Who makes the best honyaki?

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labor of love said:
This Konosuke YS(also Yoshikane) I’m using has a nice thin tip. It could glide through potatoes with ease I’m sure
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So if I understand you correctly, Yoshikane makes some knives for Konosuke? Are all Konosuke YS knives made by Yoshikane?

(Also, is there some compendium of all these acronyms that I commonly see around here? FM, FT, YS, SLD, etc)

By the way, does anyone have anything to say about Aritsugu as a maker?
 
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My Yoshikane gyutos - Black Damascus, Konosuke YS, and K&S White 2 stainless clad (top to bottom). Piotr Knife stand from @Sharpknifeshop
 
sleepy said:
So if I understand you correctly, Yoshikane makes some knives for Konosuke? Are all Konosuke YS knives made by Yoshikane?

(Also, is there some compendium of all these acronyms that I commonly see around here? FM, FT, YS, SLD, etc)

By the way, does anyone have anything to say about Aritsugu as a maker?
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The Konosuke YS is made by Yoshikane.
 
even i have a yoshikane. so its a well known and used brand here imo.
 
tgfencer said:
The SLD dammy isnt just pretty. Every Yoshikane I’ve tried has been excellent for the price point, including the damascus.
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I see that I just haven't been around enough to notice. Thank you all for recommending his knives to me, I'll definitely have to take a closer look.

Edit: oh also, SLD is just the type of steel, right?
 
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so what do you REALLY want?

a honyaki or a damascus knife?

a damascus knife that is being used a lot will need to be refinished with acids and sandpapers at least. like once a year. and you need to try out which acis gives the same finish you want. it could also be a blend of acids. or a series of them.

a honyaki will only show its hamon after polishing with certain stones. and this will disappear if you scrub it down to keep it silvery and non rusty looking.

using a green scrubby sponge on a japanese faux damascus knife will remove the color of the damascus. it only takes 30 seconds to ruin it completely.

so pick you poison. its not gonna be easy to keep it maintained no matter what you choose. just so you know.
 
inferno said:
so what do you REALLY want?

a honyaki or a damascus knife?

a damascus knife that is being used a lot will need to be refinished with acids and sandpapers at least. like once a year. and you need to try out which acis gives the same finish you want. it could also be a blend of acids. or a series of them.

a honyaki will only show its hamon after polishing with certain stones. and this will disappear if you scrub it down to keep it silvery and non rusty looking.

using a green scrubby sponge on a japanese faux damascus knife will remove the color of the damascus. it only takes 30 seconds to ruin it completely.

so pick you poison. its not gonna be easy to keep it maintained no matter what you choose. just so you know.
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Hmm yeah, that's true. I hope the process of maintaining them will also be something I enjoy, though. It seems almost meditative, in a way.
 
it probably is. unless you have 10 of them..

just wanted to inform you how it is to own and actually use these types of knives.

i have made a few knives myself but making them honyakis never crossed my mind. since its just too much hazzle.

i mean with "monosteel" aka same hardness all over you only need to scrub or stone or sandpaper them to get an even finish. done. 2 minutes.
but with honyakis there is much more to it. i need at least a good set of synths and then some tried and proven j-nats to keep up the visible hamon of the honyakis. f that sh1t. if i want to see the hamon that is.

i have heard that in japan they dont give a f. they just scrub the knives to keep them shiny. honyaki or not.

with damascus you run into the disappearing damascus problem. damscus for me is a 100% showpiece. not a user. since even if you are super careful you will sooner or later scratch the damascus just by sharpening it.
or if you dont scratch it and never thin it you will just keep moving the edge upwards, making the knife cut worse with every sharpening.

personally i woulkd just get some cool hammered clad or hammered black kuroushi knife. or a stainless kurosaki or similar. they only need 1% as much attention. or get a honyaki but then forget about the hamon and just use it. and keep it looking fresh. but that kinda defeats the purpose of the honyaki now.
 
if i wanted something mono carbon with high maintainence i would probably buy a misono or masamoto from jck. no need to worry about the hamon since there is none. put some nice scales on there made out of megalodon teeth with rhenium liners or something, timascus bolster, using carbon nanotube pins and call it a day.

then get 3 good stone to keep it sharp. shapton glass most likely.
 
African Blackwood, Turquoise spacer, Black Horn goes better with a well patina mono carbon blade:D
 
but its less "exotic"

the whole idea with honyaki is to provide something (that seems) exotic and hard to get. imo

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i make knives myself and i can easily harden **** to 65hrc. i just temper lower. wow... that does not make things "better" though. and i would not expect any complete blade failures by doing 65 hrc, like a blade cracking in 2. but it makes everything 370% chippier and keeps an edge like 50% longer than 60hrc. so whats the point?? its 2019 now, not 1922...

today i made/glued up a handle for my 62-65 hrc (no one really knows) 15n20 krösa-maja santoku. it got stuck in the handle. this is a g10 handle so i milled it at work. but the blade did not want to come out. i had to bang it out. and it fell edge first on the floor.

what happened? it bent.. but not at the tip. the bend was 3mm behind the edge. now if i were to try this with my only white2 knife, clad in iron to boot (hinoura). it would chip something fierce. or i might even have a total blade snap/crack. technology. its like magic for stupid people.

i'd say most of this honyaki BS is simply just that. BS. get a kippington or dalman and be done. they at least use good/suitable steel for it. and HT it properly. imo that is.
 
Oh thought we were talking non Honyaki mono carbons. To each their own on handles. More is not always better. Have seen Honyaki handles almost as long as the blade with lots of materials & spacers. Not my cup of tea.
 
Barmoley said:
It is definitely good, but how good I don't yet know, need to test more. My standard is @Kippington workpony honyaki that has amazing food release. I am not sure what is wrong with that knife there are two possibilities, ether it has some special Australian nanocoating that has matter repealing properties or kipp dosed the handle in some sort of hallucinogen that makes me think it has great food release.



I think when he says 50/50 he means the edge was sharpened 50/50 but the grind can be anything.
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They're quenched in vegemite
 
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