Future of Shirogami?

[Koop]

Is it's demise much exaggerated?


I realize this is a sales pitch.

 

[Barmoley]

There are much better steels out there, but tradition and general lack of knowledge and interest about steels among normal consumers will make sure that it will be used for a long time. 1095 which is the same class of steels has been used forever and is still used today in all sorts of knives, folders, outdoor, kitchen, etc even though better steels exist.

 

[panda]

1095 is good stuff.
my current favorite is O1 which is also old steel.

 

[yoyoma]

I hope this doesn't lead to a price increase in Japanese knives. Prices seem to have been increasing rapidly over the last 10 years, and especially since COVID.

 

[Barmoley]

Prices mostly increased for reasons other than steel cost. Steel cost is only a small portion of the price of a knife so even doubling or tripling of the cost of steel would not dramatically increase the price of knives.

 

[Barmoley]

1095 is good stuff.
my current favorite is O1 which is also old steel.

Old is not bad and if 1095 or whatever works for your purpose and the knife works for you then it doesn’t matter what the steel is. Just because there are steels that have better attributes this doesn’t mean that the steel that works for you is all of a sudden bad.

 

[Koop]

I didn't mean to question the suitability of shirogami - I wonder if the demand for such a specialty steel will continue to support it's production.

 

[Corradobrit1]

Rumours of its demise, in fact a lot of specialist Hitachi steels, has been threatened for years. I'm sure wholesalers have supplies to last for many decades, even if production did stop.

 

[bsfsu]

A blacksmith I deal with in Japan, Junichi Ide, Yosimitu Kajiya, sent me some messages about the proposed demise of all "Yusagi" steels.

Also, a steel wholesaler came in December.
They told me that the price of steel will increase by 250%.
Now I have steel materials that I have bought in the past so the price will not increase immediately, but the price of knives will increase from January 2025 and the price of axes and machetes from July 2024.

The steel is made from Yasugi steel, which is made by a big company called 'Hitachi Metals', but the president of that company has changed and they were initially reluctant to produce steel for blacksmiths. The wholesalers' union, which distributes steel to blacksmiths, negotiated with the company to continue production, but they offered an unprecedented price increase... and the wholesalers' union had no choice but to accept it.

The price rises will continue as blacksmiths restock their steel supplies.

I was also talking to one of the Takefu Steel sale reps at a blade show last year and they are having difficulties with the supply of some steel.

 

[Corradobrit1]

A blacksmith I deal with in Japan, Junichi Ide, Yosimitu Kajiya, sent me some messages about the proposed demise of all "Yusagi" steels.

Also, a steel wholesaler came in December.
They told me that the price of steel will increase by 250%.
Now I have steel materials that I have bought in the past so the price will not increase immediately, but the price of knives will increase from January 2025 and the price of axes and machetes from July 2024.

The steel is made from Yasugi steel, which is made by a big company called 'Hitachi Metals', but the president of that company has changed and they were initially reluctant to produce steel for blacksmiths. The wholesalers' union, which distributes steel to blacksmiths, negotiated with the company to continue production, but they offered an unprecedented price increase... and the wholesalers' union had no choice but to accept it.

The price rises will continue as blacksmiths restock their steel supplies.

I was also talking to one of the Takefu Steel sale reps at a blade show last year and they are having difficulties with the supply of some steel.

This sort of stuff doesn't help with continuity
https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/threads/hitachi-to-sell-hitachi-metals.48788/#post-733101