# New Series- Gesshin Kagekiyo (maybe the most badass thing yet)



## JBroida

From the video description and the product link:

In this video, we introduce our new Gesshin Kagekiyo series. This is something we have been working on for a few months now, together with one of our partners in Japan. Sara and I are very excited to finally be able to introduce it. These knives represent some of the highest level of craftsmanship and quality we have seen. The blacksmiths, sharpeners, and even lacquer-ware craftsmen are all amazingly skilled, as can clearly be seen by simply looking at them. In fact, all of the craftsmen are certified craftsmen or dentou-kougeishi (a very prestigious honor). These knives have amazing fit and finish, spectacular grinds, some of the most beautiful handles and sayas we've seen on Japanese knives, and amazing geometry. They are really thin behind the edge, have great distal taper, and wide bevels, making them easier to thin and sharpen. The lacquer craftsmen uses real lacquer on these, not synthetic lacquer as more commonly used. Even the boxes are beautiful lacquer-ware. We currently have both blue #1 (carbon) and ginsanko (stainless) options available. We hope you guys are as excited as we are.

You can find these knives here on our website:
http://www.japaneseknifeimports.com/kitchen-knives/gesshin-kagekiyo.html

Thank you so much for watching. If you have any questions, please dont hesitate to contact us at [email protected] or check out our website www.JapaneseKnifeImports.com

Thanks.

-Jon and Sara

[video=youtube_share;mYYl6mbwQ9U]http://youtu.be/mYYl6mbwQ9U[/video]


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## jimbob

Badass is the perfect word. Me likey and wantey, especially the 270 kiritsuke shaped blue #1. Yes please.


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## cclin

I love Kagekiyo gyuto's geometry, do we have option for Red Lacquer Octagon Handle in near future ??


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## Chuckles

Stunners to be sure.


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## Asteger

Wow those blades look great


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## EdipisReks

Beautiful!


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## Zwiefel

Gorgeous. I find myself surprised to realize that I'm liking the kiritsuke-tipped version as much as the standard gyuto.


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## heldentenor

Someone buy one and pass it around! These look sweet.


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## mzer

Very fancy.


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## labor of love

heldentenor said:


> Someone buy one and pass it around! These look sweet.



lol


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## Anton

Jon, Any plans to offer in white steel? 

Can you give any further detail on stainless, composition, etc?


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## JBroida

Not at this time... I looked at a number of options before deciding on these. There are many reasons I had for going about this the way I did, but I think the blue 1 and ginsanko will be great for our customers.


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## mzer

Does a kiritsuke gyuto function well as a tall sujihiki just as a real kiritsuke is shaped half way from a yanagi?


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## Anton

Fair enough. thank you 

Will drop by


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## JBroida

mzer said:


> Does a kiritsuke gyuto function well as a tall sujihiki just as a real kiritsuke is shaped half way from a yanagi?



no... in this case, the blade height is roughly the same as a regular gyuto. Also, kiritsuke is not normally less tall than an usuba for what its worth. The main differences that allow it to function well as a yanagiba are the length and subtle curve.


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## mzer

If you wanted a style of knife that would slice roasts very cleanly, cut ingredients with crusts well and occasionally chop cooked meat (duck leg, whatever) what shape would you look to? Eastern or Western, no matter.

I know this is off topic. Sorry.


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## RRLOVER

WOW!!.....I have not thouhgt about buying a knife in a long time....


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## don

And I thought I was done buying gyutos ...


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## tripleq

don said:


> And I thought I was done buying gyutos ...



LOL! Gyutos are like the mafia. Just when you think you're out... they pull you back in


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## Zwiefel

don said:


> And I thought I was done buying gyutos ...



lus1:

But I really need to be saving up for that Chamber Vac....<sigh>


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## dmccurtis

Just beautiful. Love that geometry.


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## Justin0505

DAMN IT JON!!!! 






I really might have to look into that feature that makes posts by certain users invisible...


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## Mingooch

Any chance on getting a bigger petty in the future? maybe a 175 wa petty? 185? somewhere in that range?


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## JBroida

not sure about how we want to expand this line yet... we'll see. Already sold out of one type already (and we started off with decent inventory).


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## heirkb

These look amazing, Jon. Nice work.

Quick question just out of curiosity...Is there any particular reason that a lot of semi-stainless/stainless clad knives come with the type of finish you see on the ginsanko ones in this series? I'm thinking of Yoshikane, Gengetsu, Tanaka, Gesshin Hide, etc. Why are these knives not finished with a "regular" kasumi like in Heiji's semi-stainless or like most carbon knives (not that the current finish looks bad, they're obviously beautiful knives)?


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## JBroida

what exactly do you mean? that they are extra shiny?


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## phan1

JBroida said:


> what exactly do you mean? that they are extra shiny?



