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Gyuto 245mm Aogami Super Stainless GoMai Ebony & Bronze Signature Series

Gyuto 245mm Aogami Super Stainless GoMai Ebony & Bronze Signature Series

By Mark Cordina

€1.157,95 EUR
€1.157,95 EUR
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At 245 mm along the edge and 62 mm high, this Signature Series gyuto has a generous working profile with substantial board clearance and a confident, well-controlled action. Mark Cordina’s tapered convex geometry gives the blade its performance foundation, while the coffee-etched Go Mai construction and exceptionally finished faceted handle place it firmly within his custom work.

The blade uses a five-layer Go Mai construction built around an Aogami Super cutting core hardened to 65 HRC. Nickel interlayers and bright 304 stainless-steel cladding frame the deeply blackened carbon steel, where Mark’s coffee etch allows beautiful alloy banding to remain visible through the surface. The convex bevels are finished to a smooth, silky satin polish, helping to reduce drag through food while providing a precise visual transition beneath the etched core. From 4.15 mm at the heel, the spine tapers progressively to 0.95 mm near the tip.

A custom faceted hidden-tang handle brings together stabilised ebony and highly figured Tasmanian blackwood, separated by a hand-stippled bronze spacer. This is one of Mark’s defining handle designs: complex museum-fit joinery, carefully considered ergonomic facets and exceptional fit and finish assembled into a handle that feels remarkably comfortable and secure. Between the two stunning timbers, the individually textured bronze gives the composition a tactile point of transition.

Both the Cordina Customs maker’s mark and Mark’s hand-engraved signature appear on the blade face. The treatment feels appropriate to a knife in which so much of the character comes from visible authorship—from the black coffee etch and silky bevel finish to the joinery and hand-worked bronze. Supplied in a fitted wooden storage box, this is a substantial, highly functional gyuto with an excellent board profile and the finish of a serious custom piece.

Product Specification
  • Blade Type:
  • Overall Length: 375mm
  • Edge Length: 245mm
  • Spine Heel: 4.15mm
  • Spine Mid: 2.15mm
  • Spine Tip (20mm before): 0.95mm
  • Blade Height: 62mm
  • Weight: 238g
  • Cutting Edge Steel:
  • Steel class: Carbon
  • HRC: 65
  • Blade Construction:
  • Blade Finish: Acid Etched (Forced Patina), Satin Polish
  • Grind:
  • Handle Construction:
  • Handle Materials: Stabilised Ebony, Bronze, Tasmanian Blackwood
  • Handedness: Ambidextrous

Blade type

Gyuto

牛刀

The gyuto is the Japanese interpretation of the western chef knife, and the most versatile blade in a modern kitchen. It carries a long edge, most often 210 to 270 mm, that runs flatter through the heel than its western counterpart before rising in a gentle, late curve to a fine point — a line that favours push- and pull-cutting while still allowing a rocking motion when the work calls for it. There is enough height at the heel to keep knuckles clear of the board, and the tip is fine enough for detail work, which is why most cooks reach for it first.

The flatter edge is the defining characteristic and the trade-off both. More of the blade lands on the board at once, which suits push cutting and gives clean, decisive contact through an ingredient, but a cook who works primarily by rocking will find less curve to work with than a western profile offers. Modern makers increasingly blur the line between the two, drawing a profile that rocks and push-cuts equally well — Birch & Bevel's Modern Gyuto profile, Antoine Kniamen's Western Gyuto, and Benjamin Kamon's own gyuto profile are all examples of that hybrid thinking.

View full knife type guide →

Cutting edge steel

Aogami Super

High-carbon tungsten-chromium-molybdenum steel

Typical HRC
63–66
Corrosion class
Carbon
Production
Conventional
Origin
Japan (Hitachi YSS / Proterial)

Aogami Super — Blue Super, in plain English — is the most heavily alloyed of Hitachi's blue-paper steels, and the one most associated with the long-edge-life end of the traditional Japanese kitchen knife world. Roughly 1.45 percent carbon, half a percent each of chromium and tungsten, plus molybdenum and vanadium additions, give it noticeably more carbide content than Aogami #2 or #1.

In a competent gyuto it typically lands at 63–65 HRC and holds an edge for an unusually long time for a non-powder steel. The trade-off, predictable from the chemistry, is that the larger carbides mean slightly more work at the stone and a slightly less smooth edge than Shirogami #1 at its peak. Most users do not notice; the ones who do tend to come from a finishing-stone tradition. Toughness is moderate — similar to or slightly below the white papers at the same hardness — and the steel will patina with normal use.

Aogami Super is the steel you reach for when you want a long-running edge from a maker who refuses to use powder metallurgy. It is widely used across the Sakai and Sanjō traditions and remains one of the most-asked-for Hitachi steels on the secondary market. Among the makers Modern Cooking carries, Neil Ayling, Konstantinos Noulis, and Jonas Johnsson work in Aogami Super. It is, in many ways, the canonical "blue paper" experience.

