Here's my first new knife in over a decade. I've been splitting time between two kitchens ... the new one is unrenovated and being used kind of like a camping kitchen. We've just minimally equipped it. But I realized I needed a knife. Seemed like an excuse to finally get a good beater knife ... something that performs well enough but is cheap and demands no pampering.
I was about to just get a Victorinox chef's knife on Amazon. Can't go wrong with those, especially for $40. But they're so boring. I really like a wa-gyuto. I knew the days of sub-$100 Tojiros and the like are long passed, but maybe the internet knows some new tricks?
Yes, it does. This is Dauvua 240mm gyuto. Made in Vietnam. As the story goes, the maker is a blacksmith who works barefoot, and who only recently started making knives. Uses steel from truck axles and leaf springs (probably something similar to 52100 steel). Charges next to nothing.
He got picked up by Chefsknivestogo.com, and they gave him some design advice, and tips on how to clean up the workmanship, at least a little. This is the version-2 after CKTG's feedback. Might be made in a factory now, by people who wear shoes. It's pretty nice! Well-made hardwood handle (made from the side panels of old station wagons??) and pretty rough workmanship overall, about what you'd expect from a country-style kuroichi knife.
I won't get a chance to sharpen it and clean it up until it's in the same city as my stones. So no real review. But out of the box it cuts as well as my German knives do when sharpened. I think I'll enjoy it.
Incidentally, I bought from Tokushu Knife, which I hadn't heard of before. They had it for $65 ... a bit less than others. Great service, but even more important, they shipped it in this box, which I will cherish forever:
