# Suggestions for Gyuto(s) for the left-handed.



## brianlsx (Jul 25, 2013)

I'm Brian from Singapore, I have been looking around the forums for a few months, only joined as a member about a month back. Am hoping to hear some suggestions on getting a workhorse (one that can take abuse) & a "fine" work gyuto for a lefty. That's right 2 gyutos.


Preferred length would be 225-240mm. I do not have a preference for handles, however would prefer it to be stainless but do not mind carbon steels. My max budget for the gyutos is 300USD each. I could pay more if it really attracts me.


I currently have these in my possession but am still looking for the "right" one:

240mm Sakai Takayuki 45-layer SS core
240mm Hiromoto AS
240mm Hattori FH
240mm Fujiwara FKH

Thanks.


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## bikehunter (Jul 25, 2013)

Well, welcome to the forum, Brian. Tho' I'll have to give some consideration to what to suggest to someone who already has four 240's. LOL


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## greasedbullet (Jul 25, 2013)

Konosuke HD2 for the "fine" one, although mine is also my work horse. Sakai Yusuke SS extra hardened would also be a good option.


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## Benuser (Jul 25, 2013)

As you're a left-handed, I would suggest an originally left-handed blade, left face convex, right one flat, like the Masahiros, rather than a converted one, where only the edge got neutralized, if one may say so.


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## stevenStefano (Jul 25, 2013)

You could get a lefty Carbonext. Not sure what category it would fit into, kinda the middle


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## Seb (Jul 26, 2013)

Sakai Yusuke beats all, imho. I believe I was Yusuke 'Patient Zero' way back when and I still have my original White #2 240mm Wa-Gyuto - I just pulled it out and I still cannot believe how perfect it is in every single way for the price I paid.


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## Timthebeaver (Jul 26, 2013)

Seb said:


> Sakai Yusuke beats all, imho. I believe I was Yusuke 'Patient Zero' way back when and I still have my original White #2 240mm Wa-Gyuto - I just pulled it out and I still cannot believe how perfect it is in every single way for the price I paid.



I remember you extolling the virtues of Yusuke's convex grind before convex grinds were all the rage.


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## brianlsx (Jul 26, 2013)

greasedbullet said:


> Konosuke HD2 for the "fine" one, although mine is also my work horse. Sakai Yusuke SS extra hardened would also be a good option.



I am actually considering between both the KonoHD2 and the Sakai Yusuke. Not really sure which would be better.



Benuser said:


> As you're a left-handed, I would suggest an originally left-handed blade, left face convex, right one flat, like the Masahiros, rather than a converted one, where only the edge got neutralized, if one may say so.



Actually I prefer to buy a knife with a 50/50 edge instead as I'm used to it already and do not really know how to sharpen knives with a biased edge.



stevenStefano said:


> You could get a lefty Carbonext. Not sure what category it would fit into, kinda the middle



I've saw the great reviews on the Carbonext but am considering of getting something that has a 50/50 edge instead.

Actually now I am considering in getting a Moritaka/Takeda 240mm gyuto, after reading tons of reviews I am afraid to get the Moritaka because of the grinding issues but its almost half the price of a Takeda.

I'm looking into something like the DT ITK, but it seems extremely hard to acquire one and the waiting list is crazy. 

Anyway thank you all for the advise/suggestions given. Would not mind if more people could chime in and give a few more suggestions


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## euphorbioid (Jul 26, 2013)

I am left handed and have been using Japanese knives for about 10 years. I can't honestly say I've ever had a problem with any gyuto I have used. Even ones advertised as 70/30 grind have been fine, no steering issues or other problems as far as I can tell. For a workhorse I have settled on a Gesshin Heiji from Jon Broida at JKI, but this is perhaps beyond your limit financially. Jon has other, less expensive knives and I would start with JKI. The Gesshin Ginga is reputed to be a thin blade but I have not tried these. To me the "handedness" of most double beveled knives is very exaggerated and, except in the case of extreme asymmetrical grinds, unimportant to the overall function of the knife. I'm not sure a gyuto with one convex side and one flat side really makes any sense or difference.

Single bevel knives are a different story. 

Good luck in your search.


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## chinacats (Jul 26, 2013)

brianlsx said:


> Actually I prefer to buy a knife with a 50/50 edge instead as I'm used to it already and do not really know how to sharpen knives with a biased edge.



Then please don't buy a Japanese blade--they are all asymmetric (though there may be an exception that I'm not aware of). If you can sharpen a symmetric blade then you can also sharpen asymmetric--just ask if you're not sure.

