# Kurosaki AS knives



## mark76 (Nov 11, 2014)

Is there anyone who has experience with Kurosaki knives, particularly a gyuto in AS? I've seen one review of it (not on KKF), but that was on a not-completely-objective site. The nice looks nice and could be a winner with AS, so I wonder what experiences people have with it.

Thanks!


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## chinacats (Nov 11, 2014)

If it was a not-completely-objective site then I would completely ignore it (the site) and any knives presented there.

Cheers


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## zitangy (Nov 11, 2014)

Kurosaki adn Koishi series from Masakage. Both AS steel.



Seems to be a new series from their young backsmith as opposed to the Koishi series which is made by a master bladesmith adn the design of the neck/ choil area more standard which is to my preference. The New one has been hardened to 62 HRC as opposed to ard 64 on the Koishi . So new that only one online retailer has it online for teh time being.Due to the price differential, I wld take a serious look . I doubt that I wld have the necessary feel to distinguish the performance of hardness between 62 and 64Hrc...

To matters more interesting, their Master Kniife sharpener ( Shiabata Takayuki) too has released his own line of knives named Kotetsu.."Shiabataknives"

Hv fun and rgds d


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## MrOli (Nov 11, 2014)

zitangy said:


> Kurosaki adn Koishi series from Masakage. Both AS steel.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Kurosaki is responsible for the Shimo and Zero lines, he also has the Megumi and AS under his name. I have only seen the Megumi and Shimo but the standard of his work is extremely high. The Kotetsu is fantastic, I have the bunka and this thing is thin with serious cutting ability. I believe Ikeda prepares these blades and Shibata does the finish, grind and sharpening. Definitely one to try, it put many Santokus to shame with its usable tip.


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## AllanP (Nov 11, 2014)

chinacats said:


> If it was a not-completely-objective site then I would completely ignore it (the site) and any knives presented there.
> 
> Cheers



I don't see why people should ignore everything on that website, especially when the making of these knives such as the ones mentioned have nothing to do with the owner of the site. It's not like you can get this brand of knife else where, and if the price is good and quality is good, I don't see why people should be turned away from them.


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## daveb (Nov 11, 2014)

AllanP said:


> I don't see why people should ignore everything on that website, especially when the making of these knives such as the ones mentioned have nothing to do with the owner of the site. It's not like you can get this brand of knife else where, and if the price is good and quality is good, I don't see why people should be turned away from them.



The question was about the knife and to a lesser extent the validity of a less than objective review.

CC offered his opinion: "I would completely ignore it (the site)" . You've offered your opinion. Both are valid.

I'm with CC on the site/vendor. Glad to see someone could offer something about the knife in question.


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## chinacats (Nov 11, 2014)

AllanP said:


> I don't see why people should ignore everything on that website, especially when the making of these knives such as the ones mentioned have nothing to do with the owner of the site. It's not like you can get this brand of knife else where, and if the price is good and quality is good, I don't see why people should be turned away from them.



I'm not saying that everyone should ignore everything sold on that site. As Dave correctly stated, I was merely responding with my opinion directly related to the OP. If you're happy with the information you take in while there, great, but as for me I'll stick with my experience. 

Of the vendors on this site that I have personal experience with (JKI, JKS, JNS, EE, Korin, Sharp and Shiny, BoardSmith, Catcheside, Tsourkan, Burl Source, and Dream Burls) I've been at the minimum satisfied and usually blown away by every transaction. I had multiple bad experiences and zero positive experiences at THAT site.

Do what you want (just like me) again mine is just an opinion. I sincerely wish you the best with your new Moritaka, I hear they're great knives!

Cheers


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## AllanP (Nov 11, 2014)

I'm not gonna get into all of this, I didn't even know either site even existed 3 weeks ago, and I rarely ever visits the other site.

OP just wanted an opinion on a knife, and IMO telling him to ignore the site is not really relevant discussion. I would personally prefer more posts like Zitangy's that gives knowledge on the actual knife and maker. When I first started getting interested in good kitchen knives 3 weeks, I did a lot of searches on this site on different knives I see on the market, and the constant jabs at the other website was really distracting to the actual topics being discussed. 

sorry for derailing the thread, but it's just an observation


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## chinacats (Nov 11, 2014)

A couple final comments from me:

1) I'm easy to ignore, just find my ignore post button...will work for others than me just as well

2) don't you find it somewhat curious that when people refer to THAT site that can't be trusted that everyone is talking about the same vendor that no one has even mentioned by name?


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## glestain (Nov 11, 2014)

Which site?


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## blompy (Nov 11, 2014)

I have a 210 gyuto and can comment. I have an Itinomonn and a Watanabe as well but am still what would be considered a noob. 

