Thread: Knives

I don't recognise the makers mark, but they aren't Masamoto or Masahiro. That only leaves a few dozen possible makers The long one is a Yanagiba, the square one looks like a Usuba and the last one is a Deba.

I'm sure someone who actually knows what they're talking about will be along soon...

Sorry, I can't help with the maker's mark either, but looks like you have a head start on most people starting off with their first Japanese knives.

Agree with NZStu on the knife types.

If they have tended to rust then they probably have a White steel (I or II) cutting edge and a soft iron cladding. That's a good sign of a quality steel edge, but as you have found already it will mean more care and maintenance.

Once you have cleaned up the cladding to your satisfaction, lacquer it to keep it from corroding again.

The Japanese use camellia oil (but any kitchen oil will do) on the bevel to keep that from corroding between sharpenings. Just thoroughly clean off any oil before sharpening to avoid polluting the waterstone.

As mentioned by someone in another thread, minimise how much you sharpen the back of the deba. It's made in the same way as Japanese chisels and plane blades, where the back is unclad hard steel and comes with a hollow up to the edge so that you only need to flat hone the very edge to remove the back burr. Try to avoid creating a bevel on this side of the blade.

I will be interested to know how these knives perform.

Originally Posted by NeilS

As mentioned by someone in another thread, minimise how much you sharpen the back of the deba. It's made in the same way as Japanese chisels and plane blades, where the back is unclad hard steel and comes with a hollow up to the edge so that you only need to flat hone the very edge to remove the back burr. Try to avoid creating a bevel on this side of the blade.

The same goes for the Yanagiba - just lay the back of the blade flat on the stone and polish away.