SADAYASU Yanagiba 270mm Namitetsu / White II Steel Blade Knife with Quince / water buffalo octagonal shaped handle
Namitetsu (waving steel) or Rentets (wrought iron) or Kamaji is very soft iron that contains 0.1% of carbon , and they are steel that used to use more than 100 years ago, and they are derived from European countries or America. Probably, a few cooking knife makers in Japan using it except for Japanese plane makers. Of course, no one sells the steel material unless we find it from over 100 years old scrap. Those steels had been made similar way as Japanese Tamahagane in European countries or U.S.A. By the way, Jigane part of Tamahagane (lower carbon of the steel) is called Watetsu or Hocho Tetsu in Japanese. Watetsu is used for Jigane, but it is also very rare material and it needs lots of extra work to be Jigane like Namitetsu. Namitetsu Jigane itself is great Jigane for Japanese plane, but little too soft for knife Jigane, and it gets cracks very often.
As I mentioned above, Namitetsu itself shows waving marks like Damascus, and it is very nice and beautiful. It is natural beauty not like nickel Damascus. When we use it for cutlery, it comes out little darker or black spots or small ding like crater and some people do not like it, but it expresses the unique face to each cutlery, so many people love it unless the spots bother the cutlery function. It is almost impossible to remove everything, but little bit of them are no problem, and they are identical scar, so they are very nice like this Yanagiba has.
It just moles on our faces or bodies. It might make it look ugly, but sometimes, it becomes our charm point.
Anyway, most great thing about Namitetsu is easier to sharpening on whetstone, and faster to sharpen the hard steel blade edge, and absorbing shock or impact on the blade edge.
At first, to get over 100 years old hardware, and find out high quality iron whether or not. To hold over so many times, and then to make it shape of iron plate. Getting rid of not homogeneity potions such as, large size of black spots, ding like crater or swell portion. Those portions will get bigger scars, when it becomes cutlery product. If the portion comes by forge welding line, it might be big problem like peeling off or crack or big scar. The original iron is 100 years old iron product such as rail from old rail road or old anchor or old chain or old ship steam, etc., so we do not know exactly what it is. Sometimes, it can’t use it whole iron plate that forged and hold over so many times, or we might be able to use 50%. We do not know until done the process.
SADAYASU Mr. Masaaki Kobayashi is born in 1949, and the second generations of blacksmith. His father was apprenticed to a farmer equipment blacksmith, and he had made forged farmer equipments, but the time had changed, and farmer equipments are harder to sell in Tokyo, so he started making plant cutting scissors, and cooking knife. His son, Mr. Masaaki Kobayashi was apprenticed to his father after graduated high school (he was already help his father’s business before graduated high school). When he was 48 years old, he took over his father business. He should be around 60 years old (I never asked about it so, it is not sure).
Sadayasu knife has some special features, such as: Using just pine charcoal for forging process the same as Japanese sword smith does the traditional way. Pine charcoal is easier to get high heat quickly, and less unwanted chemical in forging process to make trouble to cutlery in the process. He mentions what if we have to stop using pine charcoal, we will quit blacksmith. His father always told him that if you stop using pine charcoal for forging process, you should quit blacksmith, and do not change my way has showed you the traditional way.
The length of the blade: (10 1/2”, 270mm) The total length of the knife: ( 16 3/4”,425mm) Knife weight is 8.7oz. The heel portion of the spine width is (4.5mm, 3/16”) wide.
The width from the spine to the heel: 37mm Handle: quince (Karin) and water buffalor (octagonal shape)