# Sakai Yusuke Wa-Gyuto: Stainless vs White



## seattle_lee (Nov 27, 2013)

Why would I choose one over the other? How reactive is the white?


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## bahamaroot (Nov 27, 2013)

Stainless - Less maintenance

White - sharper edge and better edge retention. The reactivity is no worse than any other white.


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## bkultra (Nov 27, 2013)

White will also be easier to sharpen


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## Miles (Nov 27, 2013)

To patina or not patina? That is the question.


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## seattle_lee (Nov 27, 2013)

Thanks for the input, keep it coming. 

Does anybody have the email addr of Keiichi (from blueway)? Could you PM it to me if you do?


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## labor of love (Nov 28, 2013)

just messege keiichi through ebay. he will promptly respond


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## Timthebeaver (Nov 28, 2013)

Can't agree that white #2 at 62 is going to have better edge retention than Swedish (likely 13c26) at 61. Also, the stainless gets plenty sharp - your skill will be the limiting factor. Although the white is easier to sharpen, the Swedish is also a breeze. Comes down to whether you want patina (so basically looks) and the associated maintenance or not.


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## Keith Sinclair (Nov 28, 2013)

The white will patina esp. if you are cutting everything with it.Some quality stainless sharpens up almost but not quite like quality carbon.

If you are a home cook,the swedish steel is pretty good.


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## labor of love (Nov 28, 2013)

yusuke white steel retention is better than one might think. i was impressed atleast. never tried yusuke stainless, and i probably never will. if i get a yusuke again it would be carbon.


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## Mucho Bocho (Nov 28, 2013)

I've got three Yusuke stainless gyutos. Two stainless one in white #2. The stainless has excellent sharpness retention. Now quite like my DT ITK but that to be expected.


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## kpnv (Nov 29, 2013)

the only thing you really need to consider is looks. patina or stainless. everything else is marginally different. if you prefer one over the other, you'll get minor benefits either way that really won't make much difference to you.


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## menzaremba (Dec 1, 2013)

I have the stainless version in 240mm, no complaints about it's performance. I agree that it really comes down to whether you like the look of patina.


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## labor of love (Dec 1, 2013)

i would think the carbon version should have an advantage as far as ultimate sharpness is concerned. though im sure many would disagree.


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## bkdc (Dec 1, 2013)

I can vouch for the stainless, and it gets plenty plenty plenty sharp with excellent edge retention. It's a personal choice in looks as you can't lose with either.


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## labor of love (Dec 1, 2013)

i respectfully disagree. generally speaking good sharpening skills will get swed stainless very sharp, but sakai type white steels should get a tad sharper. but its close. the difference between the 2 steels is not as simple as one patinas and one does not. i also think very different stone progressions also bring out the best in both knives. so its really not worth it to compare similarly sharpened blades side by side. but sheesh, swed stainless gets plenty sharp though and either knife would make a great choice if youre looking at sakai yusuke knives.
the real decision should be over which attribute is more important to the user, ease of sharpening or edge retention?


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## XooMG (Dec 1, 2013)

labor of love said:


> i respectfully disagree. generally speaking good sharpening skills will get swed stainless very sharp, but sakai type white steels should get a tad sharper. but its close. the difference between the 2 steels is not as simple as one patinas and one does not. i also think very different stone progressions also bring out the best in both knives. so its really not worth it to compare similarly sharpened blades side by side. but sheesh, swed stainless gets plenty sharp though and either knife would make a great choice if youre looking at sakai yusuke knives.
> the real decision should be over which attribute is more important to the user, ease of sharpening or edge retention?


How many posts ago did you say you didn't have any experience with their stainless?


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## franzb69 (Dec 1, 2013)

how is the reactivity of the yusuke white steel compared to other white steel gyutos? =D


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## panda (Dec 1, 2013)

i think he was referring to aeb-l steel in general. i'm not a fan of either aebl or white steel, but white is both easier to sharpen and gets more keen. edge retention has not been a strength of aeb-l in my experience. white steel retention is not even a consideration as you're trading off for user friendliness.


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## menzaremba (Dec 1, 2013)

labor of love said:


> i respectfully disagree. generally speaking good sharpening skills will get swed stainless very sharp, but sakai type white steels should get a tad sharper. but its close. the difference between the 2 steels is not as simple as one patinas and one does not. i also think very different stone progressions also bring out the best in both knives. so its really not worth it to compare similarly sharpened blades side by side. but sheesh, swed stainless gets plenty sharp though and either knife would make a great choice if youre looking at sakai yusuke knives.
> the real decision should be over which attribute is more important to the user, ease of sharpening or edge retention?



You're absolutely correct from a theoretical standpoint, but OP would have to be pretty committed to sharpening to feel a difference in the edges these knifes are capable of. I'll rephrase and say that "for most users" the difference will be in patina/non. You may be an edge case OP, in which case, go for the White. I've been sharpening a friend's tadatsuna white steel gyuto for years, and it's done fine in the hands of a guy who occasionally forgets it in the sink.


