The region of Tsubame-Sanjo, in Niigata, is renowned for its metalworking industry: stainless cutlery, pots and pans, kitchen knives, carpentry tools, and almost anything else you can imagine. Only 10% of Japan’s manufacturing GDP comes from the steel industry, but in Sanjo, that number is over 50%! Toshihiro Wakui-san is one of many, MANY makers that comprise the metal industry in Sanjo, each with a unique story that makes up the greater manufacturing culture in the region. Born into a family of a crowbar makers, Wakui Bar Manufacturing, he is the 3rd generation of Wakui and has faced many challenges in his years as head of the family enterprise. This is the story of how he triumphed over seemingly insurmountable odds to provide us (and you!) with some truly spectacular kitchen knives.
Sanjo roads are world-renowned for being covered in rust, a fact we assumed was a tall tale until we saw it for ourselves! Legend has it this is the result of their massive steel industry, belching steel particles into the air, which settle on the pavement and oxidize. The actual culprit is more mundane: their snow-removal methods are entirely to blame. Many main roads are equipped with warm-water sprinklers that melt the snow on the road (an unthinkable solution in Canada), and the water contains a small amount of iron which rusts on the streets. On our recent trip to Japan, we were walking along these rusted roads when we suddenly heard the distinct “BANG BANG BANG” of a blacksmith forging steel. This unexpected noise was from Wakui-san’s workshop, located smack in the middle of a residential neighbourhood. We were immediately intrigued, as most makers have been pushed out of residential areas to industrial regions where noises like this are more tolerated.
I like when I turn up stuff like this on my content trawl.
KnifeNews
| EDC, Industry News / New Products, Production Knives
Attention knife nerd mycologists, today’s story is for you. Fox Knives has partnered with Riccardo Gobbato of Raven Knives to update their 408 mushroom knife, creating the Spora, a new take on this specialized format that lives up to the Fox reputation for handsome design.
If you’re not familiar with the time-honored mushroom knife format, it usually consists of three main elements: a curved blade, a serrated spine for removing spores, and a brush on the back end, good for further dusting off of your fungoid haul. The Spora checks all of these boxes. Its 2.56-inch hawkbill blade is ready for the specialized cutting needs of a mushroom picker, and it’s made from 12C27N steel, a fine stainless of the middle tier that will hold an edge and, perhaps just as importantly in this role, accomplish wet, dirty jobs without succumbing to rust. There’s a cutout on the blade for two-hand opening and extra control while using the spine serrations, and a thumb stud at the base for convenient one-hand flick opening.
I am not much of a fan of fungus, but were I a mushroom hunter, I would want the proper accoutrements.
No matter how experienced you are with blade maintenance, you’re going to have questions about the best angle for knife sharpening. What’s tricky is that the answer varies depending on how you intend to use the knife. In this article, the team at Red Label Abrasives goes into detail about which angle may be best for your particular knife and how you can get ideal sharpening results.
In terms of angle, we’re referring to the angle at which you hold your knife to the stone or abrasive during sharpening. It refers to the number of degrees that the bevel veers from the blade’s center.
A knife edge usually has two bevels, meaning there is a bevel on each side, although some knives have a single bevel. Single-beveled edges are useful for ultra-fine slicing, while dual-beveled edges are stronger and more durable.
Applying a 10 degree angle to a knife means sharpening each side at 10 degrees to create a 20-degree angle. However, there are some cases where the total angle doesn’t follow this ‘doubling’ formula: for example, traditional Japanese blades like Santoku Genten are single-beveled. If you’re not sure, check with the manufacturer. Should that not be possible, it’s usually safe to assume that the knife is double-beveled.
When choosing an angle, the most important consideration is how you intend to use the knife. Will you be slicing soft cuts of meat, cutting coarse vegetables, or carving wood? Other factors you want to take into account are…
Not a bad primer on the subject. Obviously they want to sell you some sanding belts. But they are providing value with the post.
KnifeNews
| Antique Knives & Collectables, Industry News / New Products
Last week a very rare piece of official Nintendo merchandise came to the attention of collectors online. This is the Super Mario World Knife, a kitchen knife emblazoned with Mario imagery, considered to be among the rarest pieces of Mario merch from its era.
Discussion of the SMW Knife took off last week after a tweet from Mario history/trivia account Supper Mario Broth, which cited a 2019 tweet from Tanooki Joe, a collector who runs the Video Game Art & Tidbits account. It was originally believed that the Super Mario Knife was never released – perhaps because of safety concerns – but, once the tweet started trending, collectors came forward and confirmed that it did indeed come out in Japan, although evidently not in very large numbers.
The SMW Knife is patterned after the Santoku, so it would make a good kitchen all-arounder, straddling the line between various larger and smaller, more specialized pieces of kitchen cutlery. We don’t know what the blade steel is, especially if we assume this came out around the Japanese release of Super Mario World in 1990. VG-10 is certainly an option, and it was our first, best guess.
I will stick with my Murray Carter for use. But I would love this in a collection.
Queen Cutlery History is a comprehensive, informative resource for anyone interested in Queen City Cutlery Company and its successor, Queen Cutlery Company. In addition the website features information on the related companies, Schatt & Morgan and the Dollar Knife Company. For the first time, knife collectors and historians have access to a knowledge bank of knife photos and descriptions, historical documents, catalogs and articles related to these legendary cornerstones of the American cutlery industry. Our only focus is on knives made in the USA.
