# Gesshin Uraku 165 Nakiri



## Crothcipt

I have been wanting to start a pass a round for a while. But I don't want to send off my gyuto's yet. (afraid I will miss them) 

So here it is. If you have wanted to try skd steel, or even a Nakiri. Here is your chance. I will post pics later but as for now it's this one from john.

http://www.japaneseknifeimports.com/kitchen-knives/gesshin-uraku/gesshin-uraku-165mm-skd-nakiri.html

Only rules I have are: Have to be in good standing with forum, Have over 100 posts. Oh ya post every like and dislike about the knife you have. (I just find those type of threads more entertaining). Also ask for some pics posted as it goes around. One last item I can think of post me the tracking.


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## stereo.pete

I will get in on that!


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## toddnmd

I'd like to be in on this as well.


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## Brad Gibson

I have really been wanting to use a nikiri. Count me in if you'll have me!


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## Crothcipt

Here is a couple of pics taken rq. 





I have used it a few times since I received it. It still has John's edge on it. Not as sharp as then (It would stick in the board by its own weight)
but still very sharp.


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## tk59

I gave one of these away a while back. I get to play with it when it comes back for sharpening. I'm sure you'll get a lot of enjoyment out of it.


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## Crothcipt

Ty for your thoughts tk. I don't want to have what Son had happen with a P A some time ago, and post his likes and dislikes right off.


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## tk59

Sorry! Fixed it.


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## Amon-Rukh

I would be interested in participating as well, if possible. When I bought my nakiri last summer this was one that I was seriously considering but I ended up going with another. It would be interesting to see how they stack up!


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## Crothcipt

Just a bump. Will wait until after the weekend, to see if more will want to join, to post a list.


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## Crothcipt

here is the list. To bad it didn't get bigger.

Bradgibson
Amon-Rukh
Stereo Pete
Toddnmd

Todd if you don't live in Maryland pm me were. I seem to remember you said that was a part of your name. The order went as for location west to east. Brad pm me your address and I will get this out first thing.


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## Brad Gibson

I just bought the shig Nikiri from salty. Maybe I will get to compare the two!


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## Amon-Rukh

Looking forward to this!


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## cheflarge

If it's not to late, I'd love to get in.


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## Mrmnms

Me too, if it's not too late.


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## Crothcipt

I don't see why not. May do a return trip


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## Crothcipt

Brad how has it been??? Please be honest, that is what we want from these pass a rounds. Also Amon send brad your addy. so he can get it out next week.


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## Brad Gibson

I will do a complete review when I get a chance to spend some more time. But in short its been a fun knife, cuts like a laser on veggies and comes with a beautiful saya for 125?!! I think this nikiri could be a great deal for someone on a tight budget. I just got the shig KU nikiri and I feel like other than the sharpness level, these two perform quite similarly. The shig does take an incredible edge but there is no way its edge retention can make a dent in the gesshin. For a serious workhorse knife I would recommend this gesshin nikiri as an inexpensive and incredible option.


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## Amon-Rukh

This will be fun! In addition to testing the uraku I'll get to test my new camera too, so hopefully no lousy cellphone pics for my leg of the passaround. :thumbsup:

Also, PM with address sent!


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## Crothcipt

:hungry:


Amon-Rukh said:


> This will be fun! In addition to testing the uraku I'll get to test my new camera too, so hopefully no lousy cellphone pics for my leg of the passaround. :thumbsup:
> 
> Also, PM with address sent!



Brad, you are seeing a difference in carbon, and stainless. I would say the shig would keep a edge longer lasting because of this. (not counting ht. some people can change that)

Also when I sent that I would say it was at 90% of what John had sent me. Glad you are enjoying the experience.


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## stereo.pete

Updates?


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## tk59

Crothcipt said:


> :hungry:
> 
> Brad, you are seeing a difference in carbon, and stainless. I would say the shig would keep a edge longer lasting because of this. (not counting ht. some people can change that)
> 
> Also when I sent that I would say it was at 90% of what John had sent me. Glad you are enjoying the experience.



