Kai Shun Kaji knifes painted with clear varnish?

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Dec 24, 2021
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I bought these knives in 2017 and have been very satisfied so far. Right from the start I had the assumption. I can hardly believe it!
Is it possible that these knives have been varnished with clear varnish? Please take a look at the video and the photos....

 
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I bought these knives in 2017 and have been very satisfied so far. Right from the start I had the assumption. I can hardly believe it!
Is it possible that these knives have been varnished with clear varnish? Please take a look at the video and the photos....unfortunately I'm not able to post it here :-(
OK...so how are we supposed to "take a look"?....lol
 
The Kai Shun Kaji knives are mirror polished (scratches, frictions and discolorations are highly visible). It's a San Mai blade (extra hard core of SG2, at 64 Hrc, exterior cladding of 32 layers of stainless steel). Your "varnish" could be a protection layer for storage (must clean away before use) but I doubt it. What may look like degradation of a varnish would rather be a discoloration of the hard edge and/or the exterior layers. Remember, no stainless steel is totally insensitive to corrosion. It is best to clean and dry stainless knives immediately after use (just like carbon steel blades). To load up pictures use an image hosting site. I use Imgur, it's quite simple and intuitive.
 
I looked really carefully at your video and pictures. What I see is wear and tear on the mirror polished finish. It is what it is. You can polish it back, of course, on a buffer wheel with jeweler's rouge. But is it worth the hassle ? If there ever was a varnish, you should be able to scratch it away with your fingernail in the places where it seems to flake off. After four years of use in the kitchen they look rather fine to me.
 
because I used it the first time and hoped for a useful hint...and here it is ;-)
See pictures here:
Thank you for the pics. Could you be good enough to point out exactly where you see this "varnish"?
Is it chipping?
Initially I thought you were referring to the handle, which would have been possible.
But I have never heard of any Japanese kitchen knife having a clear coating of varnish on the blade.
A coating of oil possibly for shipping purposes, but that's about it.
 
I looked really carefully at your video and pictures. What I see is wear and tear on the mirror polished finish. It is what it is. You can polish it back, of course, on a buffer wheel with jeweler's rouge. But is it worth the hassle ? If there ever was a varnish, you should be able to scratch it away with your fingernail in the places where it seems to flake off. After four years of use in the kitchen they look rather fine to me.

It is definitely a painting, but a very hard one. No chance with fingernails. I used a cleaning device for ceramic hob with a razor blade and I had to apply extreme pressure to remove a few millimeters. I was able to remove the clear coat from the slightly raised areas, see pictures.

I have also tried various solvents, such as nitro thinner or acetone. It did not dissolve.
Unfortunately the coating starts to yellow and looks like dirty.

I still wonder why the manufacturer makes such a hard coating on a stainless knife.
I'm afraid I'll have to live with it.
 
Thank you for the pics. Could you be good enough to point out exactly where you see this "varnish"?
Is it chipping?
Initially I thought you were referring to the handle, which would have been possible.
But I have never heard of any Japanese kitchen knife having a clear coating of varnish on the blade.
A coating of oil possibly for shipping purposes, but that's about it.
Yes, I thought so too at first, but unfortunately it is not so, see my answers and pictures below
 
I have a feeling you are peeling off the outer layer of "damascus". Keep in mind this is a layered blade. 32 layers of cladding makes for awfully thin layers. Why the outer one would peel off is a mystery to me and honestly, quite a concern. I use daily two Kai Shun Classic knives, they are great and I definitely love them. But this is a bit off putting. Anyways, I prefer plain, polished blades all the way.
 
Try any paint stripper from Home Depot or Ace. If this is a paint or clear coat of some sort, it will take it off in few minutes without affecting the metal. If it doesn’t dissolve it, your problem is most likely what herisson is describing.
‘Acetone will not necessarily work on specialty costs.
 
The Japanese do coat their carbon steel knives at the factory with a layer of BLO or shellac to protect the steel during shipment & storage. I have seen it on every carbon blade & tool I have purchasd here and in Japan.
It is very strange to see their stainless coated in the same way.

You should contact Shun @ Kai USA to ask them about this. And let us know what they say.
 
I have to agree, at this point anyway, that the outer layer of damascus might be peeling. OK, it shouldn't be peeling, but leaving that aside for a moment, I tend to think that "clear varnish coat" of some kind would have started peeling much sooner. I presume this knife has been in use for about 4 years, used and washed, used and washed. If I find anything further, like a similar report, will post.
 
From the pics posted (and especially the video) it seems pretty clear that there is a transparent layer on the blade that is peeling. There's no way that delaminating damascus would or could look like that. I think it would be pretty obvious if bits of steel were coming off the blade.
 
If there is a any paint type of coating, this will take it off and you won't have to guess if the metal underneath is damaged or not.
Home Depot $13. In my experience it won't harm the metal especially if it's stainless steel, I've use it to remove blade coatings. If leaves any stains, they are easily buffed.

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Just a thought - if you have access to a dissecting microscope, loupe, etc. you might be able to get a much better idea of what’s going on.
 
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