both to say if there's more differences (for example in grind) than just the steel? 

Same tip-situation on the 'normal' gyuto; they're stamped blades without much distal taper. So the tip could be thinner, but otherwise great middle of the road knife. Can kinda understand why it lacks the 'charm' at that price, since it kinda looks and 'feels' almost like a really well-done factory knife with a wa-handle. 
On the gin3 variant I was really happy about it; a bit softer and forgiving, yet still sharpens easy, takes a great edge and holds it really well... but it was significantly cheaper... ($175 for the 210, $194 for the 240) If you add a hundred bucks to that suddenly you're putting it against very different competition.


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## ModRQC (Dec 15, 2020)

Jovidah said:


> Funny... this read almost like a review of the 210 gyuto in ginsan (the cheap one on JCK) that I gifted my girlfriend. But that one is significantly cheaper, making it a very different situation. I don't know if there's anyone who has both to say if there's more differences (for example in grind) than just the steel?
> 
> Same tip-situation on the 'normal' gyuto; they're stamped blades without much distal taper. So the tip could be thinner, but otherwise great middle of the road knife. Can kinda understand why it lacks the 'charm' at that price, since it kinda looks and 'feels' almost like a really well-done factory knife with a wa-handle.
> On the gin3 variant I was really happy about it; a bit softer and forgiving, yet still sharpens easy, takes a great edge and holds it really well... but it was significantly cheaper... ($175 for the 210, $194 for the 240) If you add a hundred bucks to that suddenly you're putting it against very different competition.



Just don't forget I was discussing nominal CAD prices in my review though. Not that your point doesn't come across as true, I know the Ginsan line is cheaper and real good value. I already have a Ginsan though from another maker. Not really interested neither in crazy hard PMs like HAP and ZDP they do. If I ever sell this one and buy another Sukenari, it'll be the YXR7 line which also stands at lower prices than SG2 and is another great value of them. I guess scoring one of these around the 250$ CAD ballpark might make it feel like outstanding value to me, whereas in the present case the SG2 line walks the fine line between being worth their price but in a territory where there are many many more "colorful" offers.


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## dafox (Dec 15, 2020)

@ModRQC 
What are your thoughts of the k-tip versus a thin tipped gyuto in use?


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## ModRQC (Dec 15, 2020)

dafox said:


> @ModRQC
> What are your thoughts of the k-tip versus a thin tipped gyuto in use?



I covered a bit of that in the review: there's nothing to a thin tip Gyuto as to combine the most versatility possible within a single knife. Then again I appreciate that you made sure to specify "thin tip" (if construed in that sense, and not "thin behind the edge") because not all Gyutos shine more than a nice K-tip.

And while on a shorter and taller blade - Bunka - I will agree with the general consensus that a K-tip is nice for fine detailing, using the thinnest part of the knife with "full height", I think on a k-tip gyuto this effect may tend to be lessened: on a Bunka the shorter grip to tip range allows full control, which you cannot really have it the same way with a 230mm blade, nor even with my 200mm Takayuki.

So to me, and not a general statement, I don't think you buy a K-tip gyuto exactly because of the K-tip, but because of the way most of them keep the major part of their height on most of the length. Tip is workable enough, as much as that of some Gyutos with a large tip. Blade can be much more nimble than a tall enough Gyuto to still be as tall as a K-tip when closing the tip. This profile to me excels in one thing, and one thing only: push cutting. If that's your main, you can love it. If you're the one to constantly alternate motion depending on what's at hand, you may not like so much. Then again, you MAY have other blades for that...


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