Higonokami types...

KenHash said:
OK. The only Higos I've seen that are unmarked as to Steel type are SK5. Both Shirogami and Aogami are
usually marked.
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That's good to know. As I stated, I know about zero-to-nothing about Higo knives. I bought a couple of each (*"small" and "mini") because I'm a pretty regular Duluth/"Best Made" customer.

Here's the thing, man...and I can't say for sure...however, I woulda' bet my life's savings that, when I bought 'em, the "small" was showing as SK5 and the "mini" as Aogami No. 2. Now, it appears that it's the other way around on their Site. I don't trust my alcoholic wet brain (*memory) enough to dispute that, and it may've been the case all along.

Anyhow, your post had me digging through storage boxes. I looked at all of them, and found no markings on any of the blades. Could that be a proprietary/production agreement between Duluth and the Maker? (*The knife boxes are marked "Handcrafted in Japan", and I can't imagine Duluth setting themselves, and their reputation, up for any harsh scrutiny/damage)
 
Alone said:
That's good to know. As I stated, I know about zero-to-nothing about Higo knives. I bought a couple of each (*"small" and "mini") because I'm a pretty regular Duluth/"Best Made" customer.

Here's the thing, man...and I can't say for sure...however, I woulda' bet my life's savings that, when I bought 'em, the "small" was showing as SK5 and the "mini" as Aogami No. 2. Now, it appears that it's the other way around on their Site. I don't trust my alcoholic wet brain (*memory) enough to dispute that, and it may've been the case all along.

Anyhow, your post had me digging through storage boxes. I looked at all of them, and found no markings on any of the blades. Could that be a proprietary/production agreement between Duluth and the Maker? (*The knife boxes are marked "Handcrafted in Japan", and I can't imagine Duluth setting themselves, and their reputation, up for any harsh scrutiny/damage)
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Thanks. I looked through the Duluth Trading/Best Made site and I believe you are right, they contract with makers in Japan and dictate what is put on,, including the "Best Made" mark.
Looking at the photos I am certain these Higos are contracted in Miki City, which is where the Higonokami originated.
Although unmarked, the website shows a "Mini Brass Higo" blade length 1.6" using SK5 and the larger "Small Brass Higo" blade length 2" using Aogami No.2.
It looks to me like this vendor is acquiring and offering the real deal, as their Japanese cooking knives are contracted in Sanjo, and they even have them stamp "Best Made" in Japanese on
the blade.
 
KenHash said:
Thanks. I looked through the Duluth Trading/Best Made site and I believe you are right, they contract with makers in Japan and dictate what is put on,, including the "Best Made" mark.
Looking at the photos I am certain these Higos are contracted in Miki City, which is where the Higonokami originated.
Although unmarked, the website shows a "Mini Brass Higo" blade length 1.6" using SK5 and the larger "Small Brass Higo" blade length 2" using Aogami No.2.
It looks to me like this vendor is acquiring and offering the real deal, as their Japanese cooking knives are contracted in Sanjo, and they even have them stamp "Best Made" in Japanese on
the blade.
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Dude. This post ^^^ makes me super happy that I'm registered on this Site. Thanks for the post...and the knowledge.

If you want, I'll pull a sample of each "virgin" knife (*"small" and "mini") from the boxes and snap a pic or two. Admittedly, I screwed-up the aesthetics of the knife I posted by trying to put too acute of an edge on it. (*with the diamond rods of a Spyderco Sharpmaker) The blade is still perfectly functional but is marred pretty bad.



*Not to go on-&-on about Duluth's "Best Made" line, but, from my experience(s), it seems that they contract with reputable Makers to try to offer a lot of genuine/"premier"/"Old World" stuff to the modern consumer. The Higos I bought really have an "old school/hand crafted" feel to them. I also (*pretty regularly) use quite a bit of their enamel ware, which is crafted in Poland, and can honestly say that it's the bomb. I thought I'd missed-out on their "Stono Knife" offering, but it appears that it's available again. If I can keep from depleting my knife budget every month, I see one of those in my future.
 
Hashishiin said:
I am thinking about getting a Japanese knife set
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Hey I meant to comment on this last week but forgot…

Just wanted to say that you should consider buying your kitchen knives individually rather than as a set.

As you keep going down the rabbit hole you might find your tastes will keep changing and you might want to try different styles/makers…
 
I sharpened up my xl blue laminated higonokami......its a straight razor with no effort at all,splits hair with ease.Wasnt expecting blue paper steel to be this easy to sharpen and take this kind of scary edge so easily.Sk 5 version is also razor sharp,but blue paper steel is even easier to get to this kind of edge.
 
scdub said:
Hey I meant to comment on this last week but forgot…

Just wanted to say that you should consider buying your kitchen knives individually rather than as a set.

As you keep going down the rabbit hole you might find your tastes will keep changing and you might want to try different styles/makers…
Click to expand...
This is definitely wise. I will be attacking it this way for sure, as opposed to blowing a large portion of the knife-money on a set that may or may not be what I am looking for. Thanks for the heads-up, good idea.
 
My wife and I each have what is documented as a Kotobuki Higo no Kami with Aogami Super Blue Steel. They both slice extremely well, but I don't use mine because the steel rusts so badly. Out of the box, both knives had a 10 degree (20 degrees inclusive) bevel, but I reprofiled hers to 15 degrees because of rust and pitting. Now she keeps it in a plastic bag with packets of silica gel.
 