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Blade construction

Laminated Steel

A category covering knives built from multiple layers of different steels forge-welded together. The hard cutting steel is sandwiched between softer outer layers (cladding) that protect the core, add toughness, and often contribute visual contrast.

The most common laminated constructions in the Modern Cooking catalogue are:

SanMai (三枚) — three layers: hard cutting steel in the centre, softer cladding on both sides. The traditional and most common form.

GoMai (五枚) — five layers: a hard core, two intermediate layers, and two outer layers. Adds visual depth and structural complexity.

KuMai (九枚) — nine layers: similar logic, with more cladding layers for additional pattern and structural variation.

GoMai and KuMai are often chosen not only for the additional layers and visual depth, but also because the intermediate layers can act as a nickel diffusion barrier — limiting carbon migration out of the core into the cladding during forge welding, and protecting the core's intended carbon content through the heat of the forging process.

In all cases the cutting performance is determined by the core steel; the outer layers are cosmetic and structural. The lamination contributes corrosion protection (when a stainless jacket clads a carbon core), reduced reactivity, and the visible boundary between core and cladding that gives the knife its character.

View full construction guide →

Grind

Convex

A grind whose faces curve outward in a continuous arc rather than falling in a straight line. The practical consequence is that it has no shoulder — no abrupt step where a bevel meets the blade face. Food release improves for the same reason: a curved face touches the cut surface along a narrow band instead of a full flat plane, so slices break away rather than clinging. Drag behaves differently too. A convex blade carries more steel than a flat grind of the same spine thickness, so it is not the lowest-drag geometry available, but the resistance it does create builds smoothly through the cut instead of arriving all at once as the food meets a bevel transition. The feel is progressive rather than sudden.

The curve also supports the edge. Steel thickens quickly behind the apex, which raises edge stability at a given sharpening angle — the apex is less prone to rolling or chipping under lateral load. How much of that you get depends on where the convexity sits. A face can be curved the whole way from spine to edge, or the curve can be confined to the last millimetre or two as a convex "appleseed" edge on an otherwise flat blade. The first shapes how the knife moves through food; the second is felt almost entirely at the edge.

View full grind guide →

Handle construction

Hidden Tang

A construction in which the tang runs into the handle but stays concealed inside it, rather than showing between two scales. A narrower tang — a full-length stick or a shorter projection — is set into a drilled or burned channel in a one-piece handle and secured with adhesive, a friction fit, or a threaded fitting drawn up against the blade. This is the traditional construction of Japanese wa-handles and many European hidden-tang knives.

The design puts the handle material in charge of the look and feel: a single piece of wood, horn, or composite — often with a ferrule or spacers at the front — is shaped into any cross-section the maker wants, from the classic octagonal and D-shaped wa profiles to fully rounded Western forms. With no steel showing along the grip, the handle can be slim and light, and is frequently made to be removed and replaced, with the balance sitting toward the blade.

View full construction guide →

Shipping & Returns

Shipping

We process orders 5 days a week (Monday - Friday) and ship from our shop in Sydney, Australia. We ship with FedEx, UPS and DHL.

We are happy to offer free international shipping on a variety of orders depending on location and order value.

Free Shipping Regions and Minimum Order Values

For Australia and New Zealand the minimum is $500AUD. For the rest of the world it is approximately €1000EUR. The discount is applied automatically when you reach the minimum cart value at checkout.

Returns

If you're not entirely happy with your purchase, you can return it within 14 days of delivery for a refund. The item must be in its original condition with all original packaging.

  • Returns are accepted for 14 days
  • The customer is responsible for return shipping costs
  • A 15% restocking fee may be applied to change-of-mind returns
  • We do not accept returns on second-hand items for change of mind

Faulty or Damaged Items

You must notify us within 5 business days of receiving your order. Photographic evidence of damage is required. Once approved, Modern Cooking will cover return shipping costs.

Product Care

Cleaning: Clean by hand with warm water. Avoid wetting the handle when possible.

Sharpening: We advise using whetstones to sharpen your knives and a honing rod or steel to maintain the burr between sharpening sessions.

Reactive Steels: Reactive steels like Aogami Super, Apex Ultra or premium reactive German and Swedish steels are susceptible to rust if not properly cared for. Keep the knife dry between uses and when storing for longer periods, wiping the blade with Tsubaki oil or another food-safe oil is a wise choice. A patina can be a beautiful personal feature on your knife and helps to stop rust forming.

Handle Care: For non-stabilised wooden handles, apply Tsubaki oil or another food-safe oil from time to time. Food-safe wax can be applied to both stabilised and non-stabilised wooden handles. Never apply hot wax or oil as you risk warping or damaging the handle.

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