Upon further inspection, it did not come bent but was improperly ground for the back inch (or so) causing a quite abrupt curve in the knife though I would say it is only off by about a mm. The steel is excellent and is not nearly as micro-chippy as the Watanabe (pro) and seems to stay sharper longer than the Itinomonn (v2). Stiction (as I've seen it called) and wedging however are more of a problem with it than either, though not by a lot. 

Yep.

It is also very pretty.


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## mark76 (Nov 11, 2014)

Thanks guys for posting your experiences with the knife! Any more experiences are highly appreciated.


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## Dardeau (Nov 11, 2014)

There is a pot on my stove with hot oil in it, can you guess what I'm making?


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## daveb (Nov 11, 2014)

Orville?


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## chinacats (Nov 11, 2014)

Brownies?


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## mark76 (Nov 11, 2014)

zitangy said:


> Kurosaki adn Koishi series from Masakage. Both AS steel.
> 
> 
> 
> Seems to be a new series from their young backsmith as opposed to the Koishi series which is made by a master bladesmith adn the design of the neck/ choil area more standard which is to my preference.



So it's also from Makage? I didn't know that. Thanks!


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## Dardeau (Nov 11, 2014)

It turns out I didn't need the popcorn, but made it anyway.


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## EdipisReks (Nov 11, 2014)

chinacats said:


> If it was a not-completely-objective site



like there is such a thing!


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## daveb (Nov 11, 2014)

Dardeau said:


> It turns out I didn't need the popcorn, but made it anyway.



The night is still young...


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## mark76 (Nov 11, 2014)

Gents, I started this subject just to get feedback on the performance of a Kurosaki AS gyuto. Of course no shop is completely objective about their own products, andI still buy from shops, whether it is cloths, food or knives.

I did not know that the effect of mentioning just "a" shop would be some of the discussions in this thread. As far as I was told, something has happened between this shop and KKF in the past. But that was before I was a member, I don't know what it is and I wasn't involved. I'd like to keep it that way.

I'm still interested to know whether I interpret correctly that Kurosaki is made by Masakage.


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## blompy (Nov 12, 2014)

I just went through the 3 knives with some unripe pears (the Romans used them a vegetable so I can too!) and I should restate that the stiction is actually pretty markedly worse with the knife in question.


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## toddnmd (Nov 12, 2014)

mark76 said:


> I'm still interested to know whether I interpret correctly that Kurosaki is made by Masakage.


I believe that Kurosaki works on some of the knives from Masakage (but not all of their lines), but that the way many J knives are made is not always what we think of as how things are typically made by a single company. It seems like there are various collaborations (which are sometimes not always publicly shared) to produce different lines of knives.


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## zitangy (Nov 12, 2014)

mark76 said:


> I'm still interested to know whether I interpret correctly that Kurosaki is made by Masakage.



It is a fact that it is from Masakage. (The Company) .

http://www.masakageknives.com/craftsmen_yuuroshi.html. 

rgds
D


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## AllanP (Nov 12, 2014)

zitangy said:


> It is a fact that it is from Masakage. (The Company) .
> 
> http://www.masakageknives.com/craftsmen_yuuroshi.html.
> 
> ...



I think he does do knives for Masakage, but the line of knives in question is seems to be his solo project with no affiliation with Masakage


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## mark76 (Nov 13, 2014)

Thanks for the link! I get more and more insight in this Takefu village where many knives seem to come from.

It indeed seems like many knife makers there work in various groups under various brand names. 

... Hey, do I see Anryu San there as well?


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## ChipB (Nov 15, 2014)

OK, so the smith makes knives both for Masakage (Shimo and Zero) and under his own label. I've used/owned a Shimo and think, beyond its crazy reactivity, it is an excellent knife. The treatment of the W#2 is very, very good, it gets quite thin behind the edge and has an excellent grind. Nice flattish edge profile that seems to have a perpetual sweet spot. My only gripes would be that it does not get thin enough at the tip and the grind could start a couple mm higher for my tastes. However, that level of nit picking should be reserved for more expensive blades. I have no idea how much translates to his own knives as I'm not sure who sharpens/finishes them.
On the retailer front....Wow.


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## MrOli (Nov 15, 2014)

mark76 said:


> Thanks for the link! I get more and more insight in this Takefu village where many knives seem to come from.
> 
> It indeed seems like many knife makers there work in various groups under various brand names.
> 
> ... Hey, do I see Anryu San there as well?



Anryu, Kato, Kurosaki, Kageura and Ikeda have been chosen by Shibata San to each have their Masakage lines he designed. Of course this is a only a collaboration and these makers also have their own lines in shops.


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## snipes (Nov 15, 2014)

I had a chance to briefly play with the 240 edition of the AS along side the Megumi 240 (vg-10) about a month ago. The AS had the factory edge on it and the Megumi had been sharpened to the owner's preferences. I'm not a fan of KU finishes in general, but this one was a nice even matte finish IIRC. The knife had nice heft, but didn't wow me in the 10-15 minutes I spent with it. The Megumi on the other hand, knocked my socks off and I left thinking I should give vg10 more credit. I chalk the differences between the two up to factory edge vs. non. 

