13/07/2025
K-tip gyuto knife
One of my first experiments with a shallow hardenable steel, which might produce wild and bautiful hamon lines in the blade, if heated and quenched properly.
The hamon is created through a process of partial hardening, and it's shape is depending not only on the character of the steel used, but on the way the maker heats up the blade, on how rapidly and in what medium it is quenched. Some steels are so sensitive that even a breeze in the workshop, hitting the blade while taking it from the forge, might affect the final form.
Essentially, the hamon is a visual representation of how heat was distributed within the blade’s volume at the very moment of quenching. A moment in time petrified, if you will. However, chasing beautiful hamon patterns can be risky and often ends with a cracked or broken blade.
Blade construction: monosteel knife – CSN 19191 (W1 equivalent), partially hardened
Handle: wallnut, oil-stained for an ombré effect and finished with tung oil
Blade length: 17 cm
Blade width: 42 mm
Total lenght: 29,5 cm