Another Shepherd said:
My wife and I each have what is documented as a Kotobuki Higo no Kami with Aogami Super Blue Steel. They both slice extremely well, but I don't use mine because the steel rusts so badly. Out of the box, both knives had a 10 degree (20 degrees inclusive) bevel, but I reprofiled hers to 15 degrees because of rust and pitting. Now she keeps it in a plastic bag with packets of silica gel.
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Would you have a photo of these knives? The writing on the handle part.
 
Another Shepherd said:
View attachment 1927861
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Thanks. I was wondering if Kotobuki was some Higo brand I hadn;t heard of. But from the photo I see that it is the store/dealer/importer.
The Higonokami itself is a Nagao KANEKOMA, their trade mark being the character Koma 駒 placed in a corner. You can see the handle inscription
is identical to my big 3.75 inch blade Aogami Kanekoma below.

e3lTIF.jpg
 
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KenHash said:
Thanks. I was wondering if Kotobuki was some Higo brand I hadn;t heard of. But from the photo I see that it is the store/dealer/importer.
The Higonokami itself is a Nagao KANEKOMA, their trade mark being the character Koma 駒 placed in a corner. You can see the handle inscription
is identical to my big 3.75 inch blade Aogami Kanekoma below.

e3lTIF.jpg
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Thanks for the information!
 
lonestar1979 said:
Does anyone know what is their laminated sk5 laminated with?I see some are plain sk5,some lam sk5,others laminated blue or white paper steel.Have the one with blue paper laminate on order too.
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Laminated layer are made of very low carbon steel , might as well be pure iron, in general. The HRC is said to be bellow 45-50. The letters on the blade is about the technique they used to make said blade along with the material "Warikomi", or partial sandwiching. The one without the letters on the blade are mono steel, or full steel. The full steel version is easily found on Canadian sites.

I hear that the advantage of partial sandwiching is that it allow the edge steel to be push harder and the surround stabilize it from being brittle. Therefore only the SK steel has full steel.

I have my example here, laminated sandwich. It is pretty much the same from the member above, though I'm sure that's mine is SK steel. I purchased mine through ebay, from a retailer from Japan among other things. They told me that the local retailers have plastic sleeves instead of boxes for the baseline model, while the big exported sell is down to whatever the deal are.
IMG_20220912_214249.jpg
 
Just placed an ordred for Kanekoma VG-10 higonokami. As much as I like Japanese paper steels I thought VG-10 would be more practical for daily use (I have experienced micro chipping with ceramic stones with paper steels and read that this is common with the steel type). I also liked the decorated washer that this "higher end" model has. I'm interested to see if the VG-10 version has stouter handle than some of the "sheet metal-ish" ones I've had before. I can post some pics and thoughts to this thread later if you like.
 
A.L. said:
Just placed an ordred for Kanekoma VG-10 higonokami. As much as I like Japanese paper steels I thought VG-10 would be more practical for daily use (I have experienced micro chipping with ceramic stones with paper steels and read that this is common with the steel type). I also liked the decorated washer that this "higher end" model has. I'm interested to see if the VG-10 version has stouter handle than some of the "sheet metal-ish" ones I've had before. I can post some pics and thoughts to this thread later if you like.
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Yea, please post pics when you get it! I love these things.
 
A.L. said:
Just placed an ordred for Kanekoma VG-10 higonokami. As much as I like Japanese paper steels I thought VG-10 would be more practical for daily use (I have experienced micro chipping with ceramic stones with paper steels and read that this is common with the steel type). I also liked the decorated washer that this "higher end" model has. I'm interested to see if the VG-10 version has stouter handle than some of the "sheet metal-ish" ones I've had before. I can post some pics and thoughts to this thread later if you like.
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Umm...I've never had "micro chipping with ceramic stones" on Shirogami or Aogami. And I've sharpened quite a few J-cooking knives. Curious where you got this info. Sounds to me like somethig I'd hear from the Natural Stones crowd.
As for a VG10 Higo, Ichiro Hattori offers one and the entire build is on a level above the Kanekomas.
W2QCW7.jpg



KqeIFv.jpg
 
KenHash said:
Umm...I've never had "micro chipping with ceramic stones" on Shirogami or Aogami. And I've sharpened quite a few J-cooking knives. Curious where you got this info. Sounds to me like somethig I'd hear from the Natural Stones crowd.
As for a VG10 Higo, Ichiro Hattori offers one and the entire build is on a level above the Kanekomas.
W2QCW7.jpg



KqeIFv.jpg
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Well. I have kiridashi (can’t remember the brand) that sharpens beautifully with ceramic… sho who knows.

I think I googled something like ”higonokami chipping when sharpening” or something like that.
 
I sharpened mine thats plain sk5,with dmt diamond,and also sharpmaker,they both split hairs easily,especially blue paper steel one.No problem with chipping at all,i just use light strokes,they resharpen in few swipes on sharpmaker or dmt
 
Sorry for posting late but I caught the China flu and could not care less for posting last week. I really like the VG-10 version. Very solid handle, seems like steel. It is still Hihonokami so not that "high end" but definitely nicer than the basic models. I made a sheath for it and leather insert so you can close it worry free but I think I will put to santa's sock for my brother who is Japanophile.
2czY6EB.jpg
2A0tT8w.jpg
 
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