# Help getting out of the rabbit hole



## wills (Apr 15, 2017)

For the past 4 days I have been reading many of the posts on this forum and others about chef's knives, western vs. Japanese, different types of steel, sharpening stones and more. At this point I am too far down the rabbit hole to see the light of day.

I am looking for a decent chef's knife/gyuto (I am leaning towards Japanese) as well as a whetstone setup, somewhere in the $200-250US range for knife and stones. I will be learning to sharpen but will start my learning curve with my older cheap knives(unless that is a bad idea??)

Please correct me if I'm way off but here are my thoughts after the past few days:

*240mm or 270mm gyuto knives to consider:*

Fujiwara FKM stainless

Fujiwara FKH carbon

Gesshin stainless

Kohetsu blue #2

Tojiro Dp

Tanaka Kurouchi

Yahiko VG-10

*Stones to consider:*

imanishi two sided 1k/6k

5 piece CKtG 3 stone kit - http://www.chefknivestogo.com/3pcstoneset.html

King combo stone 800/6k

Any thoughts on used knives or where one might look for them?

Sorry for yet another "what knife/stone post" but a lot of the ones I have read seem to be over a year old, and I found myself wondering if things have changed.

any help is greatly appreciated

-Will


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## foody518 (Aug 6, 2015)

http://www.toolsfromjapan.com/store...ucts_id=2055:4375f568822d20fed1c38c4cf8fd67e3

Select the individual stones option and add the half cut 320 grit. Runs about $105 with shipping. Might take a few weeks from the seller though.

Diamond flattening plate http://www.toolsfromjapan.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=852 Around $50 shipped.

Deburr with wine cork, fold a damp towel for a stone base, and get a loupe from Amazon or elsewhere for like 5 or 10 bucks

Mostly respecting the budget cutoff, with 3 individual stones and a flattening plate plus knife, I'd pick from Tojiro DP, Fujiwara, or Kanetsugu Pro-M. There's also this one at MTC Kitchen with free shipping and a current 20% off code that caught my eye recently...no experience with it though

https://www.mtckitchen.com/haku-inox-gyuto-knife-240mm-9-4/

Stainless or carbon is your choice, though soft iron clad carbon is the biggest jump in blade maintenance.

I started sharpening with crappy cheapies too and from the experience, I would say that merits having a coarse stone right off the bat. You'll put a dip in a medium grit stone learning how to make good progress on those.

Shouldn't need to go below a medium grit stone for a while if you are talking just with respect to maintaining the new purchase though

I'd guess probably 1/3-1/2 of this whole subforum is 'what knife' threads, including the recent few pages as well

Used knives - There's a Buy/Sell/Trade forum on KKF

I just saw your location. You'd do well to go pay a visit to Japanese Knife Imports and discuss your needs and see some really cool stuff in person.


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## rick alan (Nov 15, 2012)

Second that, go talk to Jon.


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## wills (Apr 15, 2017)

Thanks for the advice, I will stop by Jon's shop.


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## jbroida (Nov 13, 2011)

WillS said:


> Thanks for the advice, I will stop by Jon's shop.


you can also bug me on here too if you would like

-jon


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## foody518 (Aug 6, 2015)

Jon's great at knocking some sense and realism into those falling down the rabbit hole - trying to find a match for interest, skill,usage, and commitment. I got suuuper taken in by all the blingy Damascus cladded knives and then got some sense talked into me and went cold turkey off buying those until I had the skills and materials to keep up that type of finish.


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