I think heirkby is asking why Ginsanko knives tend to be cladded knives rather than monosteel like the Inox Honyaki series, which is a pretty good question. I'm assuming that even though Ginsanko isn't as hard as carbon steel, it's still pretty damn hard so that it's easier to shape and make by cladding it between softer steels...


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## EdipisReks

phan1 said:


> I think heirkby is asking why Ginsanko knives tend to be cladded knives rather than monosteel like the Inox Honyaki series



I don't know what he's asking, but I doubt it's that. The "Inox Honyaki" knives, if you mean Suisin, ain't Honyakis.


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## Anton

Killing me, just killing me with these


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## JBroida

phan1 said:


> I think heirkby is asking why Ginsanko knives tend to be cladded knives rather than monosteel like the Inox Honyaki series, which is a pretty good question. I'm assuming that even though Ginsanko isn't as hard as carbon steel, it's still pretty damn hard so that it's easier to shape and make by cladding it between softer steels...



Thats not always the case at all... clad knives allow for different HT to be done. It also depends on the regions. There are some regions where you see solid ginsanko. But in this case, we thought the clad knife was the smarter way to go for the properties of the knife, steel, sharpening, etc.

Its not about ease of making and shaping. Its about what makes sense based on the kind of performance we want out of it (including ease of sharpening).


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## heirkb

I was just referring to the slightly different looking finish. The blue #1 here looks like a kasumi finish off a stone, which is different from the finish I had been noticing on a few clad semi-stainless/stainless wa-handled knives I've seen. The reason I brought it up was that I noticed with Gesshin Hide and Gesshin Kagekiyo, the ginsanko were finished differently from the carbon options. I might have made up the connection between this finish and stainless, though, because now that I look at Gengetsu and Yoshikane, I notice that the carbon knives are finished this way, too. The easiest way to describe the main difference would be that it almost looks like there are three steels when knives are finished this way (even though there aren't): jigane itself, different colored wavy line between jigane and hagane, and hagane itself. Almost like when Dave etches Hiromotos


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## JBroida

Yeah... its a function of the steel and i believe carbon migration. Stainless steels react differently to HT than carbon... same in polishing.


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## brainsausage

Justin0505 said:


> DAMN IT JON!!!!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I really might have to look into that feature that makes posts by certain users invisible...



Thank you Justin for putting a face to a group feeling...


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## chuck239

Well, although Jon is out of 270 Kiritsuke shaped wa gyuto.... There will be one at the West Coast Gathering..... :knife: No way I could pass on this one...... I can't explain how excited I am to use this for a while longer. AMAZING initial impressions! 

-Chuck

edit- fixed the knife type to kiritsuke shaped wa gyuto to please Jon.


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## JBroida

270mm kiritsuke-shaped wa-gyuto... lets get it straight


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## panda

um, i'm tempted to sell all my knives and get the 270 blue #1 gyuto...


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## Justin0505

Quick thought: I always mess up the pronunciation on the Gesshin xxxxx names. I am just going to refer to these as Gesshin Badass. 

Also, as much as I always say steel type isnt that important as long as the maker knows how to get the most out of it, I'm really excited that these are Blue #1. It's a steel that Ive not seen used much and is supposedly trickier to work than blue 2 or super. 

I was really impressed by it in the Zak' I had: felt kinda like white#1 with better edge retention. 

I think it was a great fit for these knives which seem to be a concoction of difficult materials and processes all mastered and distilled into one.


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## bkdc

Is the cladding of the Blue #1 in iron? Is the cladding of the Ginsanko knives in stainless??


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## JBroida

Yes


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## mhenry

Will there be stainless Kiritsuke shaped wa gyutos


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## JBroida

not sure yet... still working out where i want to go with this line


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## Leer1217

Jon, I just purchased a hide kensaki yanagi from you about a week and a half ago and you're already making me want to buy another knife...i wish i would have never searched "suisin inox honyaki"

speaking of suisin's inox honyaki...how would you compare the profile and thinness behind the edge to this line?


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## JBroida

interesting question... just looked... gesshin kagekiyo is thinner behind the edge, but thicker at the spine and has a shinogi line. Also, it has a larger flat spot and a tiny bit more belly at the very tip.


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## jimbob

So any more usage comments on the gesshin badass? Chuck?


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## chuck239

The name says it all(badass)... Still have to use it more before I make to many comments but so far, one of the best cutters I have ever used... (probably yhe best ever because I have been nothing but blown away.) Still have some more things to cut before saying everything. Want to sharpen it again, see what edge retention is really like. But in all honesty, thinking about getting a gyuto (maybe stainless and smaller for home or just a 240 for work and home.) The knife is super thin behind the edge but we will see how it holds up.

-Chuck


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## ThEoRy

JBroida said:


> 270mm kiritsuke-shaped wa-gyuto... lets get it straight




270mm kensakai wa-gyuto.


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## JBroida




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## tk59

chuck239 said:


> ...probably yhe best ever because I have been nothing but blown away...



What? :knife:


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## JBroida

I'll bring stuff for you to check out on saturday


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