Brieto M9 Pro Gyuto Review - Molybdenum Vanadium Steel - Made in Japan (KATAOKA) 

Thank you for the comment and watching, I really appreciate it :)

Almost :) Thank you!

Thank you :)

Hope to get it done someday! :) Thank you for the nice comment :)

I would love to since it has been requested multiple times but unfortunately, I can't get the Mercer delivered to me since they don't ship to The Netherlands or I have to pay a hefty import fee making the product 3 times more expensive to purchase (and many of their knife series are not available for me like the mx3 very unfortunate).

I may in the future, the prices in Europe is just a bit too high for me. I wish I took one with me when I was in Asia, but I was already near my import limit. They already stopped me at the customs and checked all the receipts of all the knives I bought.

Great question, quality wise very similar but I prefer the Brieto handle over the Misono Handmade. For 2 specific reasons, Misono Handmade is more Squared and Brieto is more rounded. The second reason is for my large hand size the Brieto is more filling making it a lot more comfortable for me to hold especially during prolonged usage. Whereas the Misono Handmade Series is a tad too small for me which will cramp up my hand if I use the knife for too long. In terms of steel hardness, I also will have to say the Brieto M9 Pro is superior to the Misono Handmade series. But Misono 440 I find it a tad better than the Brieto. In terms of Handle Misono 440 over Misono Handmade handle. PS: Sorry for the late reply

Molybdenum vanadium is a generic name when the manufacturer does not want to reveal what type of steel they use or if they use multiple steel types for the same series. Normal Stainless Steel does not contain Vanadium or Molybdenum. They have Chromium. Chromium is what makes the steel stainless which sits around 10 to 30%. What Vanadium & Molybdenum does is, increase the strength, wear resistance, and toughness of the steel. So the steel can be heat treated to a higher Rockwell than regular stainless steel. It will have better sharpness, edge retention, and a harder cutting edge with less bending, however, it will have less rust resistance compared to stainless steel with 30% chromium (but mostly not noticeable unless you work in a salty environment). But in return, it will be less durable for impact/torsion, etc compared to regular stainless steel but still very durable if you compare it to a High Carbon knife or Ceramic. Molybdenum vanadium example, the Global knives have 18% Chromium so better rust resistance than most regular stainless that has a lower Chromium content (They call it Chromova 18 but it can also be categorized as MV steel). The harder steel of MV steel is what makes them a great choice as kitchen knives, but a bad choice for tools like a screwdriver since it has less durability/torsion/impact resistance than regular stainless steel. This makes MV steel a great workhorse kitchen knife, that remains very durable vs High Carbon Stainless. Hope that this explains it a bit. Other Steel-Types that can carry the Molybdenum vanadium name: German Steel 1.4116 AUS-8 X50CrMoV15 The above steel has Molybdenum Vanadium in them. But quality can differ a lot depending on what type of steel the manufacturer is using. Hope that this explains it.

@@chefpanko Thank you so much for the input. Puts a bit more clarity to the confusing terms in knives. This helped a lot 😀

@@chefpanko Just a note: 1.4116 and X50CrMoV are two different distinctions for the very same type of steel, the former is the German nomenclature, the latter is the British one. This steel alloy is also known as "German stainless steel" because it was originally developed in Germany and is still used for most of the better kitchen knives made there, but despite its name does not necessarily need to be made in Germany. So Chinese-made German steel is not a contradiction.

@@einundsiebenziger5488 Thank you for the clarification, good to know!

Cheers!

It depends on the knife's condition. Since they look abused, the blade most likely has already been sharpened multiple times. If that is the case you may need to thin the blade out before adding a sharpened cutting edge. If you skip this step you will notice that the knife gets dull faster (losing cutting power) compared to the factory's new edge. I'm assuming it is a double bevel knife (sharpened on both sides). The normal course of action is if the knife is still thin behind the cutting edge. #100-#400: When: Broken tip, chips between the edge. Why: Removing chips, on a damaged knife #500-#800: When: A dull knife, bend cutting core - Getting an edge on a complete dull knife (adding a new cutting edge) Why: Getting an edge on a complete dull knife #1000 - #2000: When: When you feel that the knife is not sharp anymore. Why: Getting a medium to fine edge is good enough for home use and meat like Chicken, Duck, Beef, and Pork. #2000 - #3000: When: If you feel like the toothier edge of #1000 is not for you Why: Maintenance: Salads/uncooked veggies that don’t get eaten right away. (honing/ touch up/ restaurant) Those are basically the normal grit progression on knives for home use. Anything beyond #3000 grit is for (online) bragging rights or aesthetics. #5000 - #6000 When: For raw fish and Rockwell 62+ Why: Sashimi (raw fish), nigiri slices #8000+ When: Mirror polish Why: Aesthetic Basic rules, you are shaving off metal to get a sharp cutting edge on both sides (if double bevel knife). A burr means excess metal turning over to one side which indicates the edge is sharpened too much where the thin metal is now bending the other way. No more sharpening is needed, turn to the other side of the edge. Once both sides formed a burr remove the burr, you no longer need a burr indication. Go on a higher grit stone and repeat the process until you finish on your desired grit stone. Remove burr at end of the step. This can be done on a higher grit stone like the #3000 grit or stropping on leather, newspaper, etc. Now if it is thick behind the edge you have to thin the knife out before you go for the normal method. You can slightly fix it with a lower angle but thinning the knife out will be unavoidable especially if you used the knives in a restaurant nonstop for a decade. (In terms of home cooking knives targeted to home cooks those knives are soft they will probably die within 6 months in a restaurant setting where it is not even worth thinning the knife out since they are so cheaply made). The Brieto in this video does not have an indication of where to thin the knife out. But if you look at the Kisuke knife: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-izyNpVPk_So.html You see a clear line before the hammered part kicks in, that is your indication of where you need to thin the knife up to the hammered part (for that particular knife). After thinning you want to get the aesthetic back, you can build up a slurry on a whetstone and use a microfibre cloth to clean up the scratches. (a video about this will be uploaded today that is included in the knife review). The video explains how to remove rust and how to get the shine back. hope that this helps feel free to ask me more questions :)

Thank you. This is impressive. My Vanadium Moly blades seem very hard. I think it will take some time to revive the edges. Much thanks to you.

