Like many other knives I've reviewed here, this 180mm Tojiro DP F-807 Gyuto one was a present too. Although, not from me. My coworker asked help to pick a knife as a present, and I was more than happy to oblige. We went though presentee's kitchen, habits, presenter's budget, the usual stuff. The decision was to present a Japanese chef's knife, a.k.a. Gyuto. Presenter diligently went through the How To Choose Kitchen Knives - Kitchen Knife Buying Guide, and a couple questions were discussed as a follow up. Eventually the presenter picked the knife we're reviewing here, Tojiro DP F-807 Gyuto 180mm(7.09"). The recipient of the present is quite a cooking aficionado, so the present was absolutely gonna be used, and lucky for the knife, the recipient also has enough knowledge and respect for the knives not to abuse and neglect them. A few weeks later, I borrowed the knife for review purposes, and complimentary sharpening as a bonus ;) This review is the result of all the above.
General
- Tojiro DP F-807 Gyuto 180mm(7.09") comes in a decent packaging, which is tight enough to prevent the knife from bouncing inside, nothing too fancy, which I wouldn't expect from the knife in this price range. As I said above, I got the knife in near brand new condition, but still it has seen a few weeks of use. I've very carefully inspected the blade. For used knives I typically start with the edge, since that part gets the real damage in not so experienced hands, and in experienced hands too, to be honest ;) The edge was dulled, relative to out of the box sharpness, but still in a very good shape, I bet 99% of the non knife folk would consider it sharp or very sharp. The edge still retained factory polish, no visible rolls or nicks and dents. The rest was what I've come to expect from the Tojiro knives. Solid, quality work. Nothing stood out as a problem. Smooth grind lines, decently smooth blade finish. Everything fits nicely, no gaps anywhere, nothing crooked or curved where it isn't suppose to be. Bolster and handle finishes were also very good.Even though I knew perfectly well what was the knife chosen for the present, and what to expect, still when I first handled the Tojiro DP F-807 Gyuto 180mm(7.09") the first time it was pretty much: wow, this is such a cute little knife. I've gotten so used to 270mm-280mm(10.5"-11.5") long chef's knives and gyutos that 180mm feels really small. Don't get me wrong, I like knives of all sizes, I just try to match the size with the job, or to be more precise, I tend to stick to certain sizes for certain cutting tasks. None of that is set in stone, and more experienced user will outperform me with a smaller or a bigger knife, easily. In the end, the knife is very good, but personally, for my use habits and given the size of my kitchen, not too big, but not cramped either, I'd definitely opt for a much larger gyuto. Well, I've already opted that well over a dozen times :)
Blade
- The blade on the 180mm Tojiro DP F-807 Gyuto measures 180.00mm(7.09") and at the heel it is 1.88mm thick. That's really thin, especially compared to western kitchen knives, where comparable blade length or even smaller knives can easily be over 2.5mm or even 3mm+ thick. For the knife of this size and its designed use, which is primarily food, proteins, veggies etc. thinner is better. At least is cuts a lot better and won't cause fatigue too soon. Blade geometry is that of a classical gyuto. Long, slender blade, quite pronounced tip, nice curve, which is a characteristic for the gyutos. Blade finish is satin, you can see even grindmarks on the blade, but on touch it's very smooth. The factory edge is sharpened at a standard 30° inclusive angle, V type edge.The blade uses Warikomi-Awase construction, which is very popular in Japanese Kitchen Knives. Hardened steel core - hagane is sandwiched between softer steel layers - jigane. In the case of Tojiro DP F-807, both hagane and jigane are stainless steel. Core is well known, and well performing Takefu VG-10 steel. Jigane is even more stain resistant alloy. You can clearly see the transition between cladding and the core on the images in this review. As a reminder, even though the cladding is highly stain resistant, the core is still exposed to the elements and food at the edge, which coincidentally is the most vulnerable part since it's to thin. So, stainless or not, you still need to take care of the knife to prevent rust.
Steel
- Long time ago, when the DP line first appeared, the steel composition was kept secret, well the name was kept secret. Anyone who was interested in knives knew Takefu VG-10 steel and it was considered a high end steel. Strange move on Tojiro's part, but eventually it was officially stated by Tojiro that DP line used Takefu VG-10 steel.I've tested and reviewed all kinds of knives made out of Takefu VG-10 steel. If you are curious, you can find VG-10 Steel Kitchen Knives Reviews here. Overall, VG-10 is a very good steel, in the kitchen knives and in variety of other knives as well. Corrosion resistance is considerable, and the edge holding ability is very good, especially in the kitchen knives(light use, food, proteins, etc). As a beginner's(into high end Japanese Kitchen Knives) choice, VG-10 steel is a very good choice. Typically it gets hardened to 59-61HRC in kitchen knives, and there's less chance an inexperienced user will break it. I've seen more than enough of that on Shun Kitchen Knives and a few other, super hard kitchen knives as well.
Like I said, VG-10 steel is versatile enough to be used in all sorts of knives, from small to fairly large such as Fallkniven A1 survival knife. Given the price/materials and quality of the Tojiro DP line, I've always considered them to be quite a bargain. Comparing Tojiro DP line knives to other brands made out of the same VG-10 steel, pricing will be very much in Tojiro's favor. I've seen VG-10 steel steel kitchen knives in 150$-300$ range quite often. Sure, some of those have better handle materials, fancier cladding, better packaging, but none of that really affects knife performance. Yeah, sure, I've spent $$$ on custom handles for my knives, but when or if I am concerned with the budget and performance, Tojiro DP is a clear winner.