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## labor of love (Dec 1, 2013)

XooMG said:


> How many posts ago did you say you didn't have any experience with their stainless?





labor of love said:


> GENERALLY SPEAKING good sharpening skills will get swed stainless very sharp, but sakai type white steels should get a tad sharper.


yeah yeah yeah...i dont really feel like i need to try sakai yusuke to know this to be true. ive already used many many konosuke hds,suisin inox, gesshin ginga stainless, sakai yusuke white steels and konosuke white steels to form an educated opinion. yusuke stainless isnt going to amaze me comparitively, sorry. especially with the chromium content. lets just agree to disagree.


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## menzaremba (Dec 1, 2013)

labor of love said:


> yeah yeah yeah...i dont really feel like i need to try sakai yusuke to know this to be true. ive already used many many konosuke hds,suisin inox, gesshin ginga stainless, sakai yusuke white steels and konosuke white steels to form an educated opinion. yusuke stainless isnt going to amaze me comparitively, sorry. especially with the chromium content. lets just agree to disagree.



Aren't the Suisins and Sakais both 19c27? Geometry isn't that far off either, I'd say that's a fair comparison.


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## XooMG (Dec 1, 2013)

labor of love said:


> yeah yeah yeah...i dont really feel like i need to try sakai yusuke to know this to be true. ive already used many many konosuke hds,suisin inox, gesshin ginga stainless, sakai yusuke white steels and konosuke white steels to form an educated opinion. yusuke stainless isnt going to amaze me comparitively, sorry. especially with the chromium content. lets just agree to disagree.


Not disagreeing or agreeing. I have experience with Yusuke's stainless, some V2, some AS, but little with white. I haven't submitted any suggestions or opinions and don't intend to. I just thought it odd that you would try to dominate the thread the way you did after admitting to having no direct experience.


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## labor of love (Dec 1, 2013)

XooMG said:


> How many posts ago did you say you didn't have any experience with their stainless?





XooMG said:


> Not disagreeing or agreeing. I have experience with Yusuke's stainless, some V2, some AS, but little with white. I haven't submitted any suggestions or opinions and don't intend to. I just thought it odd that you would try to dominate the thread the way you did after admitting to having no direct experience.


not trying to dominate anything. but i did want to refute the claim that the deciding difference between the 2 knives is patina. thats just a misleading statement. i didnt "submit any suggestions" either, like i said, the deciding difference between these 2 lines of knives for most people should be which attribute is more important to the user, ease of sharpening or edge retention. both knives have their advantage.


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## dannynyc (Dec 2, 2013)

Does SY make the stainless in the flatter profile? My impression is no.


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## ar11 (Dec 2, 2013)

dannynyc said:


> Does SY make the stainless in the flatter profile? My impression is no.


 They do, I have one.


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## berko (Dec 2, 2013)

i have one as well and like it very much.


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## marc4pt0 (Dec 2, 2013)

I have the "flatter" profile that's ridiculously hard to come by. An excellent knife. Convex grind, great distal taper, rounded spine and choil. Nothing really sticks to it and it gets razor sharp (white #2). Very fast nimble knife, I just prefer a taller blade as I'm kind of a taller guy. Otherwise it would be a permanent fixture in my day to day knife use. Hence the reason it's up on BST


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## labor of love (Dec 2, 2013)

incoming pm.


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## olpappy (Dec 4, 2013)

OP, I think the answer to your question really would be based on the same principles in selecting any other knives, not just Sakai Yusuke gyuto. If you like the advantages of carbon steel in your other knives, likely you would also in a Sakai yusuke gyuto. If you like the advantages of stainless in your other knives, you would probably also like a wa gyuto in it also. If you Google 'stainless vs carbon' you will probably find enough discussion to keep you busy for a long time, LOL


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## seattle_lee (Dec 5, 2013)

Olpappy, I hear what you're saying. OTOH, some makers do better with one steel than others. For example, Tanaka blue is much more reactive than the other blue steel knives I've got, and I wouldn't buy them again, though I;d be happy to buy his stainless again. 

I think it's coming down to this: most of my carbon knives, I keep hidden when friends come to cook. Do I want this knife to be a 'public knife' or a 'private knife'? 

Because if it's just for me, I'll go with the white steel. But it's about time to purge a few knives, and I need to figure out which ones before I make my decision on the Yusuke.


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## MowgFace (Dec 6, 2013)

seattle_lee said:


> Tanaka blue is much more reactive than the other blue steel knives I've got, and I wouldn't buy them again,



Is the blue steel overly reactive or just the damascus cladding? I guess a better question is what series of Tanaka blue steel do you have?


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## panda (Dec 7, 2013)

it's the cladding that's very reactive, core itself is not all that reactive actually an excellent steel.


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## seattle_lee (Dec 7, 2013)

Yeah, I've got the damascus. Good to know that his other knives aren't so reactive.


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## Fran Rendina (Dec 13, 2013)

The stainless is ungetable I want a 240 so bad


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## LZ962 (Dec 14, 2013)

The stainless one I have has good edge retention


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## sharptools (Aug 6, 2015)

Bringing up an old thread. Is the white steel #1 or #2?

The available whites on blue way right now are all #2s

Did they offer #1 at one point?


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## berko (Aug 6, 2015)

as far as i know, no.


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## sharptools (Aug 6, 2015)

Must have misread. too early in the morning :lol2:

Thanks.


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