# Masamoto KS discontinued?



## JanusInTheGarden (Feb 21, 2017)

Hey all,

Been a hot minute since I've joined this crowd. Hope yall are doing well. 

So like the title says, I got an itch to get something new and I thought it was high time I looked at masamoto ks wa-gyuto in 240. I can't find any of the usual sellers that have it in stock. Did they stop making it?

-Matt


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## bkultra (Feb 21, 2017)

They have been unavailable for quite some time now. Some vendors have stated they don't believe they will see them anytime soon. I would not go as far as saying discontinued, but perhaps on hold (maybe indefinitely).


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## labor of love (Feb 21, 2017)

rakuten not working?


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## labor of love (Feb 21, 2017)

Maybe these guys have them
http://www.hocho-knife.com/masamoto/


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## bkultra (Feb 21, 2017)

labor of love said:


> Maybe these guys have them
> http://www.hocho-knife.com/masamoto/



They have restocked the 270mm recently, but I haven't heard of the status on the 240mm. I know people on other sites have been waiting and watching that website


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## fujiyama (Feb 22, 2017)

This is becoming a rare knife!

Rakuten has 2 in stock. They don't ship to US or Canada. No saya. 

http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/subaru/item/ks3124/

They offer shipping services to forward mail, but in dozens of pages of Masamoto I couldn't find the KS-3124 on Rakuten. The service is also a hassle because of identify confirmation. 

I ended up finding a different shipping service and a different store that had the 240. I placed an order so in a couple weeks I'll let everyone know how it worked.


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## Jovidah (Feb 22, 2017)

Maybe shoot Koki at JCK an e-mail? Even if he doesn't have a knife he might at least have an answer.


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## fujiyama (Feb 22, 2017)

Jovidah said:


> Maybe shoot Koki at JCK an e-mail? Even if he doesn't have a knife he might at least have an answer.



I emailed Koki a couple hours ago, I'll update with his answer shortly. I was mainly inquiring if the knife is discontinued.


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## labor of love (Feb 22, 2017)

Konosuke is going to make a KS clone. Supposedly, they're attempting to make it as close as possible to all the specs.


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## JayGee (Feb 22, 2017)

fujiyama said:


> This is becoming a rare knife!
> 
> Rakuten has 2 in stock. They don't ship to US or Canada. No saya.
> 
> ...



You can send it to me in Aus, and I will ship it to US if you really want...


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## SousVideLoca (Feb 22, 2017)

Last I talked to Koki, he said he was over a year out on the KS double bevels. That was easily 9-10 months ago though, so things may have changed.


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## fujiyama (Feb 22, 2017)

JayGee said:


> You can send it to me in Aus, and I will ship it to US if you really want...


Very generous Jay. That's a great offer.


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## fujiyama (Feb 22, 2017)

Koki informed me that the KS is still in production. He's hoping to receive more gyutos by the end of the year. He'll email you when it's available if you contact him. Last batch took over a year to receive.

The store I ordered from was the cheapest I've seen a KS but they charge a fee for the service. I'm unsure if a saya is included.


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## Sharp-Hamono (Feb 22, 2017)

If there are shipping restrictions to the USA from that Rakuten seller, then you could just use one of the many Japanese proxy shopping services. They will buy an item on your behalf, and then forward it to you after it reaches their domestic address. A big plus side of this process for me is that these places typically accept payment in Paypal, thus bypassing any automatic fraud detection hassle that international shopping may trigger with your bank. The negatives are that there are fees for the service and purchasing is non-immediate, so if an item you want is prone to selling out fast, you are entirely dependent on an employee at the proxy company to place the order before the item sells out.

I'm not sure of the exact forum rules on mentioning some third party business by name (if you want, you can PM me and I'll tell you what company I've used in the past), but if you do a Google search for "japan proxy shopping" (without quotes), you should find a host of similar websites. The fees have likely changed since I have used the company anyway, so there may be better deals out there if you shop around.


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## bkultra (Feb 22, 2017)

labor of love said:


> Konosuke is going to make a KS clone. Supposedly, they're attempting to make it as close as possible to all the specs.



The first smith refused and I've not heard of an update since. If you follow that thread you will see I have offered my Honyaki to be used as the template for the reproduction.


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## DeepCSweede (Feb 22, 2017)

fujiyama said:


> This is becoming a rare knife!
> 
> Rakuten has 2 in stock. They don't ship to US or Canada. No saya.
> 
> ...



This is where I picked up my KS-3124 about 2-3 years ago. I had no issues with international shipping to the US. It came very quickly via EMS. Guess things have changed.


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## panda (Feb 22, 2017)

Bk but they don't want honyaki's perfect example. They rather have a run of the mill clone.


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## labor of love (Feb 22, 2017)

Never used a Marko, but his ks clones looks nice. Thoughts? Would anybody out there recommend those or not?


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## JohnyChai (Feb 22, 2017)

labor of love said:


> Never used a Marko, but his ks clones looks nice. Thoughts? Would anybody out there recommend those or not?



As far as cutting ability and edge retention the Marko performs well above the Masamoto. When using the Masamoto there is something about the feeling of the steel and the board, especially on wood, that set the Masamoto apart; didn't find it practical in working the line though whereas the Marko was more than steady.


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## labor of love (Feb 22, 2017)

Which Marko grind have you tried?


JohnyChai said:


> As far as cutting ability and edge retention the Marko performs well above the Masamoto. When using the Masamoto there is something about the feeling of the steel and the board, especially on wood, that set the Masamoto apart; didn't find it practical in working the line though whereas the Marko was more than steady.


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## bkultra (Feb 23, 2017)

panda said:


> Bk but they don't want honyaki's perfect example. They rather have a run of the mill clone.



It's not a KS after all :rofl2:


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## JohnyChai (Feb 27, 2017)

labor of love said:


> Which Marko grind have you tried?



Both S-grind and convex...the knife in question is S-grind


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## Barmoley (Mar 2, 2017)

Not to derail the thread, but how did the different Marko grinds compare. The ones you tried were they 52100?


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## labor of love (Mar 2, 2017)

Barmoley said:


> Not to derail the thread, but how did the different Marko grinds compare. The ones you tried were they 52100?



S grind should promote food release and convex should lean towards pure cutting ability.


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