Zweber12
Shig Lord
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2015
- Messages
- 529
- Reaction score
- 411
It has been a pretty amazing last 4 days, as Thursday I received a 270mm Kitaeji Yanagiba from Tokyo, then a day later I picked up a 40 year old NOS Kitaeji from Maksim at the Gathering. As I already owned a 270mm Kasumi, I figured I do a little side-by-side for the forum to enjoy.
To start off with a group photo: from top to bottom: Kasumi, Kitaeji, Kitaeji (NOS). As this will be a lengthy post and for simplicity reasons, I will refer to the Kitaeji from Maksims as NOS and the more recent Kitaeji from Tokyo as New.
And a few individual yanagiba shots:
Kasumi:
New:
NOS:
Kanji Close-ups
A few overview shots of the Kanji on the knives. There are variations in the length of the Kanji as well, if measure from top to bottom:
Kasumi: 34mm
New: 39mm
NOS: 45mm
In all three cases, the first two individual kanji are stamped, with most detailed in those two on the NOS.
Kasumi:
New:
NOS:
More detailed images of the Kanji:
Kasumi:
New:
NOS:
Could not help myself, had to test the limits of my Nikon 110mm Marco lens. Even the individual hammer marks creating the engravings are clearly visible, as well as the bulging of the steel around the indentations. Interestingly, the Kanji on the NOS appears a lot rougher compared to the New and, yes, those specks are dust marks.
New:
NOS:
Kitaeji Pattterns
I do recall one KKF thread on Shigs patterns, stating that newer Kitaeji Shigs have patterns that are grouped by three lines, whereas the NOS stock does not, or at least a lesser extend. This is pretty much confirmed and indeed clearly visible (see New on left of the two images).The does NOS have a similar pattern, yet tighter grouped. The two clear, visual difference between the knives are that the lines on the NOS appear straighter compared to a mere wavy pattern on the New. The other difference is the number of lines, I counted 22 on the NOS and 18 on the New.
Coils
A side by side of the three coils; FLTR: Kasumi, New, NOS. Notes to self, need to improve my coil shot resizing, not switch angulations during shots and color management.
Price
With some digging you can figure out the actual prices, though in terms of ratio (Kasumi, New, NOS), this was 1/1.78/2.10.
Measurements
I believe most of you are interested in the stats of the knives, hereby (FLTR: Kasumi, New, NOS)
General
Weight (gr) 151 137 185
Overall Length (mm) 414 412 415
The Handle
Length 139 140 139
Width 23.9 23.9 24.6
The Blades
Handle to Tip Length 275 274 275
Heel to Tip Length 258 258 260
Blade Height at Heel 31.9 29.8 33.5
Width of Spine
At The Handle 5.4 4.6 5.7
Above The Heel 4.2 3.8 4.7
At The Middle 2.9 2.7 3.3
1cm From The Tip 1.3 1.3 1.2
Cross Section, measured halfway
At Spine 2.9 2.7 3.3
2cm from edge 2.7 2.3 3.0
1cm from edge 2.2 2.0 2.3
0.5cm from edge 1.3 0.9 0.9
Ill let you guys draw conclusions from these stats.
General
If you have any request of additional photos, info etc, just ask and I will get around to post this. Hope you enjoyed the read and images!
To start off with a group photo: from top to bottom: Kasumi, Kitaeji, Kitaeji (NOS). As this will be a lengthy post and for simplicity reasons, I will refer to the Kitaeji from Maksims as NOS and the more recent Kitaeji from Tokyo as New.
And a few individual yanagiba shots:
Kasumi:
New:
NOS:
Kanji Close-ups
A few overview shots of the Kanji on the knives. There are variations in the length of the Kanji as well, if measure from top to bottom:
Kasumi: 34mm
New: 39mm
NOS: 45mm
In all three cases, the first two individual kanji are stamped, with most detailed in those two on the NOS.
Kasumi:
New:
NOS:
More detailed images of the Kanji:
Kasumi:
New:
NOS:
Could not help myself, had to test the limits of my Nikon 110mm Marco lens. Even the individual hammer marks creating the engravings are clearly visible, as well as the bulging of the steel around the indentations. Interestingly, the Kanji on the NOS appears a lot rougher compared to the New and, yes, those specks are dust marks.
New:
NOS:
Kitaeji Pattterns
I do recall one KKF thread on Shigs patterns, stating that newer Kitaeji Shigs have patterns that are grouped by three lines, whereas the NOS stock does not, or at least a lesser extend. This is pretty much confirmed and indeed clearly visible (see New on left of the two images).The does NOS have a similar pattern, yet tighter grouped. The two clear, visual difference between the knives are that the lines on the NOS appear straighter compared to a mere wavy pattern on the New. The other difference is the number of lines, I counted 22 on the NOS and 18 on the New.
Coils
A side by side of the three coils; FLTR: Kasumi, New, NOS. Notes to self, need to improve my coil shot resizing, not switch angulations during shots and color management.
Price
With some digging you can figure out the actual prices, though in terms of ratio (Kasumi, New, NOS), this was 1/1.78/2.10.
Measurements
I believe most of you are interested in the stats of the knives, hereby (FLTR: Kasumi, New, NOS)
General
Weight (gr) 151 137 185
Overall Length (mm) 414 412 415
The Handle
Length 139 140 139
Width 23.9 23.9 24.6
The Blades
Handle to Tip Length 275 274 275
Heel to Tip Length 258 258 260
Blade Height at Heel 31.9 29.8 33.5
Width of Spine
At The Handle 5.4 4.6 5.7
Above The Heel 4.2 3.8 4.7
At The Middle 2.9 2.7 3.3
1cm From The Tip 1.3 1.3 1.2
Cross Section, measured halfway
At Spine 2.9 2.7 3.3
2cm from edge 2.7 2.3 3.0
1cm from edge 2.2 2.0 2.3
0.5cm from edge 1.3 0.9 0.9
Ill let you guys draw conclusions from these stats.
General
If you have any request of additional photos, info etc, just ask and I will get around to post this. Hope you enjoyed the read and images!
