Yaxell Mon 8" Chef's Knife - Made in Japan - VG10 Stainless Steel Gyuto with Micarta Handle

For less than a lot of Chinese made Japanese knife wannabes you get a real made in Japan Japanese knife in real VG10. Wether one layer or a hundred there is a VG10 core clad with softer stainless steel. Cuts like a dream and has great edge retention. It feels light in the hand with good balance. If you cut occasionally making meals at home or you cut all day in a restaurant give this knife a try. You could spend 2-3 times this amount and not get a better cutting knife. My favorite out of many and I’ve owned or used dozens. Sharpens easy enough on water stones or diamond and attains amazing sharpness. So for less than $100 give it a try. Note: the main difference in the Mon vs Super Gou is VG10 and SG2. The SG2 is a powdered metal that has much smaller carbon granules dispersed in the steel. This is done to allow a finer edge when sharpened. Theoretically anyway. 98 out of 100 people would not notice the difference. Cosmetically the Super Gou is stunning, but the carrots could care less. The Mon is beautifully made while being all business. Makes a great gift to the cooks or chefs in your life. Update: one year later it’s held up supurbly and is easy to sharpen. I’ve given 4 as gifts and they have been very pleased as well.

What’s not to love. It’s beautiful, stays sharp, great ergonomics and super easy to sharpen. My new favorite knife.

Beautiful knife!

First I must admit this is my best (by kind of a lot) and most expensive (by a bit) knife so far, so I can't directly compare to more expensive options. But I also can't imagine how a more precious tool which would almost certainly be harder, more brittle, and more difficult to sharpen would be better. I do have a fair number of American, Chinese, German, and Pakistani knives. And I can say that this knife has the rest so outclassed it's not even funny. And yes, I do keep them all sharp and ready. It's superiority is most apparent in design, handle, lightness, and of course edge retention. Anyway, this knife is also handcrafted in a first world country at Yaxell, in a shop that looks like it must have been a samurai sword shop at one point not too long ago. Don't know how they can sell this knife for this price. Check out Ricky of Burrfection on Ytube for a tour of the factory. So, point being, not made all by machine in perhaps a more capitalized factory, and when us outdated meat sacks can still make a clearly superior product by hand, that is a win for us and should be strongly supported.

They are very sharp and holds it's edge! My wife is a professional Chef and loves these knives.

Shipping time and Delivery The Yaxell Mon 8" Gyuto was shipped and arrived quickly - unlike most of the other Amazon products that seem to be held back for several days if you don't pay the over inflated price for Amazon Prime, which doubled a few years ago which Amazon raised again the following year. It "might" be a descent deal if you use "All" of Prime's Services - but not for shipping a few packages a year. Shipping Method The packaging wasn't "Bad" but it wasn't great. The boxed knife was shipped in a very large Amazon small-bubbled envelope which could have easily held three of those knife boxes side by side - and it provided very little protection during shipping. When I opened the envelope the bottom of the knife box showed signs of being compressed and the light plastic inner of the box, that molds around the handle, showed signs of the box being tossed around - where the butt of the blade broke through the inner lining of the box. Knife Condition The knife looks in very good condition and arrived sharp - with a "very minor" imperfection in grinding and polishing where the spine of the blade meets the two top sides of the bolster. The grind on the upper right side of the spine missed being equally ground flat between the two sides by @.5 mm at the widest part, easily missed. The honing of the blade was nicely done and was even on both sides of the blade. Test cutting thin paper sliced through quietly and with ease. Test cutting a loosely held paper towel also revealed the knife had a very sharp blade - for being right out of the box. I did a little test cutting on cabbage and was pleased. The knife handled very nicely - even for someone that has Very Big hands. I cleaned the knife and made sure the edge was in even better condition than what I received. I finished it off with a few passes on a leather strop that had 1 Micron Diamond Spray applied and the edge was hair shaving sharp. The people receiving this gift should be very pleased.. Price - (Included free shipping on orders over $25.00.) [Not Pleased] My biggest gripe is that the knife dropped from 79.90/(11/16/19) to 69.95/(11-21-19) in less than 5 days. When I looked at the same knife 7 day after my original purchase - the price was $74.95/(11-23-19).That's good for everyone else that shopped and found the lowest price, but naturally I'm not pleased because I'm like most folks that look for the best deals. Hopefully you folks shopping around and found the best price listed. Reason for purchasing the Yaxell Mon 8" Gyuto It will be a very nice Christmas gift for people who will never notice the minor imperfection. They are also receiving another less expensive knife to use while they are learning to properly use and care for this better quality knife. The Yaxell Mon is a higher quality knife than what I currently have in my kitchen - which will change, although - I do own a high quality EDC that has very nice geometry and holds an unbelievable edge. If you know how to properly use kitchen knives, for what they are meant to be used for, and use slicing and rocking techniques - you shouldn't go wrong buying the Yaxell Mon 8" Gyuto.

