Knives & Stones Sukenari ZDP-189 Gyuto now available at Knives and Stones

Hi KKF,

Finally received some Sukenari ZDP-189 blades, I think they look so cool that I have to get my own handles to it. ZDP-189 is arguably the most advanced PM steel from Hitachi, very similar to CORWY-X by Daido steel, with over 3% of Carbon, has some of the most insane edge retention.
All Sukenari ZDP-189 come with ebony handle, horn ferrule and with single silver nickel spacer. Also comes with a ho-wood saya.

There is also a special version as well.

You can find them here:
http://www.knivesandstones.com/sukenari/

Beautiful James!

Received a bunch of non-damascus blades. They are now available at the store.

http://www.knivesandstones.com/sukenari/

Are these prone to chip, and how difficult are they to sharpen?

There is some buzz going around because there was a thread where one chipped (after being dropped on pavement then cutting a parm wheel). Then there's a really cool restoration thread where the OP cuts thru a tin can and chicken bones without problems. I used to have one and kinda have sellers remorse. K&S prices are nicer too and they come with upgraded handles

Hey james I was wondering what does the kanji on the other (left) side of the zdp189 hairline knife mean? I noticed that alot of sukenari knives have these kanji on the left side of the knife, and then on the right sukenari kanji and usually steel type is stamped on. So what's on the left face?

HomeCook said:

Are these prone to chip, and how difficult are they to sharpen?

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being at hrc 66, is harder than most other steel, so when it does fail, it will chip rather than roll, but it is not "prone" to chip under normal use.

spoiledbroth said:

Hey james I was wondering what does the kanji on the other (left) side of the zdp189 hairline knife mean? I noticed that alot of sukenari knives have these kanji on the left side of the knife, and then on the right sukenari kanji and usually steel type is stamped on. So what's on the left face?

Click to expand...

they typically have two different words on the left side
火鍛:direct translate to "Fire Forged", I don't have an official answer but my understanding is that it is used with non-powdered steel, hand forged
超鋼: "Super Steel", when powdered steel (zdp189 etc) is used

pkjames said:

they typically have two different words on the left side
火鍛:direct translate to "Fire Forged", I don't have an official answer but my understanding is that it is used with non-powdered steel, hand forged
超鋼: "Super Steel", when powdered steel (zdp189 etc) is used

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Ah yes. Thank you very much

What about the general impression that they are 'hard to sharpen', James ? Do you feel that there's any truth to that ?

IMO they are not particularly hard to sharpen, very good fit and finish with middle ranged grinds, I wish they were a little thinner at the edge but that's not for everyone. As for the steel, better than a lot of the cheap zdp knives out there but not quite as good as Nenohi cowry x or Konosuke ZDP

Notice:

I made in mistake in the hairline's description. I originally said there will be a ho-wood saya included with all the ZDP189 hairline, it was an error in fact it does not (I didn't take a photo that show any saya as well). That said, all orders placed prior to this announcement WILL have a ho-wood saya included. AND for future orders, if you mention KKF when you ordering the hairline, you will get a FREE ho-wood saya.

Rdgs,
James

Any thoughts on how hard it would be to hand sand a ZDP blade? I'm not a huge fan of the machine finish lines, would like to do a satin/kasumi finish that goes horizontally.

I don't have experience in doing so but the vertical lines are very fine high grit belt grinding mark, considerably finer than say a regular Seki stamped knife.

isn't it a cladded knife...?

i was referencing to the fineness of the grinding mark, and yes it is a cladded knife, so should have no problem refinishing the blade. That said the grinding mark is so fine that I see no reason doing the refinishing straight out of the box. It is probably emphasized by the studio lighting.

J.

If the finish is the same as on the ginsan knives I'd agree with you there, if anything it's probably the sus405 (assuming the cladding is the same on ZDP hairline as well) that will give more issues with refinishing, plus it won't hold a mirror polish very long at all (soft ss cladding rarely does in my experience)

pkjames said:

they typically have two different words on the left side
火鍛:direct translate to "Fire Forged", I don't have an official answer but my understanding is that it is used with non-powdered steel, hand forged

Click to expand...

I asked my friend online if he knew the translation for this Kanji, this is what he told me (these are not the kanji on the left side of the ZDP-189 hairline knives):

The opposite side of blade has Kanji engraving “火造“ (Hidukuri)　which means it is “hammer forged” in Kanji.

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Mizuno says it's a final part of the heating process

6.sou-hidukuri
6. It is heated to make the final shape of the knife

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the sujihiki hairline calling me

That Sujihiki hairline looks pretty inviting to me also ;-) I have been window shopping for a 270mm Sujihiki for some time now.

spoiledbroth said:

I asked my friend online if he knew the translation for this Kanji, this is what he told me (these are not the kanji on the left side of the ZDP-189 hairline knives):

Click to expand...

You may be right, but they appear on other models:

火鍛 (fire-forged or hot-forged). Courtesy of JCK:

火造 (fire-made) is also on some.

James - Did the 270mm Hairline version of this Sukenari ZDP-189 Sujihiki already sell out?