Stefan's For Sale - Sakai Takayuki Takohiki

[Dave Martell]

We've got a handyman's special here folks!

First off - this knife has no handle. I'm not sure of the story for this but obviously the stock handle just wasn't good enough for the Handlemeister and had to go.

It appears to have been sharpened at some point and used lightly. It has rust (mostly) located on the blade road (bevel) with some edge nicks along the length but there is also a spot of rust on the ura side as well.

This knife is priced way below market value since it needs some sweat equity to bring it back to life. If you can sharpen single bevel knives well (meaning you can handle a repair) then this would be a decent pick up, especially if you could find a cheap handle...or maybe even make one yourself.

I believe that this is a mid-level takohiki - not great - but not a cheap model either.



Stats:
Model - Takohiki

Size - 300mm (cutting edge length) - might have been sold as a 330mm (in fact the box has a sticker on it that says this)

Steel - ?

Handle - None

Condition - The blade has some decent rust on it, fortunately most is located on the blade road (bevel) so it can be sharpened away...eventually. The edge cuts pretty clean in both push and pull cut directions but has some edge nicks that need to be addressed. See pictures below for details.

Packaging - Factory Box

Shipping Costs/Etc. - Included in the price for USA buyers only. International buyers will pay an additional $45 fee. *Note - Custom declaration forms will have the actual price paid listed on the forms for insurance purposes.

Price - $110

Payment Types - Paypal & Venmo
PM for payment details.

 

[Dave Martell]

This knife is SPF!

 

[ian]

That’s probably good for my mental well being. Phew.

 

[Dave Martell]

Sorry folks, forgot to label this one as SOLD

 

[tripleq]

This is an older model from Sakai Takayuki's 'Tokujou' line from when Kenji Togashi was at the helm. 330mm in white steel. Restoration was fairly long as the rust on each surface had to be removed before the use of various abrasives to approximate the original finish. In order to re-grind the backside I calculated the circumference of the original grinding wheel and constructed a partial section using wood and sheet metal which I was able to glue sandpaper to. This way I was able to remove the rust pitting while respecting the original geometry. I tried several stones for the final kasumi before settling on a mystery uchigumori.

I thought Stefan would have gone in the direction of an interesting piece of Koa and blonde horn so that's what I did. Handle construction was by jobone (Joe Morrone/Sugi cutlery). Joe was great to work with. He turned out a solid and attractive handle quite quickly.

The end result is a nicely balanced knife that is easy to get scary sharp and cuts like a champ. It was definitely worth the effort.

 

[Mlan]

Are you able to post a pic of the jig you made to regrind the ura?

 

[jsph]

beautiful knife and beautiful work restoring it. somewhere, somebody's smiling.

 

[toddnmd]

Nice project! Very interesting piece of koa! That definitely does justice to the history of this blade.

 

[Lurkernomore]

One year too late but that’s a doi keijiro one...

 

[Lurkernomore]

Wrong thread maybe?

The left one says Hon Kiyotsuna. I looked it up and there are some available at auctions, made by some firm called Hayashi kougyou. Looks kinda defunct.

I still think the tako is a Keijiro, he did the tokujo ones until the end. It’s also his betsuarae stamp.

Btw the lost usuba was definitely a keijiro. Keijiro usuba are still around though, don’t sweat it.