If I was in the market for a knife who's criteria the AS fit, I'd be comfortable enough with giving it a shot knowing the pedigree of the smith. Besides he's a "young" kid making a quality product on his way up in the world hopefully. That's the type of person I like to support.


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## marc4pt0 (Jan 4, 2015)

I have a 240 AS on it's way to me. I think it might be a bargain at its price point, and I want to find out.


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## marc4pt0 (Jan 10, 2015)

Having spent a couple days with this bad boy I can honestly say "Wow". Seriously. There is no way this knife, or any knife by such a young maker, should perform this well. OOTB edge was absolutely less than stellar, yet w/o any touching up I put it to work. First thing I cut was parsnips. Hot knife through warm butter, very minimal stiction. Second was onions. Like dicing air, and again very minimal sticking. Next up was carrots. Again, hot knife through warm butter with almost not product sticking. Than potatoes (russets), and once again amazing results. The rest of the day was the same "Wow". This knife out performs many that I've experienced that were 3 times the price. All with a dull-ish edge. It's just stupid.

The knife itself is fairly light, clocking in at 169.82g's. The choil is well eased, practically fully rounded, yet the spine is not. I will be changing this soon though. The KU finish is very smooth and actually _looks_ good. The handle has a nice solid feel to it and compliments the overall balance well. When in pinch grip, the knife feels perfectly balanced. 

These knives are hand made, so there may be variances from each one, and maybe the one I received just happened to be _magical._ Doesn't matter. It's mine now and I'll continue to be astonished every time I put it to use.

I bought this because I was curious. I figured I'd end up selling it once I had a chance to play around a bit. In my experience it's not so often you get to meet a knife that is as performance savvy as this guy at this price. I will not be selling it, in fact I will be buying more examples from this maker.


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## marc4pt0 (Jan 10, 2015)

Wicked choil shot


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## XooMG (Jan 10, 2015)

Sounds like you got a sweet knife. Kinda makes me want to get one, but I have too many pending knives already.


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## CoqaVin (Jan 10, 2015)

I want one now bad, damnit Marc


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## marc4pt0 (Jan 10, 2015)

I forgot to mention that though the knife feels somewhat light (not laser light), when cutting through denser veggies it feels like you're using a much heavier workhorse-esque knife as it just falls through the product.


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## toddnmd (Jan 10, 2015)

While we're talking about Kurosaki, has anyone tried his R2 knives? They look really nice.


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## labor of love (Jan 10, 2015)

Thats a very nice knife, especially for the price Marc.


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## marc4pt0 (Jan 10, 2015)

And the other pic I meant to post


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## SolidSnake03 (Jan 10, 2015)

Those are some beautiful pics! That AS 240 Gyuto looks and sounds crazy impressive!


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## Chuckles (Jan 11, 2015)

Is this knife stainless clad?


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## MowgFace (Jan 11, 2015)

What worries me about this line is the spot close to the heel where the cladding dips down to the edge. The guy who does videos for CKtG mentioned that on many of the different knife styles in this series there are spots where the cladding comes to the edge or close to.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Pensacola Tiger (Jan 11, 2015)

Chuckles said:


> Is this knife stainless clad?



According to the video review, yes, it is.


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## toddnmd (Jan 11, 2015)

MowgFace said:


> What worries me about this line is the spot close to the heel where the cladding dips down to the edge. The guy who does videos for CKtG mentioned that on many of the different knife styles in this series there are spots where the cladding comes to the edge or close to.



Would this actually ever be a real issue? It seems like the exposed edge would always be center core steel.


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## schanop (Jan 11, 2015)

toddnmd said:


> MowgFace said:
> 
> 
> > What worries me about this line is the spot close to the heel where the cladding dips down to the edge. The guy who does videos for CKtG mentioned that on many of the different knife styles in this series there are spots where the cladding comes to the edge or close to.
> ...



You would never know what's behind the cladding and whether core steel is straight. If core steel is warped out of alignment, then we will be talking about hole in the edge.


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## preizzo (Feb 3, 2015)

Which web page do you talking about guys?


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## preizzo (Feb 3, 2015)

What web page do you talking about guys??


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## Brian Weekley (Jun 14, 2019)

I agree completely with marc4pt0. A lovely knife to look at and use. It arrived before I started a big family dinner. It was so attractively made and pleasant in the hand that I said “why not” and moved it ahead of my perennial favourite Carter Perfect Kitchen Knife. I loved it through the entire dinner prep and even used it rather than a sujihiki to carve the roast of beef. It’s been a long time since a knife has caught my eye at such a reasonable price point. I’ve already ordered another knife from his stainless line.


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