In my hands, the Uraku edge was useable longer (albeit not as fine an edge) than my Shig and it really wasn't close.


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## Crothcipt

TK how did you get it?


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## stereo.pete

LOL passaround Hijack?


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## Amon-Rukh

lol we almost have an emoticon for it! Who can modify this little guy's sign to say passaround? :threadjacked:

Anyhow, who am I messaging my address to now?


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## Brad Gibson

I never let tinh use it nor has he asked for it. I think he is talking about his own. Its in the mail to you Amon-Rukh


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## Amon-Rukh

Cool - looking forward to it!


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## Amon-Rukh

Knife arrived this afternoon and will be accompanying me to make stirfry in a few minutes!


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## stereo.pete

Erik,

I am going to bow out on this one, I will be super busy in the upcoming weeks and it will be a waste for me to have the knife. Please pass it along to whomever is next.

Thanks,

Pete


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## Crothcipt

Let me know when you have time, I'll see what I can do.


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## stereo.pete

Crothcipt said:


> Let me know when you have time, I'll see what I can do.



You're a gentleman, thank you.


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## Amon-Rukh

Knife is on its way to Todd and should arrive Thursday. I'll post my thoughts on it asap, but for now it was definitely a fun experience--thanks Crothcipt!


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## Crothcipt

Crothcipt said:


> here is the list. To bad it didn't get bigger.
> 
> Bradgibson
> Amon-Rukh
> Stereo Pete
> Toddnmd
> 
> Todd if you don't live in Maryland pm me were. I seem to remember you said that was a part of your name. The order went as for location west to east. Brad pm me your address and I will get this out first thing.



List update, 

Toddnmd
Mrmnms
then back to stereo pete if he has time then.

Remember post pics plz.


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## Crothcipt

Amon-Rukh said:


> Knife is on its way to Todd and should arrive Thursday. I'll post my thoughts on it asap, but for now it was definitely a fun experience--thanks Crothcipt!



Not a problem, thx for trying it out. What did you think? 

Toddnmd did this arrive? Guys please link me the shipping details. I just find that doing that for the owner gives a piece of mind.

It looks like I missed someone when I did the new list. Sorry for the oversight Chef

I'll just put Cheflarge right before stereo pete to give more time for him.

Toddnmd
Mrmnms
Cheflarge
Stereo Pete

Again sorry for that Chef, I had a ton of stuff on my mind at the time.


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## cheflarge

No problem....... Mrmnms has my shipping information.


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## toddnmd

CC, yes I've got it. Thanks for sending this out and around!


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## Crothcipt

:chin:

Where is this??? Anyone post anything about the knife? Pics?


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## toddnmd

It's off to Mrmnms tomorrow.


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## Mrmnms

Knife is here. We'll start on it this afternoon


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## cheflarge

Received the knife from Mrmnms yesterday. Looks awesome for the price point. The only thing that I see OOTB is the lack of a distal taper (or extremelly limited). I will put it through the paces next week at work and then off to Pete. Pete are you going to make it up to the "hammer in?"


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## Crothcipt

I have 3 Nakiri's and I can't think of any distal taper at all. I don't think they are to have any. I can be wrong tho.


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## cheflarge

Well I have three as well and it appears that two of them have distal tapers, whatever. Put the knife through some minor paces today and was very impressed. Edge was sharp and there was no wedging at all. Really like the balance and make up of this knife, so far. More to come.


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## cheflarge

I have done my due diligence and will have a complete report in a few days. Pete did you want a pass at this one? Let me know, ready to ship this one out.

Don't think you will find a better nakiri for the price.


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## Brad Gibson

I just recently got the Uraku Kamagata usuba and am super pleased with it. I knew what I was getting myself into with the nice fit and finish and sweet saya on this knife. Thanks again for the opportunity to use it!


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## stereo.pete

I will pass guys, but thanks again.


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## cheflarge

Ok then. To whom should I ship this next?


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## daveb

PM to Crothcript sent.


