I just ran across this guy's work and was completely blown away by most of it: Kiku Matsuda. His work looks beautiful, exotic, and for the most part extremely dangerous. Does anyone else care for this style?
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Kikuo Matsuda
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black mamba
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His work is incredibly stylish and fully functional at the same time. I saw his knives at the BLADE show in Atlanta this past June, but just could not pull the trigger as I was hunting a custom traditional slipjoint at the time.
Here is the man, himself
Here is the man, himself
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I've bought quite a few models from JapaneseKnifeDirect.com. For the most part they are very functional/beautiful blades that come extremely sharp. However, a potential first time buyer should be aware that, in my opinion, they are users and not meant to be "safe queens" or "babied". The use of the kydex sheaths will leave marks on the blade over time. Fit and finish, though more than adequate, is not like a Chris Reeve, since Kiku does everything by hand. I think one of the things I like most about Kiku's knives is the convex blade grind....very easy to get razor sharp just by stropping.
black mamba
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Does anyone have an opinion on the OU-31 steel? Is it worth the premium over the D2?
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I heard that OU-31 is a japanese high speed steel
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I predict that Japanese makers who wear robes at shows outsell Japanese makers who don't by 35%.
Thoughts?
Thoughts?
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I have two of his knives .... I picked up this one and later a smaller blade to partner it ....
This has a 10 inch blade and is called the Daruma ... it came with a convex hamaguri-ba grind and was very sharp .... my knives are all users and here are a few pic's of my taking it out to compare it with some Busse's I have .... the Bushwacker Mistress Limited Edition and a Basic 11 .... the BWM LE has a convex edge and sabre grind .... the Basic 11 has an asymetrical edge and flat grind ....
I put it through it's paces chopping and batoning wood .... comparing it with these knives ....
I added a thinner Bushwacker Mistress which came painted and which I stripped and fully convexed .... this model came flat ground and is thinner stock at .187 .... the reason I brought this one out was that I felt the hamaguri-ba grind on the Kiku knife was a bit thick behind the edge .... sort of more pear drop convex than a thinner appleseed shape which I find works best .... you can tell this with your eye and how the blade works if you use them enough .... so despite the lovely acid etch finish I decided to thin the grind down ....
I marked off the area I wanted to remove and using a belt sander and some good belts I did the job slowly and avoiding heat build up in the blade ....
Here is a picture of the finished result with the smaller Kozuka utility knife ....
Whilst I regret losing the etching .... it would have been eroded over time and use .... it now looks more of a "user" but more importantly for me it is now razor sharp and performs perhaps the best of my large 10 inch blades ...
It will shave arm hair so you don't feel them being cut .... and at a Rc hardness of Rc62 is well able to retain the edge for a long time ....
In comparison Infi at Rc 58 needs stropping more frequently to retain the edge but both don't dull much when used on chopping wood .... however used on game and butchering carcasses for the Deer Larder the Kiku Matsuda knife is noticeable for it's longer edge retention.
OU31 steel is why I bought these knives .... to try the steel out and to give me something of a higher Rc hardness for a large knife which I was interested in working with ...
Kiku Matsuda is perhaps the best living free hand grinder of blades .... he can create blades with complex hollow and convex and flat grinds all combined .... his skills as a grinder were acknowledged when after years of doing all the custom high end folders for William Henry he was asked to do a collaboration knife with SOG which won best of show at Blade 2007. His Hamaguru-ba grind though is perhaps more influenced by the fighting aspect of his designs and like some Japanese swords the thickness behind the shoulder of the edge must be there for potential blade on blade "contact" .... in any event the knife as it is now .... is much better at the tasks I use my knives for .... and those are primarily field and camp work and hunting and butchering game ....
The smaller Kozuka works fine as is .... the edge I touched up to the same level as the larger blade and for finer carving or working inside a carcass it excels .... again it is the edge holding quality I notice the most and it to is at a high Rc62 setting. This knife has a thin flat grind and very much is my preference for a knife from the off.
This has a 10 inch blade and is called the Daruma ... it came with a convex hamaguri-ba grind and was very sharp .... my knives are all users and here are a few pic's of my taking it out to compare it with some Busse's I have .... the Bushwacker Mistress Limited Edition and a Basic 11 .... the BWM LE has a convex edge and sabre grind .... the Basic 11 has an asymetrical edge and flat grind ....
I put it through it's paces chopping and batoning wood .... comparing it with these knives ....