And please save yourself the potential nightmare of buying a Moritaka.

Cheers!


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## bkdc (Jul 26, 2013)

The Takeda is 50/50 or can be easily made so if the bevel is slightly asymmetric. The blade is just a flat or slightly concave piece of steel, and there is no concern about asymmetry. But it's a pretty steep price for a 'starter' gyuto.


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## stevenStefano (Jul 26, 2013)

euphorbioid said:


> . I'm not sure a gyuto with one convex side and one flat side really makes any sense or difference.



I have a custom lefty knife with approximately an 80/20 grind and it makes a hell of a difference


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## brianlsx (Jul 28, 2013)

euphorbioid said:


> I am left handed and have been using Japanese knives for about 10 years. I can't honestly say I've ever had a problem with any gyuto I have used. Even ones advertised as 70/30 grind have been fine, no steering issues or other problems as far as I can tell. For a workhorse I have settled on a Gesshin Heiji from Jon Broida at JKI, but this is perhaps beyond your limit financially. Jon has other, less expensive knives and I would start with JKI. The Gesshin Ginga is reputed to be a thin blade but I have not tried these. To me the "handedness" of most double beveled knives is very exaggerated and, except in the case of extreme asymmetrical grinds, unimportant to the overall function of the knife. I'm not sure a gyuto with one convex side and one flat side really makes any sense or difference.
> 
> Single bevel knives are a different story.
> 
> Good luck in your search.



Thanks

I actually would not mind going over the budget of 300 still looking around, actually there's a few knives that I wanted to try to get into a few passarounds but it's all within CONUS so the only thing I could do is just go by reviews and seek advise from fellow members here.



chinacats said:


> Then please don't buy a Japanese blade--they are all asymmetric (though there may be an exception that I'm not aware of). If you can sharpen a symmetric blade then you can also sharpen asymmetric--just ask if you're not sure.
> 
> And please save yourself the potential nightmare of buying a Moritaka.
> 
> Cheers!



I would love to ask and take a look but here where I am located, majority of the people are using symmetric blades and know nothing regarding asymmetric blades. The only thing I can do is watch videos (Jon's Videos) and ask advise from fellow forum members here. I am trying to get Dave's Sharpening DVD unfortunately he doesn't ship internationally.



bkdc said:


> The Takeda is 50/50 or can be easily made so if the bevel is slightly asymmetric. The blade is just a flat or slightly concave piece of steel, and there is no concern about asymmetry. But it's a pretty steep price for a 'starter' gyuto.



Actually I am not looking for any starter gyuto, just want something that I like, actually I like the feel of the konosuke but am still looking around.



stevenStefano said:


> I have a custom lefty knife with approximately an 80/20 grind and it makes a hell of a difference



May I ask which maker was it from and what difference does it make between a 80/20 grind compared to a 50/50 grind? For e.g. Food release, ease of cutting etc?

Thanks KKF!


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## stevenStefano (Jul 30, 2013)

brianlsx said:


> May I ask which maker was it from and what difference does it make between a 80/20 grind compared to a 50/50 grind? For e.g. Food release, ease of cutting etc?



Sorry forgot to reply to this. It's a Tilman Leder 210 suji, quite a few people have one now, you can see a couple of pics here in my gallery. The asymmetry makes it cut way better, like cutting translucent slices of carrot, my gyutos don't come close to how fine I can get with this. It makes it steer a bit but it's definitely worth it. The food release is also fantastic, as you can see here


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## euphorbioid (Jul 30, 2013)

stevenStefano said:


> The asymmetry makes it cut way better, like cutting translucent slices of carrot, my gyutos don't come close to how fine I can get with this. It makes it steer a bit but it's definitely worth it. The food release is also fantastic, as you can see here


How do you know it is the asymmetry and not the grind or the thinness behind the edge that improves cutting ability? Short of a controlled experiment can you know?


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## chuck239 (Jul 30, 2013)

chinacats said:


> Then please don't buy a Japanese blade--they are all asymmetric (though there may be an exception that I'm not aware of). If you can sharpen a symmetric blade then you can also sharpen asymmetric--just ask if you're not sure.
> 
> And please save yourself the potential nightmare of buying a Moritaka.
> 
> Cheers!



Man, I hope this isn't the kind of rude and crappy advise people have you when you started looking at knives.

There are a few rough comments in this thread that really surprise me coming from this forum. 

