Any ideas on this knife?
- Thread starter Frank H
- Start date
Frank H
TVWBB Gold Member
it really does. Carbon steel so it sharpens easily . I found this knife at the dump in a bunch of stuff that was being tossed. Seemed too good to just let it go so I took it home and it's been in the knife drawer forever. I thought maybe someone might recognize the writing on the blade....you can see how thick the blade is in this shot. You don't see steel like that every day!
It's a Japanese Deba knife. Intended for carving up a fish. Thick blade for cutting bones, chopping fish heads off, boning, etc. Don't tell the Japanese, but I also find my Deba useful for cutting a whole breast off the Thanksgiving turkey before I turn to more of a slicing knife to cut thin slices.
I can't tell from the photos whether it's a high end version or not. They make the same style knives everywhere from household low price to incredibly expensive. I doubt that it's one of the high end knives. They would not say "MADE IN JAPAN" in English. That is probably a lower price export model. Probably a little bit stainless since it's not covered in rust.
Two things.
Note the different appearance of the steel at the cutting edge. These knives are made by sandwiching a very hard brittle cutting steel with a softer steel top layer (the side with the writing). These two different steels are forged together. What you see in the wavy line near the cutting edge is the point where the two steels join. This gives you the durability (not breaking) of a softer steel and the edge holding of a hard brittle steel.
These are also single bevel knives. American knives are sharpened on both sides to a V. The traditional Japanese knives are only sharpened on one side. The back of the knive is more or less flat (it's actually slightly concave) and the angle is ground into the front side (the side with the writing). Makes for an incredibly sharp knife that cuts thin very well -- although this particular knife is not made for thin cuts so much.
I have found the best way to sharpen them is to do duplicate the main angle on the front, but then do a secondary mini bevel at the very edge for touchups.
The knives rust like crazy, have to be wiped after every use. They are typically hard and brittle, easy to chip. Not a knife that will take a lot of abuse. Properly sharpened, they will cut your finger off. I never let my wife or daughter near mine.
Here's a little primer:
http://korin.com/Learn/About-Japanese-Knives
I can't tell from the photos whether it's a high end version or not. They make the same style knives everywhere from household low price to incredibly expensive. I doubt that it's one of the high end knives. They would not say "MADE IN JAPAN" in English. That is probably a lower price export model. Probably a little bit stainless since it's not covered in rust.
Two things.
Note the different appearance of the steel at the cutting edge. These knives are made by sandwiching a very hard brittle cutting steel with a softer steel top layer (the side with the writing). These two different steels are forged together. What you see in the wavy line near the cutting edge is the point where the two steels join. This gives you the durability (not breaking) of a softer steel and the edge holding of a hard brittle steel.
These are also single bevel knives. American knives are sharpened on both sides to a V. The traditional Japanese knives are only sharpened on one side. The back of the knive is more or less flat (it's actually slightly concave) and the angle is ground into the front side (the side with the writing). Makes for an incredibly sharp knife that cuts thin very well -- although this particular knife is not made for thin cuts so much.
I have found the best way to sharpen them is to do duplicate the main angle on the front, but then do a secondary mini bevel at the very edge for touchups.
The knives rust like crazy, have to be wiped after every use. They are typically hard and brittle, easy to chip. Not a knife that will take a lot of abuse. Properly sharpened, they will cut your finger off. I never let my wife or daughter near mine.
Here's a little primer:
http://korin.com/Learn/About-Japanese-Knives
Frank H
TVWBB Gold Member
Wow. Thanks , Harold. This is exactly what I was looking for. I have used this knife as a cleaver on occasion as it is really heavy , I also haven't been sharpening it properly. I had noticed that it was only ground on one side and at first I was using a whetstone to keep it that way , but I got lazy and started using my V shaped hand sharpener....shame on me. but I'll have to start treating it a little better from now on.. Thanks again.