Does anyone know if there is a difference in the hardness or quality of the hagane in the Takamura Blazen versus a Takamura Suminagashi? Are the forging processes different? Visibly, they appear to be identical except for the damascus etching. However, the Chefsarmoury.com website quotes a HRC of 63 for the Blazen and 65 for the Suminagashi.
I own several Takamura Hana series knives (Suminagashi with octagonal handle) and they are great performers. I don't abuse them and haven't encountered chipping, so I'm just curious if there are intrinsic differences in the hagane. The Chefsarmoury.com site quotes a HRC of 62 for the Hana (octagonal). I have no idea where they got this information or whether it's accurate.
I own several Takamura Hana series knives (Suminagashi with octagonal handle) and they are great performers. I don't abuse them and haven't encountered chipping, so I'm just curious if there are intrinsic differences in the hagane. The Chefsarmoury.com site quotes a HRC of 62 for the Hana (octagonal). I have no idea where they got this information or whether it's accurate.