Yuzan Gyuto 270mm

Shoichi Hashimoto began crafting edged tools as a young child, progressing year after year, experiment after experiment, until a full decade of formal damascus and knifemaking training began at the Faculty of Arts at Hiroshima City University in 2001. Since that time, Shoichi has dedicated his creative pursuits to these art forms, and this Yuzan Gyuto blade represents the apex of those efforts to this point. The blade features symmetrical, compound bevel geometry, shaped from a homemade formula consisting of four distinct sections made from three separate forge-welded patterns. The cladding on either side of the blade, made up of wide, light and dark bands, each containing many more layers of steel within, boasts a total of 1,648 layers per side. Sandwiched between the cladding in the upper section nearest the spine is a 75-layer twist of mild steel, affording the thickest part of the blade a less hard and therefore more forgiving component. Forming the hard edge, the core steel is made from 90 densely packed layers of White No.1, Blue No.1, White No.2, and Blue No.2 carbon alloys. Shoichi’s carefully controlled etch reveals each alloy in stunning detail; etching is, in the context of the visual art which is damascus steel, a key element of the finishing process and a technique which Shoichi has focused on for years. The geometry of the 270mm / 10.7″ gyuto profile is equal in caliber and refinement to the damascus it is shaped from. Very thin at a razor-sharp edge, the bevel geometry above will impress the most discerning chef. The spine, softened to the touch using a three-face faceted approach, tapers steadily and consistently from tang to tip, beginning at 3.6mm above the 55mm-high heel, to 2.6mm at the midpoint, and 1.3mm an inch from the tip, ending with a glass-thin cross-section in the final centimeter. Marked by Shoichi, the blade’s tang details the knife’s origins, including the pattern name (Yuzan means ‘Spirit’ or ‘Ghost,’ and ‘Mountain’), damascus billet number, the date of first polishing, and the quench date. This blade-only offering does not include a handle, leaving the selection process, including shape, length, and materials, up to the personal preferences of the blade’s new owner.