"Old Homestead" japanese stainless

Interesting find at the future in laws' place. I swear nothing in this house has been updated in 30+ years.

Old Homestead "Lifetime Cutlery Stainless Japan" gyuto, looks to be about 10.5". Relatively thin behind the edge with a somewhat wonky hollow grind that reminds me of some of the takeda choil shots I've seen, albeit thicker.

Sharpened it up and it actually cuts pretty darn well, all things considered. Prep is easy - profile is nice, good height, fairly blade heavy (tang extends full length but not entire height of handle). Reducing those shoulders would help with glide. Could definitely benefit from easing the choil and spine, which are pretty rough. And definitely needs a new handle.

Also, unsurprisingly, edge retention on a poly board has not been stellar. No chipping though, even with abusive garlic mincing.

But I actually kinda like this thing! Fun to use these old knives.

Be a fun project knife. I'd start by an aggressive thinning session, then test... She a little chubby behind that edge, could benefit from a little weight loss. I'd put a significant rounding to the spine. I've never done a handle and would likely farm that work out. Maybe slap a Ho on there.

A wa conversion might actually not be that difficult for someone who knows what they're doing, given the shape of the tang:



Would definitely like to thin just behind the edge on the right side (left side of choil shot) and then at the top of that hollow grind. We'll see if they'll let me muck with their precious cutlery

This was an American Co. that had Japan make the knives. They must have sold a lot of them in the US. The steel is pretty good would say on line with a Forschner. I repaired one that belonged to a students grandfather. The handle cleaned up quite well. They used several different woods for the handles.

Once I found that it cut food pretty good after sharpening, looked it up and found them dirt cheap on E-Bay. Ordered three 10" all were in good shape, one looked like it was never used. Fixed the handles look nice with large brass revits & some grain in the wood. Sharpened them & sold to students at cost all under 20.00

Shaped the front of wood scales for pinch grip and overall sanding couple coats of Tung oil & clear shellac mix after buffing handles looked good with bright revits. Thinned them at the shoulders with 60 grit 1X42 belt on my Kalamazoo sander. Rounded spine & choil.

The handle on yours will clean up well if it has any cracks in the wood can fill it with epoxy before you sand the handle.