Honesuki for General Purpose?

[CoryS]

Does anyone use a Honesuki for everything? I like a knife with a lot of weight to it.
Could a Honesuki be it or just any style that a particular bladesmith makes thick and heavy?
Thanks.

[taz575]

You could get a double bevel honesuki and use it for general use? It may be kinda thick and wedgey though? Honesuki are generally 150-165mm long, so they are kinda short for that stuff. I have used some Funayuki (165mm) for smaller prep chores and I like the extra height of the blade/knuckles clearance. Honesuki are usually low to the board.

Double bevel Honesuki:
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/ensrho15.html
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kohaho151.html
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/mabl2naho15.html

What length are you looking at? I think a heftier 210mm gyuto may be a better all arounder?

Some 210mm gyuto that are thicker/heavier:
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/oeebgy210h.html
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/koshbl2gy21.html
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kosld21gy.html
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kobl2nagy21.html
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/ebwh2gy211.html
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/tabl2tagy21.html
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/tabl1kugy21.html
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/yosabl2gy21.html
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/yubl2gy21.html

Or go to a western handled blade? The metal bolster and full tang add some weight to the knife, so the blade can be thinner and cut better.
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/katkgy21.html
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/koaswegy21.html
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/tagrchmigy21.html

[Jeff B]

A true single bevel Honesuki would not make for a good general purpose knife because of steering issues. The Honesukis that are 50/50 ground are generally too thick to use as a general purpose because of wedging issues. These knives are pretty specialized in what they are made for. They are made to be tough working around bones and cutting through joints, they just aren't ground for performance in everyday slicing/chopping. You would be better off finding a thicker/heavier knife properly ground for everyday kitchen performance.

[CoryS]

Nice:

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/mabl2naho15.html

[Jeff B]

Nice:

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/mabl2naho15.html

Perfect example of what I was saying. Look at the shoulders so close to the cutting edge of that knife, it would be a wedge MONSTER!

[taz575]

Yeah, very wedgey! Lots of cracking through ingredients, too! If you like the shape, look at a Bunka, but again, most are thin and light.

If you want something really heavy, maybe a Western Deba? https://www.chefknivestogo.com/tagrchaewede.html Double the weight of most of the heavier 210mm, really tall, too. Not sure how it will perform in general use since it is designed more for fish butchery? It will tire you out!!

You are looking for a "workhorse" type knife. I did up a 7" santoku blade in S30V many years ago (when S30V first came out!) from 1/8" stock; it was .140" starting thickness since the steel was oversized. It is heavy, but I gave it a good thinning and convexing and it performs fairly well, but feels weird using such a heavy knife after being used to my lighter weight stuff!

Some shorter workhorses:
Heavier 180mm funayuki:
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/niwh1fu18.html
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/yabl2fu18.html
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/hawh2sa17.html
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kakusa16.html

Bunka:
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/yabl2ha18.html

240mm gyuto
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kobl2tagy24.html
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/tskakugy24.html