Sanetsu ZDP-189 Gyuto 270mm(10.6")
Japanese Kitchen Knife Review

Sanetsu Gyuto was pretty much an accidental buy. There was an experimental run of 3 knives as far as I know, two were picked up by fellow forumites from Knifeforums.com, and the pictures were posted. It did look beautiful, was perfect length 270mm(12.5"), and most importantly, it was made out of very exotic, ZDP-189 steel, and I already mentioned in other reviews, I was really interested in that steel. Sanetsu Gyuto wasn't my first knife in ZDP-189, but it was my very first kitchen knife made from ZDP-189 steel. So, I've contacted Koki at Japanese Chefs Knife and ordered the last one. Can't say this is a cheap knife. 680$ for a single kitchen knife isn't quite cheap. However, comparable offering from Hattory, made of Cowry-X steel, is over 1500$. So, in a way, I've saved a lot of money ;) For the record, Kanji engraving was offered, for free by the way, but that's take another week, and I was already way too impatient to get my hands on this gorgeous knife.

General

 - Gyuto arrived pretty fast form Japan. Took only 2 days. It's good to live in CA ;) I was really impatient about this knife. Packaging was top notch. Nice box, well wrapped to prevent any damage to this rather delicate knife. Inspection, upon unwrapping the knife, revealed no flaws or imperfections. The knife is just perfect just about in any aspect. Fit and finish are superb. Sharpness out of the box was extremely high. Shaving in any direction and cutting free hanging newsprint was pretty much effortless. Edge grind was also very even and highly polished. Full tang, bolstered blade. Bolster itself, is nice satin finish and perfectly flush with the handle. Blade-bolster transition is very smooth and seamless. Handle slabs are very well finished, and handle geometry and ergonomics are very good. More about that in the handle section.

Overall length of the knife is 405mm. It is not a small knife by any standard. Lately, I favor 270mm chef's knives(or gyutos), better cutting and less efforts with them, compared to even 240mm knives. Damascus pattern is rather unusual, and looks very attractive in my opinion. Right side of the blade has engraved letters: ZDP-189, which as you remember is the steel it was made of. The knife is really light, only 273g, which is less than half the weight of comparable western knives. As of spring 2009, this is the thinnest gyuto I own, only 2.5mm thick at the handle.

Blade

 - Geometry-wise, 270mm Sanetsu gyuto is made more towards the French style chef's knife. Slender, more pointy shape, in contrast to more pronounced belly on German style chef's knives. Personally, I prefer that style, I find it more nimble and versatile, both Akifusa(Ikeda) 240mm gyuto and Kumagoro Hammer Finish Gyuto are the same style. Although I do have a few other gyutos that are much more wide, and have more substantial belly, Watanabe Honyaki Gyuto would be a good example of such knife. As mentioned above, the distal taper blade is only 2.5mm thick. Tapering is also very smooth and gradual.

In the end, it is a very efficient cutter, but a delicate one. Hardness on this knife is 64-66HRC. Very high hardness for any steel, in fact most of the steel alloys can't even be hardened that high, let alone being functional knives. Knife that hard and thin can break if subjected to substantial lateral loads, but rest assured I am real careful with it. Other than that, it's a cutting machine, slick, efficient and simply gorgeous. As for the edge, I already said in General section, it was blazing sharp out of the box. Edge is asymmetrical, approx. 70/30. I don't really have strong preferences on the edge symmetry anymore, not after I have practiced with single bevel Aritsugu A-Type Gyuto. I guess, few months ago I'd have to struggle a little to get straight, long cuts, but now I don't really feel any difference in terms of the efforts to keep the cut straight.

Steel

 - ZDP-189 is Hitachi made steel. I wrote a little bit about it in the Kitchen Knife Steel FAQ. Exact elemental makeup isn't published yet. What is known, mainly because that's the key promotion point is the extremely high Carbon content which is 3% and also very high Chromium content, 20%. Other than that, the word has it that ZDP-189 contains Molybdenum, Tungsten and Vanadium. Because of all that, in theory it should exhibit better wear resistance than similar Cowry-X, which also has 3% Carbon and 20% Chromium, but no Vanadium or Tungsten. Theoretical, upper limit for hardness is 68HRC. Although I have never seen a ZDP-189 knife hardened at 68HRC. The highest I have is William Henry Spearpoint folder, which is 67HRC. Some of the Japanese makers don't harden it above 66HRC, because hand sharpening becomes too difficult. This gyuto from Sanetsu is speced at 64-66HRC range. I sure hope it is 66HRC :)

One interesting, and perhaps not too exciting detail about ZDP-189 is that it's susceptible to rust. Yes, despite of its very high Chromium content - 20%, it still can rust. As I said many times in other reviews, there is no truly stainless steel. Al stainless knives will rust, if neglected. The correct term stain-resistance defines how well the given steel resists rusting. So, ZDP-189 isn't as good as you would expect from the steel with 20% Chromium. Let me remind you, that for the steel to be classified as stainless, it has to have 15% or more Chromium. I was really surprised myself, when I've learned about staining problems of ZDP-189. The explanation is fairly simple. A lot of that 20% Chromium is not free in the alloy. Lots of it is tied up with Carbon atoms, which in ZDP-189 steel, exists in much higher concentrations than in more ordinary steels. Around 3 times as much carbon as in many truly high-carbon steels, and 6-7 times more Carbon compared to all the kitchen knives made of X50CrMoV15 steel or similar steels.

So, that extremely high wear resistance and hardness come at a price, and that price is reduced stain resistance. Although, to me, in CA, that penalty in stain resistance is pretty much irrelevant. I have a lot of carbon steel knives that I never let to rust or stain, so less than average stain resistance isn't going to make any difference to me. So far, it doesn't even have any signs of patina.

Handle

 - Lately I am really into Japanese, WA type handles. Most of my kitchen knives have octagonal handles, and whenever I have a choice I pick octagonal type handles. However, with Sanetsu ZDP-189 gyuto knife, you can guess - there was no choice. Never the less, the handle is superb. That goes for both, overall finish and ergonomics. Mosaic pins just add to overall finesse of the handle. It fits my palms pretty much perfectly. I've used relatively prolonged time, 1.5-2 hours of continuous use. While that is nowhere near to full day shift of the professional cook, still, that's a lot of cutting for a home cook, and most of the time that's how I use it anyway. No discomfort during those hours. In my book, if I can use the knife for couple hours and the handle won't give me sore spots and doesn't become uncomfortable, that is ergonomic and comfy.

Usage

 - Pending.

Specifications:

• Blade - 265.00mm(10.43")
• Thickness - 2.50mm
• OAL - 405.00mm(15.94")
• Steel - ZDP-189 64-66HRC
• Handle - Linen Micarta
• Weight - 268.00g(9.06oz)
• Acquired - 02/2009 Price - 680.00$

Related reading:

• Watanabe 270mm Honyaki Gyuto Knife Review
• Shigefusa 270mm Kitaeji Gyuto Knife Review
• Tadatsuna White Steel Gyuto Knife Review
• Aritsugu A-Type Gyuto Knife Review
• Akifusa(Ikeda) Gyuto Knife Review
• Kumagoro Hammer Finish Gyuto Knife Review
• Watanabe Small Nakiri Knife Review
• Kobayashi Suminagashi Nakiri Knife Review
• Tadatsuna White Steel Kamagata Usuba Knife Review

Last updated - 05/30/10