Gihei 165mm Nakiri ZDP189 Keyaki Handle

Gihei 165mm Nakiri. ZDP189 stainless powder steel blade. Keyaki (Zelkova) wood octagon handle with buffalo horn ferrule. HRC 65.

149grams 155mm cutting edge, 48mm wide at heel, 306mm overall length

Gihei knives are forged and hand ground in Tsubame Sanjo, Niigata at their small family business. Gihei works with some old style steels like shirogami and aogami and also works with new alloys such as ZDP-189.

ZDP-189 is a tungsten powder steel made by Hitachi with a very high carbon content 3% (!) and a high chromium content; 20%. It can be made very very hard without becoming brittle but Gihei brings this steel to around 65 HRC (it can be hardened to 67...) which leaves their knives with a both good hardness and good sharpen-ability. It holds an edge very nicely and cuts well as it dulls, we were very impressed with this series during our trials.

Handle is Japanese keyaki / zelkova wood, a beautiful densely grained wood often used for fine woodworking. It has a great grip wet and wears nicely.

Brand: Gihei
Smith:
Producing Area:  Tsubame Sanjo, Niigata
Profile: Nakiri
Size: 165mm
Blade Type: Semi-Stainless Steel
Steel Type:  ZDP-189
Handle:  Keyaki Wood w/ Buffalo Horn Ferrule
Total Length: 308mm
Handle Length: 127mm
Handle to Tip Length: 178mm
Blade Height: 47mm
Edge Length: 155mm
Thickness: 2.4mm
Weight: 139.9g
Hand Orientation: Ambidextrous