# Masamoto VG: Kohetsu and Takamura???



## ethan yang (Mar 12, 2014)

I was narrowing down my choices between the Mac Pro, Masamoto and Kakayagi.  I was pretty sure Masamoto at $180 is the best choice, since its 140 in Japan and costs $30 to ship here.

However, when I talked to chef's knife to go.  They recommended Kohetsu (210mm) and Takamura over the Masamoto VG (240mm)?  Does anyone have any handson experience with them?  Never heard of them before?  He said Im lucky bc he has just got the Kohetsu and they have superior edge retention (~6 mo) vs wks for Masamoto..


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## chrismit (Nov 18, 2012)

Both excellent knives. Kohetsu is carbon on the edge so might patina, takamura is high hardened powdered steel and should have excellent edge retention. Are you sure you want a 210?


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## ethan yang (Mar 12, 2014)

thats how i felt when he recommended the knife on his front page.

i think i would use 1000/6000 combination whetstones, at least that was my intention when i was looking at the masamoto..

what do you think


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## chrismit (Nov 18, 2012)

The kohetsu is a Richmond made knife and the takamura is not. Depending on how you use your knives you may see some micro chips or suffer larger chips. If this is your first j knife and you are not proficient with sharpening you may want to stay with your original choices. Although I have not used the takamura I have read some excellent reviews on it. Very thin knife from what I understand. Your stone choice would work on these knives but you may have problems with deburring the takamura. If edge retention is your ultimate goal you will get this out of the knives suggested by cktg. I will say as a home cook and a Mac Pro being my first knife, the edge lasted much longer than a few weeks. I used a hone with it and I went months without a noticeable drop off. I'm guessing the masa would perform the same.


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## ethan yang (Mar 12, 2014)

scratch that then... seems he is just promoting his product.

will go with the masamoto! anything against alum oxide stones like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Knife-Sharp...655?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a8cb4ddbf

this is 800/6000 instead of 1000/6000. its cheaper!

http://www.chefknivestogo.com/shunwhetstone.html

i donno if they are inferior to the ones from king

http://www.chefknivestogo.com/kingcombostone.html


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## ethan yang (Mar 12, 2014)

how bout the sharpening question? thanks!


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## chrismit (Nov 18, 2012)

I would go with the king stone. I'm not familiar with the cheaper stone you linked to but for $15 more the king is a quality first stone with good reviews. It also seems to come with a base which is nice. I highly doubt the shun stone is worth the premium price but I'm not familiar with it


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## ethan yang (Mar 12, 2014)

Bdl recommedned the masamoto..
And misino ux100 is better than 44, no?



Benuser said:


> Instead of the Masamoto I would consider the Misono 440 with a decent handle for the same amount of money.


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## ethan yang (Mar 12, 2014)

nm

i found in a old post from bdl saying that misino 44 is overpriced.


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

Do the combo stones you are looking at come with a nagura?


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## ethan yang (Mar 12, 2014)

no but its 44 dollars.


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## jessiet (Jul 14, 2014)

I know I'm quite late joining the party, and you've probably already made your decision, but I do want to get this info to this board.  For a little background, I am an expert cook, though I have not trained professionally, and only cook at home and for friends.  I love knives, and have a large collection.  I had ordered a couple of knives from ChefKnivesToGo.  The most recent purchase (just a few days ago) was a Kohetsu Aogami Super Nakiri 165mm.  They had just introduced this knife, and I needed a new (better) nakiri.  The order came quickly, but I HATE this knife.  The balance is really awful, the blade being way too heavy for the handle.  The performance is very poor also.  When I am cutting veg, the knife doesn't cut all the way through at the back.  The knife was $150 with the saya ($30 wooden knife keeper that would cost $2 to make).  Long story short, I called the company today, and spoke with the owner (Susan), and expressed my disappointment with the knife.  She wanted to charge me a 10% restocking fee if I returned it!  Said she would now have to sell it "used".  When I told her she should not even be carrying such a knife in her inventory, she laughed at me--a lot!  I am returning the knife, and have agreed to a $5 restocking fee.  I don't think it's a good idea to own a small business and treat the customer poorly, do you?  Word does get out.  Stay away from ChefKnivesToGo!


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## notsowooly (Oct 27, 2008)

maybe it's the user not the knife. CKTG has been great to me. great service, product and pricing


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## jessiet (Jul 14, 2014)

I'm afraid that is not the case.  I have a large collection of knives, and have been a cook for more than 50 years.  I regret to say that my experience was anything but good.  The Nakiri I was sent did not connect at the back of the blade to the veg; therefore, it didn't cut it all the way through.  I have another, very inexpensive nakiri that frankly works better.  Anyone can get a lemon, but the owner's attitude is not acceptable


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## jessiet (Jul 14, 2014)

Yes, I agree.  I have received some private messages to this thread expressing similar problems with CKTG.  I have been told they are more of a warehouse, and do very little QC.  I wonder where their brand, Kohetsu, is really made.  Is it Japan, or somewhere else? In any event, I keep coming back to the point that problems like this should be addressed properly, and every effort should be made to make things right.  I had to pay over $16 to send back the knife; paid an extra $5 for them to sign for it because I didn't trust whether or not they would admit to receiving it; and, they are charging me a $5 restocking fee!  So, I received a knife that never should have been sent out, then I was laughed at by the owner, and am now out $26.  So what is fair about this?  Nothing.


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