The Raw Ingredients
Our knives start their journey as raw iron and steel. Our blades are hand forged from only the finest steel. Third, fourth, and fifth generation sword and knife blacksmiths meticulously hammer and shape the steel, grind and sharpen the blades, then they are heat treated and polished, resulting in the hardest and sharpest blade possible. These extremely talented blacksmiths provide us with blades that are amazing, and, truly one of a kind. We are honored to work with them.
Fit And Finish
My process begins when I'm holding a new blade. I like to feel it's weight and size and consider which wood density and weight would seem appropriate for the blade, asking myself what would be most comfortable if you were using it all day? Then I consider the aesthetics of the material to be paired with the blade. I select from many different types of hardwood, including exotic, local fruit and deciduous, to reclaiming wood from old furnishings. Every piece produced is unique and has a story, beginning often, long before us.
Japanese Kitchen Knife FAQs
About Single-edged and Double-edged Knives
The single-edged knife was particularly created for Japanese cuisine as a sashimi knife and a pointed carver knife, among others. The sliced food easily slides away from the knife; the food's cross-section is beautifully cut; and the food is also characterized by a pleasant mouth-feel. While the angle wherein the blade hits the food is more acute resulting in a sharp cut compared to a double-edged knife, a single-edged knife has the disadvantage of splintering more easily.
Double-edged knives are sharpened at almost the same angle on both the front (50 degrees) and reverse (50 degrees) sides. Food is sliced straight, and these knives cut evenly on both sides so they can be used by both right-handed and left-handed people.
*Western-style kitchen knives (gyuto, slicers, santoku, petty knives, etc.) are double-edged.
*We also have double-edged knives that are slightly angled for right-handed people.
About Honyaki Knives and Sanmai Kasumi Knives *ibuki blades are almost Sanmai type knife.
A honyaki knife is a kitchen knife made from one sheet of steel. Knives that are not honyaki and are generally available on the market that are called "Sanmai" knives have cutting blades that combine hard steel and soft iron as their base material. Kasumi knives are easy to handle, easy to sharpen and are affordable compared to honyaki knives. As a disadvantage, single-edged Japanese kitchen knives curve slightly after many years of use. A curved knife may break if undue pressure is placed on it so we recommend having it repaired in a knife specialty store.
Honyaki knives are harder and are equipped with a durability that allows them to cut for a long time. The uniquely beautiful pattern on a honyaki blade is appealing, and is also reminiscent of a Japanese sword. The blade will not curve after many years of use, but on the other hand, it splinters easily and requires advanced sharpening skills because it is very hard. Moreover, honyaki knives are expensive because the manufacturing process is very time-consuming, and only highly-skilled craftsman can make these knives.
Urasuki” (curved shape)
Knives are structured in various ways but with regard to Japanese knives which are single-edged, their rear parts are formed to have slightly curved surfaces called “urasuki.” The curved surface reduces frictional resistance when cutting ingredients so that they would not easily stick to the knife, and it also creates sharpness.
In addition, urasuki is created by a craftsman because during re-sharpening of the rear surface, the parts that hit the whetstone become small surfaces therefore the knife can be sharpened for just a few number of times, facilitating the knife’s maintenance.
What does it say on the carved seal blade?
The Japanese character mark of backside blade means blade material.
As we can't tell the difference non mark, we attached it making process.
ibuki white 2 steel, AUS-8,ZA-18, HAP40 non edged models: non mark
ibuki blue 2 steel model: 青鋼
ibuki Aogami super model: 青紙スーパー
ibuki silver 3 steel model: 銀紙3号
ibuki vg-10 model: V金ゴールド
Daisuke model: 大祐, black smith name
Muneishi model: 宗石, black smith name
Shokei Funaki model: 祥啓, black smith name
Kurotori model: 黒鳥, black smith name
limited model：息吹, our brand name is ibuki
another words: 鍛造, forged by hand work
About blade material
Points to note for kitchen knives: The forged high glade HRC especially "Blue 1-2, white 1 " of Japanese steels are very sharpness and hardness, however these hard core materials are liable to easily be broken and chipped, please be careful. Not recommend to use it for frozen foods, hards foods and use it on the hard material cutting boads.
- Blue Steel - Aogami
Blue Steel is the highest quality steel material produced by our supplier Hitachi Metals. The characteristics of this steel are its high edge retention and durability. Knives made from this material are commonly used in restaurants such as Sushi Restaurants, where there is a need to continuously slice Sashimi, since the steel retains its edge the chefs are able to produce beautifully prepared Sashimi all day long.
- White Steel - Shirogami
White Steel is the next highest steel material after Blue Steel and has good edge retention, and is easy to sharpen.
For those uncertain which steel type is best, we think you should buy white steel as you should not have any problems.
- Yellow Steel - Kigami
Kigami Steel is the highest steel material as same as Shirogami has good edge retention, and is easy to sharpen.Carbon steel with minimum impurities. High hardness over HRC 60.
- Silver-3 steel - Gingami / Ginsan stainless steel
This is a high grade stainless steel. The image of most rust resistant knives is that they have a poor edge compare to knives which are susceptible to rust, however, the characteristic of this metal is that is rust resistant and also has a good edge. This is currently the most popular steel type.
- VG-10 -
VG-10 – The name stands for V Gold 10 (V金ゴールド 10号）. Made up of Carbon: .95 – 1.05%, Vanadium: .10 - .30%, Chromium: 14.50 – 15.50%, Molybdenum: .90 – 1.20%, Cobalt: 1.30 – 1.50%, Manganese: .50%, Phosphorus: .03% This is one of the most popular stainless steels among-st Japanese knife makers. It has good edge retention and is very wear and corrosion resistant.
- HAP 40 steel -
Hitachi metal tools manufactures HAP40 steel and it contains abundant amounts of hard elements like W (Tungsten), Mo(molybdenum), V(Vanadium) & Co(Cobalt) We heat treated this steel for optimal performance at 65 HRC and you will find this steel will hold its edge an amazingly long time.
- AUS 8 -
AUS 8 molybdenum vanadium stainless steel is made by Aichi steel which is one of the most famous steel company in Japan. These Inox steel is used by various Japanese famous knife maker GLOBAL, Sakai, Seki, and world wide.
- ZA18 steel -
Made up of Carbon: .95 – 1.2%, Vanadium: 0.10 - .25%, Chromium: 17.0 – 18.0%, Molybdenum: 1.0 – 1.50%, Cobalt: 1.80%, Manganese: 1.0%, Phosphorus: .04% This results in slightly better corrosion-resistance and durability than VG-10.
- Molybdenum Steel -
This is the most commonly used steal for rust resistant knives. Since this metal is highly rust resistant we suggest this type to those who do not like their knives rusting.
- Sweden BOHLER-UDDEHOLM Special alloy steel -
The Uddeholm company manufactures the steel used in the Grand Chef Knife series from Sakai Takayuki knife. Established in 1670 in the Munkfors district, Sweden, Uddeholm has a history of more than 1300 years. In the field of precision rolled steel products, the company leads the world. Since quality iron ore excavated from company mines contains an extremely low amount of phosphorus and sulfur, the special steel is reputed to be of the finest in the world. The Grand Chef Knife series products use the special Swedish steel manufactured by Uddeholm and offer exceptional sharpness and abrasion and corrosion resistance for many years of service.