# Tojiro Gyuto F-695 Shirogami steel review.



## da_bsg

I have been using this product for one year, I am not a Japanese, I just like knife I collected many different type of gyuto or chef knives.

for the good point of this knife:
1. The weight just nice, it have well balance, the blade heavier than the handle making it using have good momentum.
2. The blade curve profile is excellent, not like the French style chef knife, this gyuto only have a little curve, making the cutting and slicing easy and comfortable.
3. The traditional build of handle is comfortable to grid. 
4. The blade edge have metal laminate Hamon pattern, looks fancy.

For the bad points:
1. It blade using Japanese white paper steel, shirogami core, and soft iron cover on each side, resulting it very easy to get rust, it will rust in a minutes, when using have to keep constant dry by wiping using dry cloth every 3-5 cuts , after every use have to clean, wipe dry, and oil. Before every use, have to use soup clean off the oil, repeat tediously every time. Which I find it not worth the time and effort.

2. The sharpness of edge DOES NOT hold well. For those who claim it holds the sharp edge well, I would say their level of SHARP is lower than mine sharpness defination, it will have good sharpness right after you whetstone sharpen it, the sharpness will drop immediately after your next use, let say 8 hours later, if you want back the ultra sharpness, u have to wetstone it again and again everytime before use it, edge holding are BAD, by the way, I am using soft rubber material chopping board.

Be warn for those who buy Japanese Gyuto, donot choose Shirogami or SKD steel core knife, it will disappoint you. Only Japanese are know how to appreciate their rusting charaters.

Summary: I kind of like this knife, because of it length, it light weight, good balance, the built, it style and look, and also the handle. It would be a wonderful knife to have only if change the core become VG-10 and sides are stainless steel.


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## chinacats

Thanks for the review, perhaps you shouldn't give up on shirogami from using only this one rather poor example--I call this the worst knife I've ever bought (for different reasons than those you've stated)...the iron cladding is more the cause of the rust and the core steel likely doesn't have the best h/t. Mine had a very uneven blade road...and of course the crappy plastic collar on the handle.

As to skd, which knife have you tried that you didn't like? SKD gets pretty good respect from people who prefer semi-stainless. FWIW, vg-10 doesn't get much love around these parts usually due to the difficulty of deburring...to each his/her own.

Cheers


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## LifeByA1000Cuts

Shirogami is technically the sharpest steel possible - but yes, edge retention seems to depend a LOT on the maker. Having one Tojiro Shirogami, I can't say it really sucks, but it certainly is not up to par with eg Goko (which regularly out-retains an AS knife that I use with similar frequency for similar tasks).

SKD could be -11 or -12... in both cases, derivatives of a tool steel (D2) that is known difficult to sharpen and known to be temperamental regarding grain etc.


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## guari

I would suggest trying aogami super blue as it really shines with long term edge retention, at least for home kitchens. 

Also, try to get and end grain wood chopping board. It helps prolong the life of the edge better than plastic/rubbery boards.


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## LifeByA1000Cuts

ER, subjective impression* : Hokiyama AS Nak. < Goko W#1 Gyuto , both at 12dps, both similarly used.

*as in, oh I think I need to sharpen the damned nakiri again....


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## da_bsg

Hi, Chinacats
This SKD knife the knife below.




Well made, beautiful but rust easy
This knife is well made, handle Feels good, well balanced. Blade is well design and crafted. Knife is extremelly well polish out of the box. Very sharp. It is 3 layer laminated forging knife: stainless steel + SKD steel + stainless steel. 

What I dont like is the SKD steel is very easily get rust. Everytime use have to use cloth to dry, and every time after use have to clean, wrap dry and oil the knife. If not it will get rust the next day. 

It edge retention is bad, because it easy to rust, so the edge get dull easily, have to sharpen often. I cannot understand why Japanese like to use such steel knife, for preserve their culture? 

I really dont fancy this SKD steel. 

Paying this much I think is for the design, workmanship and the look. 

Not so much for the edge and cutting performance.


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## daveb

I've many knives that are ss clad with SKD core. One of my favorite configurations. No rust (with patina), sharpens readily, keeps vgood edge.

Your experience is very different than mine - and most that have posted on the subject.

The Torhiro you cited? A quick review here would have told you exactly what to expect.


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## chinacats

Yeah, curious about what knife you have, skd iirc is semi-stainless so you definitely shouldn't get rust that easy. Perhaps the steel is different than what you think?


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## Timthebeaver

Goodness only knows what you are doing with that Yoshikane SKD to make it rust.

Also second the thoughts on the Tojiro Shirogami - total crap. I had a nakiri - the kurouchi was awful, the jigane rusted easily (only Moritaka gets close), it tainted everything it touched, was impossible to passivate (and I am a chemistry professor) and had been ground by someone drunk, high or both.


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## Matus

Well, if you find that SKD rust easily I would really suggest that you concentrate on stainless knives in the future. Most of us have not trouble care for a carbon steel carbon clad knives. Some knives do have more reactive cladding than others (Tanaka blue#2), but SKD with about 6% of Chromium is semi-stainless. It takes patina easily, but it takes some effort (neglect) to get it to rust.

