Honoki Tamahagane Chef 181mm

Bringing together the many elements of artist Emiliano Carrillo’s training, from ground-up steel smelting using raw ingredients and ancient techniques, to meticulous water quenching during the hardening process, and final design and assembly based on his intimate knowledge of historical reproductions, is this 181mm / 7.1″ gyuto in house-made tamahagane steel. The process began with Emiliano collecting black sand iron, a form of magnetite, from the earth, combining it with heat and charcoal in a large furnace made of clay, peat moss, and sand, and using the resulting tamahagane steel to forge the blade. Before the final blade shaping however, the steel was folded 12 times to create 12,288 total layers, a process which helps remove impurities and homogenize the carbon content of the raw bloom. A sharp, hard, workhorse edge below polished, symmetrical convex bevels, a sturdy, stiff, and rounded blade spine, and damascus-like visual pattern, the hallmark of this type of homemade steel, are some of the characteristics of the resulting blade. In traditional Japanese style, the handle, in D-shape profile for right-handed chefs, is carved from honoki, a straight grain magnolia from Japan often used to mount swords, with a ferrule of buffalo horn. Were the handle to be removed for maintenance in the future, the artist’s marks would be revealed on the blade’s tang.