Yoshikane Hamono 165mm Santoku SLD Damascus Kurouchi Burnt Chestnut Handle

Made for Hatsukokoro by Yoshikane in Sanjo Niigata.

Yoshikane's hand forged SLD semi-stainless core with Kurouchi finished suminagashi nickel stainless cladding and octagonal burnt chestnut handle.

SLD steel is a nearly stainless carbon steel at approx 11-12% chromium content (13% chromium in an alloy becomes stainless) SLD is sometimes referred to as 'semi stainless' as it rusts very slowly and has little to none reactivity with flavors.

These knives hold a keen edge for a long time, and work well at a finer finishes than some other treatments of SLD owing to their excellent forging and heat treatment. SLD was designed to be tough at high hardnesses for metal stamping and is great for knifemaking as it has larger secondary carbides that maintain a bitey feeling as the edge dulls. While these are hardened to 64 HRC Yoshikane’s SLD has a good degree of toughness and are still very easy to sharpen. The smooth buttery feeling on sharpening stones that characterizes Yoshikane’s heat treatments are definitely in effect on this series. Being ground with a wide, kiriba primary bevel, they also allow for easy thinning down the road, especially as Yoshikane kireba grinds are especially flat.

The core of this knife is 'semi-stainless' and has a certain degree of rust resistance, but as it is not completely stainless, it should be dried immediately after use. The core will develop a patina with use, but any orange rust should be removed with a light abrasive.

Yoshikane is headed by Kazuomi Yamamoto the fourth generation to operate this family run forging and grinding operation in Sanjo, Niigata which has been making kitchen knives since 1919. They deserve their good reputation for excellent forging and heat treatments, which make for easy sharpening and great edge life for both single and double bevel knives. This is especially true about the thin grinds provided on their double bevel knives. For middleweight Japanese knives, they cut like a much thinner blade.