Kiritsuke • 150 mm • White #1 core • 3 layers, stainless clad • specially shaped handle of zelkova wood • for both left and right-handed use

Features of Isamitsu knives

Trained by Japan's best knife maker, specialized in stainless clad white #1, that must lead to something beautiful and it does. Pure and raw are the key words when looking at these knives. Imperfection is proof of craft. Isamitsu excels in forging and sharpening the cutting surface very thin, the handle differs in shape, but is simple in execution: pentagon handle of Japanese elm, from the garden of Isamitsu. How far back do you want to go to base?

White steel, also known as: Shirogami

This traditional steel is not named after its colour, but named after the colour of its paper wrapping, in which it is stored in the Hitachi steel factory in Japan. There are 3 grades of Shirogami white steel: #1,#2 & #3. From these 3, #1 contains the highest amount of carbon and #3 the lowest. Generally we say at our knifeshop, grade #1 can be made extremely sharp, but will be a little more fragile as #3. While #3 is a little softer, also easier to resharpen, but has less edge retention. Grade #1 & #2 is most common in white steels. White steel is a refined steel with a low percentage of iron, loved by many, as it is relatively easy to maintain. In practice it can be maintained with a whetstone and in a short amount of time it will become very sharp. This does not mean that these knives never have to be resharpened by a professional, even all knives in Japan need to be refurbished at a certain moment. This Shirogami steel is embraced by sushi chefs who demand extreme sharpness of their knives. White steel oxidates relatively quick and therefore needs to be maintained more often, but on the other hand you will get all benefits of this beautiful steel characteristics. 

Elwin de Veld about Isamitsu