kasumi brand, finish, but 3 layers ?

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Kelson

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Hi everyone,

kasumi is a well known japanese knives brand.
It is also, a polishing finish on the blade (hon kasumi, hongasumi...)
But i just read on wikipedia and on some vendors pages that it is also what is used to call 3 layers of steel.
Is wikipedia wrong on this or is it just me ?
 
I make no claims to be an expert on the subject, BUT, ill chime in anyway. I beleive the terms they're confusing with Kasumi are San Mai and/or warikomi, which refer to the method of sandwiching a hard core steel with softer outer layers of iron or steel.
 
Kasumi means "mist," It applies to knives when the softer jigane (soft iron) looks polished misty (without visible scratch patterns) next to the polished shiny hagane (hardened core steel). The terms warikome and san mai are sometimes used interchangeably however the construction is a bit different. In san mai it's literally 3 layers sandwiched together where warikome has the jigane wrapped around the hagane. Honkasumi refers to the highest grade kasumi construction. I believe this means extra care is taken during the forging or tempering or some other magical Japanese magic. I don't know what specifically is done differently though. Maybe Jon or someone else can chime in here.

Check out the glossary at Z knives

http://zknives.com/knives/kitchen/misc/jpnktknvterms.shtml#WARIKOMI

and this image

cladtypes.jpg
 
The brand is just confusing, forget about it. They just took the name. When we say kasumi here, we are meaning that the cutting edge is made from steel, while there is iron/mild/stainless steel forge-welded onto one or both sides. Kasumi finish is a finish that highlights the difference between the steel and iron, with the iron becoming matte or misty looking (diffusing light), and the steel taking a more reflective polish.
 
The Kasumi Brand of knives...

it is my opinion that it is a very decent knife.
1, comparatively speaking amongst all teh VG10 steel .. it takes some skill to sharpen it as I believe that it is really hard or that theres something in the steel that likes a fresh metal removal from the steel as the sharpness is more crisp with sharpening starting with a 400 grit stone; even a few strokes seems to do the trick and with to progression to whatever pleases you. Took me a while to realize this .

2. I also believe it is 16 layers per side.. damascus category

3. Minor issues with teh handle of whcih i can easily fix.. regular wasing/ oiling as the "wood handle" tends to shrink. Other than that it is a great knife . I wld take it over a Shun anytime. hey thats just me....

D
 
Honkasumi refers to the highest grade kasumi construction.
I'm still confused....
I understand that San Mai is the 3 layers construction, and that what i had in mind.
And kasumi refered to the look of steel on the jigane, but you seem to say that kasumi is also a construction...
 
kasumi is technically not a construction... we just call awase bocho kasumi because the knife-wholesalers in japan tend to use "kasumi" and "hon-kasumi" terms to describe their lines (in reference to quality). Technically, all clad knives are awase-bocho. There are san-mai and warikomi blades that are double bevel, and ni-mai blades that are single bevel. On the flip side, there are honyaki and zen-ko blades that are made from single pieces of steel.
 

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