• If you have bought, sold or gained information from our Classifieds, please donate to Kitchen Knife Forums and give back.

    You can become a Supporting Member which comes with a decal or just click here to donate.

WTB JNS charcoal quenched mazaki OR ku

Japanese Knives - by Tokushu Knife
Kitchen Knife Forums

Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Thanks for the offers so far. But looking for the aggressive tipped, almost KS profile version. With the chiseled kanji on the left and right sides.
 
I think he's referring to the way Kato allows the blade cool under a bed of charcoal chippings overnight (@5:35). I guess the idea is that steel absorbs carbon from the charcoal to make harder especially towards the edge
 
Last edited:
Corradobrit1 said:
I think he's referring the the way Kato allows the blade cool under a bed of charcoal chippings @5:35 here overnight. I guess the idea is that steel absorbs carbon from the charcoal to make harder especially towards the edge
Click to expand...

Wow, does it work that way (i.e. that steel can absorb carbon from charcoal?). 🤷🏼‍♂️
 
Corradobrit1 said:
I think he's referring to the way Kato allows the blade cool under a bed of charcoal chippings overnight (@5:35). I guess the idea is that steel absorbs carbon from the charcoal to make harder especially towards the edge
Click to expand...

What Kato is doing there is annealing to make the steel soft and remove stresses.
In order to raise carbon content in the surfaces one needs a fully sealed package and "baking" it very hot for a prolonged time. But that would be detrimental to a san mai forging as the carbon content will try to level out and the core steel would loose carbon to the cladding.
 
RDalman said:
What Kato is doing there is annealing to make the steel soft and remove stresses.
In order to raise carbon content in the surfaces one needs a fully sealed package and "baking" it very hot for a prolonged time. But that would be detrimental to a san mai forging as the carbon content will try to level out and the core steel would loose carbon to the cladding.
Click to expand...
Yes, that makes sense now. Especially following the video a little further Kato is beating on some pretty soft steel.
 
soigne_west said:
is it that much better?
Click to expand...
yes, or at least better than the other styles I’ve tried

every mazaki is different, and every retailer seems to have a different style. I can take pictures later but I do have this snap of the kanji on the left side. It says sumi yaki shiro ni.
213122F6-8A40-4199-95F4-F9372D59454C.jpeg
 
but in terms of steel can you tell a difference? IIRC the charcoal quenched ones had a true shinogi?
 
Ok guys can you enlighten me on this whole thing?

I mean I know some names are front for other makers, but here I'm quite lost.

Is it Mazaki or Kato that does it? How do you recognize the charcoal quenched ones? Where does Yoshihiro fits into this - a front to sell both the charcoal quenched and the normal heat treat?

Asking because Yoshihiro there's a lot of them on Amazon, and the price seems nice for the steel and package, so I was tempted. But each time I came here to try and solve this thing, I just don't know what I'm dealing with in the end.
 
ModRQC said:
Ok guys can you enlighten me on this whole thing?

I mean I know some names are front for other makers, but here I'm quite lost.

Is it Mazaki or Kato that does it? How do you recognize the charcoal quenched ones? Where does Yoshihiro fits into this - a front to sell both the charcoal quenched and the normal heat treat?

Asking because Yoshihiro there's a lot of them on Amazon, and the price seems nice for the steel and package, so I was tempted. But each time I came here to try and solve this thing, I just don't know what I'm dealing with in the end.
Click to expand...

Mazaki from the BBQ series are a bit more glassy on stone and a tiny bit more brittle if you Hit them hard on a chop board while cutting stuff (so my guess is that yes are different)
 
preizzo said:
Mazaki from the BBQ series are a bit more glassy on stone and a tiny bit more brittle if you Hit them hard on a chop board while cutting stuff (so my guess is that yes are different)
Click to expand...

Ok so all I need is to buy one and either sharpen it or bang it around...

And why are people talking about Kato if it's a Mazaki - and where does Yoshihiro fits in this, and how to differentiate them?

Pretty much the same questions left. :)
 
I wouldn't necessarily classify Mazaki as an apprentice of Kiyoshi Kato, more an intern. I believe he started with Yoshikane and I don't think he was with Kato-san long enough to fully master the Masters technique.
I'd be curious to know if there are any true Yoshiaki Fujiwara students. One question to be asked in that Kato interview.
 
Last edited:
Ok we're absolutely getting there...

How does Yoshihiro fits into this, and how can we recognize?

Another question would be, if a Yoshihiro isn't one of these, then who does it and what quality can one expect?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top