Voted Best Answer
Aug 25, 2025 - 02:12 PM
The Minonokuni Matsu line are two steel, higane, shingane style construction. To be clear it is not wrapped or clad as you would see in a western style Japanese knife, but laid one on top of the other. The softer higane steel is used to build the thickness of the blade, while the harder shingane (blue steel in this case) forms the entire backside of the blade. A knife that is made entirely of the harder "blade" steel is called honyaki and are considerably more expensive. The benefit to a honyaki knife is mostly that they are harder and would be more difficult to bend or twist. While this is desirable, they are also much more difficult to hammer and shape, which is a large part of the increased expense. When you weld the two steels together and hammer the soft steel, it spreads and shapes the harder steel much more easily.
Add New Comment