In 2018, having produced high quality cutlery using traditional methods for 96 years, Queen Cutlery closed its doors for good. The curators of this website, David Clark, Linda and Fred Fisher and Bob Welch, had previously served as the Queen Cutlery Historical Committee and are now joined by Carl Bradshaw. We are supported in this effort by knowledgable Queen and Schatt & Morgan collectors from across the USA. The Daniels Family, last owners of the company have graciously donated all related historical documents from the old Queen website. We are grateful to Jan Carter, of iknifecollector.com for contributing the web domain.
I have been aware of this site as a work in progress. It is the first time I have visited in a while and it seemed worth sharing. The Queen and Queen City brands are now owned by Smoky Mountain Knife Works. They have begun to release the occasional knife to maintain the trademark.
What lies beyond the walls of the production knife world? What is something that simply cannot be done by Reate, WE, CKF, or Chris Reeve? The truthful answer is: “Not much.” But this, this is something that is beyond production. Its refinement, its precision, and its attention to detail are beyond what is done. I don’t think it is beyond what could be done, but is certainly beyond what could be done to scale or done profitably. Think of this as more of a tour to what you get when you step away from knives made en masse to knife making as craft. The Dino is an extraordinary piece from an extraordinary maker. And it is a reminder of why custom knives are worthwhile. Sit back and enjoy, this is one hell of a knife.
Here is Thys’s Home Page. Here is his IG account. He has no regular dealers, instead finishing knives one at a time, by hand, for one customer at a time. There is no product page. There are no other reviews, video or otherwise. Here is my review sample, purchased with a year’s savings of Space Bucks, and mine to keep until the heat death of the universe or until I pass away whichever happens first.
Hogue is breaking into a new knife category, releasing their first pair of hunting knives just in time for the fall. The Extrak and Expel are Hogue’s take on two classic hunting knife formats, filling very different roles indeed.
We feel comfortable calling the Extrak the headliner in Hogue’s new hunting lineup. It reads as a multi-function hunter’s companion, with a 3.3-inch clip point blade ready for the complex, delicate, but demanding duties of a hunting knife. Of course knife genre is a fluid thing and the Extrak, with its classic profile and extremely light carry weight of just 1.9 oz., will have appeal for anybody in the market for a general outdoors knife or even a mid-sized EDC fixed blade…
Meanwhile, the Expel fills a more niche role in the hunter’s inventory. Like the Gerber Vital or Kershaw Lonerock, this is a cutting implement with a replaceable stainless steel blade. The switch mechanism pulls double duty, holding the blade in place during use but functioning as an ejector when it’s time for a new one.
Scott Bruhns gave me an Extrak at Blade Show. Crazy slicey. And the M4 is holding up great.
The region of Tsubame-Sanjo, in Niigata, is renowned for its metalworking industry: stainless cutlery, pots and pans, kitchen knives, carpentry tools, and almost anything else you can imagine. Only 10% of Japan’s manufacturing GDP comes from the steel industry, but in Sanjo, that number is over 50%! Toshihiro Wakui-san is one of many, MANY makers that comprise the metal industry in Sanjo, each with a unique story that makes up the greater manufacturing culture in the region. Born into a family of a crowbar makers, Wakui Bar Manufacturing, he is the 3rd generation of Wakui and has faced many challenges in his years as head of the family enterprise. This is the story of how he triumphed over seemingly insurmountable odds to provide us (and you!) with some truly spectacular kitchen knives.
Attention knife nerd mycologists, today’s story is for you. Fox Knives has partnered with Riccardo Gobbato of 
No matter how experienced you are with blade maintenance, you’re going to have questions about the best angle for knife sharpening. What’s tricky is that the answer varies depending on how you intend to use the knife. In this article, the team at 
Last week a very rare piece of official Nintendo merchandise came to the attention of collectors online. This is the Super Mario World Knife, a kitchen knife emblazoned with Mario imagery, considered to be among the rarest pieces of Mario merch from its era.
Queen Cutlery History is a comprehensive, informative resource for anyone interested in Queen City Cutlery Company and its successor, Queen Cutlery Company. In addition the website features information on the related companies, Schatt & Morgan and the Dollar Knife Company. For the first time, knife collectors and historians have access to a knowledge bank of knife photos and descriptions, historical documents, catalogs and articles related to these legendary cornerstones of the American cutlery industry. Our only focus is on knives made in the USA.
What lies beyond the walls of the production knife world? What is something that simply cannot be done by Reate, WE, CKF, or Chris Reeve? The truthful answer is: “Not much.” But this, this is something that is beyond production. Its refinement, its precision, and its attention to detail are beyond what is done. I don’t think it is beyond what could be done, but is certainly beyond what could be done to scale or done profitably. Think of this as more of a tour to what you get when you step away from knives made en masse to knife making as craft. The Dino is an extraordinary piece from an extraordinary maker. And it is a reminder of why custom knives are worthwhile. Sit back and enjoy, this is one hell of a knife.
Hogue is breaking into a new knife category, releasing their first pair of hunting knives just in time for the fall. The Extrak and Expel are Hogue’s take on two classic hunting knife formats, filling very different roles indeed.