What more can be said. I am a working professional and I use this knife 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. I have had this knife for over a month and only had to run a hone over it twice. Edge retention is top notch. The fit and finish is beautiful. The tight, smooth handle feels great in the hand. This knife handles everything from chopping vegetables to slicing tomatoes to cutting bread with ease. With this knife you get more than you're paying for and I have absolutely no regrets that I didn't spring for the Ran or Gou model. 5 year update: I now have a couple thousand hours on this knife as my main workhorse and it's still going strong. I lent it to another chef, who dropped it and broke the tip off. I was easily able to repair it with a high grit whetstone and it's as sharp as ever. It's incredibly easy to maintain. All the parts are still tight and, at this point, I can't foresee ever needing to replace it unless something catastrophic (like knocking it off the counter and then stepping on it) happens.

Not a pro chef, but I have 3 of them in 8", 6" and the utility Yaxell. This is the best thing you'll have in your kitchen! Oh, and you'll also free up some drawer space after throwing away all those "german steel made in China" knives you have. A couple more things to add: Basically, there are two schools of chef's knives: European (German) and Japanese. European are made of softer steel (~0.5% carbon) and lower hardness levels (~56-58HRC); they dull faster, primarily due to the cutting edge folding (that's why you see those pro chefs and butchers on Youtube constantly honing them on the steel/ceramic rod, straightening up the edge). But they are more forgiving and do not chip, when, say, a bone or some other hard substance is hit. Japanese knives are made of a harder steel. VG10 in this Yaxell particularly contains ~1% of carbon and is hardened to ~61HRC. This makes a superb and much longer lasting edge, however, it may micro-chip. Drag a knife over a piece of paper towel - if you feel the "grab" - this is it. So, while you have longer periods between re-sharpening, you just have to be a bit more careful with your Yaxell. The latter means, no cutting on ceramic plates or granite countertops, no dropping on the tile floor, and always watching where would the blade go if you slip while cutting. Next, the Japanese knives are usually thinner than European, [gyutos] have a less pronounced "bow", which may or may not affect your rocking cutting technique, and finally have no bolster (look it up). The latter means that little corner on the back of the blade will happily cut anything (as it is supposed to), including your fingers, if you forget about it. Sharpening. Yaxells are double-bevel grind, usually ~25 degrees (12.5 per side). You have several options here: - professional sharpening services (occasionally) + a good fine ceramic honing rod in between (a diamond one may be a bit too aggressive and cost twice as much). - something like Chef's Choice 3-stage electric sharpener - classic: w(h)etstones (Suehiro Cerax #1000 + Rika #5000 + leather strop. You're welcome!). This may become your next hobby, not mentioning that this is a very therapeutic activity overall and a good way making new friends on the internet :) - a guided system, like WorkSharp Professional Precision Adjust. On a separate note, please do yourself and the rest of humankind a favor and throw away that "ceramic/carbon steel" pull sharpener you have and never ever use it on any knife, period. No time to explain why, just don't... Storage. A knife block or, if stored in the drawer, get one of those plastic edge protection sleeves. The rule is: knife steel should not ever touch another steel. Good luck and enjoy your new Yaxell!.

satisfied

귯

I absolutely love this knife & it is the only one I use now no matter what I need a knife for. Cuts tomatoes without damage, cutting raw meat like pork is effortless. If we could “star rate” higher I would give a 10 out of 5 rating.

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