​@@JamesMcCutcheon one of the ways to speed up the progress is to start on a lower grit stone. Since it will remove a lot of material with each stroke. And what type of stone can make a difference too in terms of how fast it removes the material. But just take your time, there is no need to rush :) Some may compensate by pressing harder on the blade but that is not necessary, and they decrease the knife's lifespan a lot faster since they press too hard. They will overburr the edge instead of creating an extremely thin thread for an indication. Once the burr is visible to the naked eye you have over-burred/over-sharpened the knife. (This is something that is hard to explain, but the more you sharpen the better you know how to indicate when you have created a good enough burr so that you can work on the other side, the other side will form a burr a lot faster too once you already have done one side).

I have seen it I may do one in the future, I will wait for more variations in handle choices with that steel-type.

@@chefpanko thats cool but do you mind also reviewing Top Cut by Cangshan? the 14c28n steel chef knife. I think its will be a great budget option for a beater knife with good performance if they are made right. that knife might be a Victorinox killer in my opinion.

Unfortunately not, I haven't tested any of the new AliExpress knives yet. I may do it later this year currently exploring the budget options from Japan. But I have seen a lot of new knives versions from various brands with new types of steel so very curious about them.

@@chefpanko The price was around 35 euro for 3 knives made of supposedly vanadium steel.

@@davidl8111 yeah a lot of the manufacturers don't specify the exact type, so usually, you see Molybdenum Vanadium as a general name. But the mixture of added vanadium matters in terms of how hard they can heat treat the knife. But 35 euro for 3 knives and if they can just reach a Rockwell of 56 then it is already a good knife for the price (comfort, knife profile, etc is another factor). But price-wise alone it can be very interesting. In short Molybdenum Vanadium has extra strength, wear resistance, and toughness vs stainless steel since they mixed the steel with Molybdenum and Vanadium. How much they mix in matters for the end result of what heat treat the knife can take. This mixture also makes it easier to resharpen the knife. You will take away some of the rust/stain resistance properties but nothing to be worried about unless you work in a very humid/salty environment. (Which Brieto solved with their DPS Clad series by sandwiching the Molybdenum Vanadium with 2 outer stainless steel). You have like the AUS8, Chromova 18, etc which is also a Molybdenum Vanadium. So very curious what they bring to the table as their Molybdenum Vanadium mixture. I think I have seen them before but did not buy them yet, not sure if I have them on my watchlist (I think I have).

I looked it up again ,they write it's german 1.4116 steel( vanadium moly mix) with 56+- rockwell . The advertissement is a bit all over the place but i can only speak to the end product . The handle is very smooth in the palm,it's light in the hand and the transition between handle and blade is almost seemless. Also it needs resharpening on the wetstone after 2 month give or take with regular honing.

@@davidl8111 thank you for your insights, yeah most of the Ali sellers sales pages and descriptions are all over the place. So it is very hard to judge based on that alone and having the end product is the only way to judge it so thank you for the insights. I have them in my wish list just logged in and saw it was there. The price did increase a bit for me the Nakiri version was 14 euros now it is 18. But the reason it went on my wishlist was that they looked like an exact copy of the Global knives.

Depending on what you are looking for, the knife that suits your use case scenario and assists you the best in your preferred style of cutting will be the better option. In terms of stainless, it is a generic name usually associated with lower-quality steel. In terms of High Carbon, well they are not stainless. Molybdenum Vanadium is a generic name for the steel content that it must have so it must have Molybdenum and Vanadium in the steel type. Examples are AUS-8, AUS-10, VG10, 440C, etc which can be all categorized as molybdenum vanadium steel. If you don't want to bother with maintaining to prevent rust then High Carbon steel is not the choice for you. This is why I say it depends on what you are looking for. Molybdenum Vanadium can be categorized as stainless steel too. In terms of ease of sharpening and edge retention, a High Carbon knife is favorable since High Carbon knives are easier to sharpen (easier to break off the hairline/burr during sharpening).

Hitoshira seems like a brand that is using multiple Japanese blacksmiths and manufacturers. Since some of the knives, I saw on their website I directly knew who made the knife but then rebranded with their Kanji. So based on what I saw on the website they have multiple price categories from budget-friendly to the more premium line. Japanese-made knives from well-known and less-known Japanese bladesmiths/manufacturers rebranded to their own brand name. I never ordered from them but it also seems like they have some official retailers that sell their knives across the world. They have retail locations in: Toronto, Canada Vancouver Canada Portland, Me, USA The Netherlands, UK, Singapore, etc. As for Australia, they say that ''ProTooling'' Japanese Knives & Tools is one of the retailers that sell the Hitoshira brand. Adress: 128 Parramatta Road Camperdown NSW 2050 Australia hope that this helps.

@@chefpanko thank you for the advice, i really enjoy watching your videos!

Thank you :)