Sword smith Yasha Yukawa knife

A knife from sword smith Yasha Yukawa. It looks like a tanto but for sure can be used as an all purpose knife.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QkRH5QfkgZxtNdkh1EWT5L44pZVGefYf?usp=sharing

The steel is Tamahagane as you can see the hamons and steel crystals. It looks much more beautiful in real. You can find this knife on his personal page: http://www.swordofinfinity.com/gallery.html

The blade length is 19 cm and the total length is 30 cm. The knife is well-balanced and you can warp the tang for handy.

Asking for $1500 plus shipping and PP fees.

$1500 shipped north America. This is single bevel knife. Owned this for half a year, never sharpened or used.

The most interessant knife I've seen on BST this year!
There is so much work, love and passion in the making of this object.

A year ago, I ordered the 300mm version of this knife with sakimaru tip in order to be close to a samourai sword.
Unfortunately Yasha Yukawa has been very busy and it seems the blade will be finished in a year minimum.

Without this order I would have taken this 190mm version.
What a chance to see such a knife here!

Interesting piece.. a few questions..

A. Is this a mono steel blade ( all hagane... as in honyaki kitchen knives)or san mai? As in swordmaking it is sanmai and the core is soft steel.

B. Is it more of a tanto blade?The tang is pretty large and ii suspect that the blade is more of tanto.

C. Wld appreciate clearer pictures as i wld expect tamahage to have the folding patterns as the iron ore made is from various pieces of smelted iron carefully chosen for the same iron content

Tks z

Z you can see some of the folding/welds in the first picture.

RDalman said:

Z you can see some of the folding/welds in the first picture.

Click to expand...

Yes.. I did see a little... and need clearer pictures.

As material used is tamahagage,i am hopeful to see sword making "steel art" on this blade as the craftsman is also a licensed swordmaker .

Its relevant to me as it does tell a story abt the forging and heat treat management

tks

zitangy said:

Interesting piece.. a few questions..

A. Is this a mono steel blade ( all hagane... as in honyaki kitchen knives)or san mai? As in swordmaking it is sanmai and the core is soft steel.

B. Is it more of a tanto blade?The tang is pretty large and ii suspect that the blade is more of tanto.

C. Wld appreciate clearer pictures as i wld expect tamahage to have the folding patterns as the iron ore made is from various pieces of smelted iron carefully chosen for the same iron content

Tks z

Click to expand...

Yes this is a mono steel blade like honyaki kitchen knives. As Yasha said, his san mai tanto (traditional way forged swords) would around 400,000 Yen, which is more than doubled to this one. So he agreed to forge me a mono steel tanto.

This is pretty much like a tanto with a few customization. The blade is single bevel so you can also use it as a yanagiba and there's only one hole at the end of tang.

I updated the photo and now you can see some details more clear. Not easy to capture the contrast though.

Thanks for the new pics. Am able to see more after i managed to zoom in.

beautiful blade! glws

nutmeg said:

The most interessant knife I've seen on BST this year!
There is so much work, love and passion in the making of this object.

A year ago, I ordered the 300mm version of this knife with sakimaru tip in order to be close to a samourai sword.
Unfortunately Yasha Yukawa has been very busy and it seems the blade will be finished in a year minimum.

Without this order I would have taken this 190mm version.
What a chance to see such a knife here!

Click to expand...

Very interesting project.. I am on the same quest here and after reading a few books and finally getting a few swords (went over board), the following is my realization...

a. Tamahagane will always have "damascus" like pattern. ON a Honyaki... at best.. pattern from steel banding...

b. Sword will have soft steel core as kitchen knife will have a hard core. Its the reverse

c. Only common thing is differential hardening. on Kitchen knife.. they only have to contend with outcome of simple hamon.. a 20 min work. On a sword...it have take 2 hours or a days work depending on the outcome desired and they have to contend on the outcome of clarity of patterns

d. Polish on sword.... serious work put into it. only one or honyaki (kitchen knives) polishers takes the trouble to polish the hamon... only thing that can be accentuated . ITs getting better. Most just give a kasumi style finish on the softer steel.... dull greyish look or just mirror shine

e. ON swords... a. the artistry is not only on the forging (steel quality) but also on the patterns on the blade face and hamon as opposed to the simple patterns ( straight or wavy (big or small)) where as on a sword... it varies depending on which school of sword making or a mix. The result is a testament of his skill on both fronts... complete mastery of steel ( in terms of making a good steel and artistic flair) and fire



It dawned upon me as to why Ashi-san's Honyaki is much sought after is that his i)Hamon is finer and ii)he takes the trouble to polish and give a nice contract by darkening it. The much sought after Konosuke (older version) i believe was made by him .


I have not given up...still looking for a smith that works with tamahagane and can work assure the hrc outcome ard 62. they cant assure me the that as the required number of foldings required to make it pure... knocks down the carbon content to 0,7 percent. Alternatively I may look for a smith that can do a traditional damascus with the correct steel combination and give it a differential hardening...

30cm and below is regarded as a tanto... and i do hope that you have specified yr curve...without affecting the curve at the cutting edge too much...

As always i stand to be corrected.....

Look forward to seeing the outcome...

Rgds Z

Thanks for your thought, Z.

Kitchen knife may have a hard core or no core like a honyaki knife. For sure making swords is much more demanding than kitchen knives, regarding on folding the steel, cladding and polishing etc. I am not sure about the Hrc of this one as Yasha didn't have the means to test it. All his tamahagane was hardened same way by using water, the steel crystals on the blade tells some mysteries of his hardening work.

Thanks L

$1400 shipped north America, international buyers will be covered up to $50 shipping cost.

$1300 shipped

Available?

Arthur Cury said:

Available?

Click to expand...

This thread is from 2018 and the seller hasn't logged in since November of 2018. Your probably better off sending a PM in the future than raising this post from the dead bringing it to the top of the BST list