SKD, in my opinion is relatively easy to sharpen and has edge holding that (in my limited experience) is comparable or better than aogami super.

But if carbon or semi stainless steel do not work for you, there are many high quality stainless steels that should satisfy your needs (AEB-L, Niolox, SG2 or R2, SRS-15)


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## guari

According to CKTG the cladding is non-descript carbon steel. 

In addition to that, the OP says "do not use SKD or shirogami core", and again, it's not about the core, but rather, the cladding. 

To the OP, there are numerous amazing knives with stainless cladding that will be easier to keep spotless. Your suggestion to stay away from shirogami or skd cores doesn't make much sense.

I know that I have a mizuno with a soft iron jigane that I absolutely hate using because of reactivity. It's all to do with the cladding.

If you are managing to get rust on an SKD core with stainless san mai, then you are likely leaving that knife wet overnight or something... which you shouldn't do to begin with


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## Timthebeaver

Did you miss the part where he went on at length about his Yoshikane SKD (stainless clad SKD) rusting? That knife is very stain resistant.


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## skewed

Some people really should just stay away from carbon steel knives. Luckily there are many really good ss options.


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## guari

Timthebeaver said:


> Did you miss the part where he went on at length about his Yoshikane SKD (stainless clad SKD) rusting? That knife is very stain resistant.



Yes, I picked that up and edited my post accordingly. Sorry about any confusion..



daveb said:


> Ntxt



Sorry I may have been lost on translation. I just googled the OP's knife and clicked on the first hit, which was CKTG, saw the description and saw it was a white #2 in carbon cladding..


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## LifeByA1000Cuts

What makes me wonder... are carbon steel edges supposed to go all blunt when they patinate, as the OP suggests? I don't think mine do, at least not from ALL things that make them patinate (tomatoes seem to be bad for fresh edges, but an apple a day seems to keep the whetstone away...) and not QUICK.... paper strop and bob's your uncle...

BTW, one thing that can really give you jigane rust: Unsealed handles and storing them blade down in a non-absorbing, non-ventilated knife block  Need I spell out what happens when you return them to the block freshly washed?

BTW2, the Tojiro YS I have and think is not TOO bad is a Migaki/Fake-Kasumi, not a Kurouchi. Maybe there is a difference.


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## Benuser

LifeByA1000Cuts said:


> ER, subjective impression* : Hokiyama AS Nak. < Goko W#1 Gyuto , both at 12dps, both similarly used.
> 
> *as in, oh I think I need to sharpen the damned nakiri again....


If you're concerned with edge retention I don't understand a 24 degree inclusive angle. Add a bit more, please. Some 40 degree inclusive will benefit to edge stability and if the blade is thin enough, performance won't suffer. Please respect the blade's geometry, never seen a symmetric edge working well.


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## da_bsg

Yeah guys I quite happy with VG-10 steel. I using a vg-10 12 inch gyuto it performs fantastic, My Deba knife 150mm using GIN 3 stainless steel, it sharpness is excellent. 

I also have shirogami Sashimi and usuba knife from Tojiro, their sharpness are very good also they can hold the sharpness for long time. But just this F-695 gyuto. The Shirogami is crap, could it be not heat treated properly I think.

And for my these SKD experience. It super easy to gel dull and rust. Maybe I bad luck to got. A low grade SKD steel knife online. 

In summary. I really dont fancy that carbon steel which can rust make out of the core of gyuto. Bad combination.

I buy the SKD knife from this website, inside got my review too: http://item.rakuten.co.jp/yminfo/1417371/


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## LifeByA1000Cuts

@Benuser did only state the angle to make clear that the two knives compared are at the same angle.


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## Matus

da_bsg said:


> ...
> And for my these SKD experience. It super easy to gel dull and rust. Maybe I bad luck to got. A low grade SKD steel knife online.
> ... http://item.rakuten.co.jp/yminfo/1417371/



Oh, that explains a lot. Get yourself a Yoshikane SKD and then see what you think about that steel.


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## supersayan3

I work in a very hectic kitchen and white is my favorite steel.
Once a week I polish my knives.
Edge retention is bad compared to AS, maybe I have to touch up once twice per shift, maybe even 3 times, (touch up- not sharpen) since it gives me pleasure to have them top sharp.
Theoretically they can rust, in action I find it impossible to rust, even through a double weekend shift on the line.
My favorite steel to go.
Only SG2 can compare from stainless, but still....

What I can't understand, is how a magnolia handle knife can have good balance... Good unbalance describes it better


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## James

Matus said:


> Oh, that explains a lot. Get yourself a Yoshikane SKD and then see what you think about that steel.



AFAIK, that is a yoshikane. It says it's made by Yamamoto Kazuomi, who is one of the Yoshikane smiths. Here's one of the seller's pages in global rakuten - http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/yminfo/item/10002732/


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