SAK-13013
If you already have a good stainless steel santoku or chef's knife but have been curious about a real "carbon steel" knife, this is for you! It's a superb example of a knife made with a high end carbon steel, so it is VERY sharp, it keeps this sharp edge a long time, and it resharpens more easily than most stainless steels. The handle and blade are beautiful, well made, and expertly finished, with excellent overall fit and finish. A GREAT knife in a nice pro or serious-home-user length. But remember, this is a high carbon steel knife, NOT stainless, which means you need to keep it dry and stored in a dry place to keep it from rusting. Wash by hand, wipe, dry and store after use. It is made from the high-end Hitachi Yasugi-works Blue-2 steel which is a very pure high carbon steel with added chromium and tungsten for increased toughness and durability (making it somewhat less fragile than the "white" steels for example). This steel is also called Aogami or Ao-Ko II in Japanese. Hardness is at least HRC 60. This knife is sharpened mostly on the right hand side and so is not suitable for left-hand use. I recommend the fine ceramic hone listed below for regular everyday maintenance.
You read that correctly. It's been 10 years, perhaps more - 11, or 12 years since I bought this knife and it's smaller 6 inch sibling from Paul. And in that time, these two knives have been my go-to cutting implements in the kitchen. And I have not been kind to them. They have spent more time out of the drawer than in. I treat them like the tools they are - except that I do hand wash them, and keep them out of the dishwasher. They are stained -- lemon juice will do that to non-stainless carbon steel, and the handles do show a few marks from over a decade of chopping, slicing and dicing, but the handles still gleam, and they keep an edge like nothing I have owned before - Henckels and Wustoffs included. I have had dalliances with other knives -- ceramic blades for example, but they're all gone now, and I've always come back to these two. I take them to the stone every month or so, and hone them with a giant 12inch honing steel that I also bought from Paul. They are trustworthy, resilient old kitchen friends now. I'm glad I stumbled on to Paul's website 10 or 12 years ago, and I'm glad I bought these two knives.
I'll be back in 10 more years for the 20-year anniversary review. 21
what more to say its great the finish is nice , it slices it dices its a knife ") its sharp