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## Crothcipt

Dave it will be sent to you some time around mon. since chef is going to a hammer in. Thx Chef for your patience on this.


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## cheflarge

Shipped Monday to Dave B.


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## daveb

Arrived safe and sound. Happy mailbox day with packages from Dave M and Myron as well.


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## daveb

I've had a chance to take this around the block a couple of times and came away favorably impressed.
​ I did not sharpen or strop the knife. Was using a 165 Carter Nakiri for relative comparison.
​ Mirepoix is a common "new knife" test for me. Onions cut very precisely, knife handled easily. Celery could do all day. Carrots would occasionally split on lengthwise cut. Dice was clean. Prepped some Trinity as well. Took a little push to julienne bells, dice was precise. "Sticktion" happened but no more than on Carter.
​ Sushi class prep was next up. When slicing "thin as you can" scallions there was some accordion stuff going on, prob as much to do with user as knife. Thin sliced mushrooms were easy. Cubing tofu (I washed it well afterwords) was straightforward. These beauties went into the worst Miso soup ever made. Julienned cukes were easy. Fake "ken" cut carrots for garnish went fine.
​ The most impressive thing about the knife is the value at the price point. I have no aversion to stainless and think its a good steel for this knifes market. The wa handle is no frills but does not look or feel "cheap". Fit is good.
​ A subjective impression is that it felt a little "clunky" compared to the more svelte Carter. It handled well but not gracefully. 

The only part of the knife I did not like was the edge on the spine. Sharp corner rubbed a raw spot on callus. After cutting vegs with moderate pressure, i.e. onions, I appreciated the more rounded edges on most of my knives. This could probably be easily remedied with a little sandpaper.

Overall I liked it. Great value at the price point. If this is representative of the Uraku lineup the knives should do very well.
​ Thanks Cothcript for the opportunity to participate. Where does it go next?​


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## Crothcipt

If no one else wants in send it back to me. Give it a couple of days to see if anyone else would like to try it. 

Dave thx for giving it a good write up. 

The only thing I didn't like about this knife was how it stuck to everything, I don't know if it was the lacquer or not enough use. Also going from a 270 to this throws me off, but it's not just this knife that it happens with.


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## Amon-Rukh

First off, I'd like to apologize to Crothcipt for taking so long to respond and second to the forum for the thread necromancy I'm committing right now. Hopefully it will at least be semi-interesting for people though. I was able to participate in this passaround last year and it was really cool (thanks Crothcipt!). In between then and now I've had to deal with a lot of work-related stress plus my computer's hard drive crashing, which I thought had destroyed my write-up about this knife. But yesterday i (largely by accident) discovered some notes about the knife that I had apparently saved on an old flash drive and forgotten about. So I will post those as is and hopefully they can contribute to the discussion about this knife!

note: I did not sharpen this knife while I had it but I did strop it on balsa loaded with 1 micron diamond solution.

*Gesshin Uraku 165mm nakiri*

pros: 
Comes with a great saya!
Was excellent with garlic, ginger, cabbage, broccoli, cutting corn off of cob, herbs, green onions
Good on small cutting surface (I am sometimes limited to a 10x10 inch board and this size is definitely more maneuverable and convenient than a knife that is 80-120% the size of the board) 

middle ground:
Cucumber, eggplant (some sticking but not too annoying and noticeably less than on German chef's knife)
Quite blade-heavy (Personally I prefer a bit more overall balance but I know some people like it better this way.)
F&F could be better but it's not bad at all for the price point and will certainly serve you well (can feel difference between handle and ferrule, sharp choil)
Small size made initially cutting through big cabbage difficult, but chopping the cabbage slices into slaw later on was great.

cons:
Carrots, onions (did not glide through)
Yellow squash (lots of sticking) 
Tomato (hard time getting through skin, significant squashing)

Overall I liked the knife quite a bit; I was curious about it since it was one of the knives that I was considering when I bought a nakiri last year. Ultimately I am happier with the Zensho nakiri that I ended up buying, but there is a definite price difference but I did like the Uraku and it sticks in my mind as a good budget option!


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