Makoto Sakura SG2 210mm Gyuto First Impressions

[cwillett]

Last weekend I took possession of a new Makoto 210mm gyuto and would like to offer a quick first impressions post.

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/masasg2wagy2.html

Appearance and Construction
The knife is made out of SG2 steel, which I understand is the same as R2 steel. This seems to be a higher end stainless steel that has a reputation for edge retention and very thin blades, and the Makoto is, indeed, a thin knife. The knife is offered with a good looking cherrywood handle done in a lighter toned style that is pleasing to the eye. The blade has a faint hairline finish to it, but on the whole is not a particularly striking knife. The choil is rounded and swept back, which is a nice feature that should help your finger from getting bit by the end of the choil. However, the height of the knife makes this somewhat unlikely to happen in practice. But it is still a nice feature. I wish that it was smoothed out a bit as it is a little sharp in places.

The handle install is ok, but there are some obvious, but small, gaps that should get filled in with epoxy. The handle was initially very slick and I thought I was going to have to work on it a bit, but after the first few uses the handle remarkably turned gripped and has a fantastic texture to it.

The kanji is not particularly appealing and appears to be screened on (I'm sure it isn't, but that is what it look like). I'm not sure if it will wear off in time or if this is some sort of ultrathin etching. It isn't an attractive feature of the knife and has a cheap look to it. On the knife magnet, the Makoto comes in a pretty distant last in the beauty contest with my other Japanese knives. This may or may not be important to you, but I'm pretty shallow and it does bother me a bit.

Out of the Box Edge
The out of the box edge is pretty acceptable, but I would say that it lets the knife down a bit. After all, you probably don't want a knife to be pretty ok. After an evening of using the knife I did a couple of passes per side on a Kitayama 8k, then stropped on a balsa strop with 1 micron diamond paste, followed by a nanocloth strop loaded with 0.5 micron diamond spray. I'm not a particularly great sharpener, but this definitely opened up the potential of the knife and it absolutely blew through ingredients, both soft and hard. Not ragged edges on proteins and reducing onions to 1/8 inch dice was quick and efficient.


Performance
The Makoto Sakura is a strong performer on the board and has an excellent profile that should lend itself to many different types of cutting. The thin blade blows through produce with no noticeable wedging. Food release seems to be about on par with my other knives, although perhaps a tad bit better. I do not rock much anymore and primarily rely on chopping, push-pull, and draw strokes. The knife excels at these. There is enough belly to rock and a good flat spot at the back to chop. The tip is well designed and efficient. The lightness of the knife combines with an uneven distribution of weight provide a feeling of nimbleness that is easy to appreciate. The center of mass is well in front of my pinch grip (by an inch or two), something that isn't present in my other knifes. The Makoto feels like a scalpel that is made for precision work. The (now) grippy handle inspires confidence and the knife is easy to run hard.

Edge retention so far seems to be fairly good. Since my sharpening of it, I've used the knife to prepare four dinners (main, raw vegetable, cooked vegetable, bonus, for five) and my wife has used it for preparing our kids lunches (cutting crusts off of bread). The blade still ghosts through tomatoes and peppers. This is a good start in my book.

Overall and Recommendations
I was looking for a laser-ish knife that was around 210mm to slot in between my 240mm gyuto and 165mm nakiri and this does a great job of it. The size of the knife works well in my cramped home kitchen and as a result has become my wife's go to knife in the last week. For someone with emerging knife skills, the size of the knife and the stainless steel aspect along with a great profile make the knife very attractive.For the record, my wife has good, if abusive, knife skills. I appreciate the ease of cutting and the nimbleness of the knife. The fit and finish could be better and the appearance of the kanji is poor. The out of the box edge was fine, but I'd recommend a trip to a high grit stone right away, or paying for the sharpening service on the knife. The stainless aspect is nice to have.

Whether or not this is the right knife for you isn't something that I could say. I would absolutely recommend the Makoto SG2 Sakura to friends and family, but it has a lot of competition. The Takamura Chromax 210mm is a $60 and has a nice western handle on it (not my thing, but nice) and comes with a blazing edge. The Yahiko 210mm white 2 nashiji is $20 more expensive and is a much nicer looking knife and should be an excellent performer (I have the 240mm version). The Makoto 210mm AS gyuto looks like a much more visually appealing knife at a similar price point. I'm not sure if the knife will be with us permanently. As I mentioned before, I am of the shallow sort and appearances do matter to me. The knife looks homely next to all of the other Japanese knives. But is cuts very, very well and I can use it quickly and efficiently and that counts for a lot.

[jbart65]

Good to get some first impressions. Sounds similar to the Makoto in white steel that I owned, but lighter and more laserish. While I prefer ginsan for stainless, R2 steel really is quite good, especially in the hands of smiths and shops such as Shibata, Takamura, Kamo and Kurosaki. It’s also hitting the mainstream more at the expense of VG10.