To the OP, I'm a lefty and will say you don't need a knife ground for a lefty. I have owned all different kinds of knives some that are for a lefty, some ground for a righty, and some as close to 50/50 as you can get. Truthfully, it isn't going to kill you to have any of them. Some knives have great food release, some don't. If that is the only important thing to you look for a knife that is close to 50/50 with good food release. Honestly, I have owned over 50 gyutos and tried out a lot more. I don't think you need to worry to much about the grind being lefty or close to 50/50. I wouldn't recomend domethibg like an A-type but I can say I used a suji and 2 gyutos professionally for a while and it wasn't the end of the world, they still performed pretty well but there are easier/better knives to use for a lefty.

-Chuck


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## tk59 (Jul 30, 2013)

Timthebeaver said:


> I remember you extolling the virtues of Yusuke's convex grind before convex grinds were all the rage.


-Convex grinds have always been all the rage and they always will. Most of us just didn't know it or call it that. All Japanese knives that I know of are ground with some element of convexity to them on at least one side of the blade and have been for a very long time.
-I would say the "partial ground" knives are most lefty friendly, if you don't want to buy a true lefty ground blade. These include Heiji, Yoshikane, Kochi, Zakuri, Fujiwara Terayasu, etc. I also recommend Tilman. His custom knives are relatively affordable, perform very well and he happens to be a lefty and a kitchen knife junkie. I, myself, have several Tilman knives and one, in particular is going to the grave with me...along with a few others...


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## James (Jul 30, 2013)

What do you like/not like about your current blades? If I were you, I'd just splurge on a Tanaka R2.


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## tk59 (Jul 30, 2013)

euphorbioid said:


> How do you know it is the asymmetry and not the grind or the thinness behind the edge that improves cutting ability? Short of a controlled experiment can you know?


"The grind" is all of the characteristics you listed and more. Aside from the steel, the handle, the balance and the rounded edges, etc., the grind is thin or thick at the edge or at other places, symmetric or asymmetric, convex or concave or flat... So yes, it is "the grind" that makes it cut well and all aspects of it contribute to the cutting ability and yes, experiments (with reasonable controls) have been conducted. It's called trial and error and anyone who has done enough regrinding/thinning will know it.


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## chinacats (Jul 31, 2013)

chuck239 said:


> Man, I hope this isn't the kind of rude and crappy advise people have you when you started looking at knives.
> 
> There are a few rough comments in this thread that really surprise me coming from this forum.
> 
> -Chuck



Didn't mean to sound rude, but from re-reading the post it sure sounds that way. Apologies to the OP and anybody else offended. :O

Cheers!


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## gic (Jul 31, 2013)

If you like 50/50 you can get a Mac Pro, that is definitely made to be a Japanese/European hybrid and isn't asymmetric at all. Was my first upgrade to old Henkels/Wusthof knives and I still am quite fond of it.


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## Seb (Jul 31, 2013)

+1 for the Mac Pro. I got the MTH-80 not long ago as a factory second on eBay at a great price (smudged kanji printing) and have been very pleasantly surprised by its performance, especially thinness behind the edge.


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## brianlsx (Jul 31, 2013)

stevenStefano said:


> Sorry forgot to reply to this. It's a Tilman Leder 210 suji, quite a few people have one now, you can see a couple of pics here in my gallery. The asymmetry makes it cut way better, like cutting translucent slices of carrot, my gyutos don't come close to how fine I can get with this. It makes it steer a bit but it's definitely worth it. The food release is also fantastic, as you can see here



Thanks steven! I would try to look around for a Tilman knife but don't really seem to have any that is available.



James said:


> What do you like/not like about your current blades? If I were you, I'd just splurge on a Tanaka R2.



Actually I do not really have a dislike for my current knives, so far most of the knives I have are made out of VG-10, just curious and want to try knives made out of other steel and see what is the difference.



chinacats said:


> Didn't mean to sound rude, but from re-reading the post it sure sounds that way. Apologies to the OP and anybody else offended. :O
> 
> Cheers!



No offence taken at all. Cheers! 



gic said:


> If you like 50/50 you can get a Mac Pro, that is definitely made to be a Japanese/European hybrid and isn't asymmetric at all. Was my first upgrade to old Henkels/Wusthof knives and I still am quite fond of it.



I would not mind getting a Mac but it just does not sell here (Singapore) and the shipping kills me lol.


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## Seb (Jul 31, 2013)

For MAC or GLOBAL, try Amazon as sometimes there is a global shipping option. Or eBay.


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