Ikenami Hamono HSS Gyuto 200mm

The gyuto is an all-purpose workhorse knife often likened to a French chef's knife.

The term 'laser gyuto' refers to one with a thinner blade, and the name would seem to fit here. Whereas the spine of Ikenami Hamono's fine wa-gyuto blade of the same length measures between 3.5 and 4 millimeters at the handle, this taller blade offers equal stiffness but is just 2 millimeters thin. Overall weight is comparable between the two styles, overall length differs with this being the shorter knife.

The Ikenami Hamono blade is high speed steel clad in stainless. Heat treatment applied to this blade results in a very hard steel that will be slow to sharpen but that can be made razor sharp. Low maintenance, but note that the exposed edge is susceptible to rust if not kept clean and dry. The sculpted sandalwood handle is attractive, durable and suits left and right handers equally well.

A solid western-style gyuto with superb cutting feel.