I added a thinner Bushwacker Mistress which came painted and which I stripped and fully convexed .... this model came flat ground and is thinner stock at .187 .... the reason I brought this one out was that I felt the hamaguri-ba grind on the Kiku knife was a bit thick behind the edge .... sort of more pear drop convex than a thinner appleseed shape which I find works best .... you can tell this with your eye and how the blade works if you use them enough .... so despite the lovely acid etch finish I decided to thin the grind down ....
I marked off the area I wanted to remove and using a belt sander and some good belts I did the job slowly and avoiding heat build up in the blade ....
Here is a picture of the finished result with the smaller Kozuka utility knife ....
Whilst I regret losing the etching .... it would have been eroded over time and use .... it now looks more of a "user" but more importantly for me it is now razor sharp and performs perhaps the best of my large 10 inch blades ...
It will shave arm hair so you don't feel them being cut .... and at a Rc hardness of Rc62 is well able to retain the edge for a long time ....
In comparison Infi at Rc 58 needs stropping more frequently to retain the edge but both don't dull much when used on chopping wood .... however used on game and butchering carcasses for the Deer Larder the Kiku Matsuda knife is noticeable for it's longer edge retention.
OU31 steel is why I bought these knives .... to try the steel out and to give me something of a higher Rc hardness for a large knife which I was interested in working with ...
Kiku Matsuda is perhaps the best living free hand grinder of blades .... he can create blades with complex hollow and convex and flat grinds all combined .... his skills as a grinder were acknowledged when after years of doing all the custom high end folders for William Henry he was asked to do a collaboration knife with SOG which won best of show at Blade 2007. His Hamaguru-ba grind though is perhaps more influenced by the fighting aspect of his designs and like some Japanese swords the thickness behind the shoulder of the edge must be there for potential blade on blade "contact" .... in any event the knife as it is now .... is much better at the tasks I use my knives for .... and those are primarily field and camp work and hunting and butchering game ....
The smaller Kozuka works fine as is .... the edge I touched up to the same level as the larger blade and for finer carving or working inside a carcass it excels .... again it is the edge holding quality I notice the most and it to is at a high Rc62 setting. This knife has a thin flat grind and very much is my preference for a knife from the off.
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black mamba
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Peter, thanks for the great review! I thought the OU-31 steel was probably in a league with INFI, but that was even before I was aware that is came at 62 HRc.
Still pretty tough at that number? Any edge damage on chopping or batoning since the grind mod?
Still pretty tough at that number? Any edge damage on chopping or batoning since the grind mod?
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No, there has been no edge damage at all .... OU31 is a steel which is only really available through Kiku and it's performance so far is comparable with knives I have in Cowry X and R2 by Ichiro Hattori and Hiro Itou respectively .... Cowry X knives also come a little thick behind the edge but the R2 knives from Itou come just as I like them and my changing things is based on the performance of the Itou knives I own.
These steels are premium steels only used by those custom makers mentioned as far as I am aware .... but the relative size of the blades is constrained by them .... so if you want to use a larger blade you have to look to who makes them .... Itou and Hattori are mainly smaller sized blades in their preferred steel .... although Itou has done a larger blade recently which I would like to acquire ....
For a homogenous steel where the blade is made by way of stock removal ....OU31 is the best I have found for a larger blade .... Cowry X and R2 are laminated by way of a forged process by both Itou and Hattori .... essentially a mix of steels with the premium steel in the core of the sandwich ... so their properties are going to be a little more advanced than a single steel .... but OU31 has impressed me so far as being comparable in normal use despite the other knives being more technical in their construction.
I would rate OU31 as being superior to Infi for edge retention and what I would call "normal use" .... but subjected to Noss destructive tests the blade may well not withstand the punishment Infi will ... I guess it is down to what you expect a knife to withstand and cope well with .... Kiku's blades are comparable to competition cutters .... this would be a very good steel to use for this application if it were readily available in the US .... and I like to use my knives within those sort of parameters .... basically normal chopping and cutting ....
Prybar applications and cinder block chopping is not something I consider relevant .... but that is the beauty of different makers who use different steels .... there is something for everyone's tastes ....
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No, you have this totally wrong .... you need to read the bit about how I consider Mr Matsuda to be the best living free hand grinder of a blade .... Just because I altered the convex shape of the edge does'nt mean I consider what he did with the original grind was inferior .... the grind of a knife suits particular uses .... if you use knives enough you will appreciate what suits your uses best .... it is basically the same as sharpening a knife to suit your intended use .... with a fully convex grind you have to alter the grind and not just the edge ....
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Funny
I would have to agree Anthony I know I personally prefer it.
I have a Full Contact from Kiku and always enjoy saying Hi when I see him. If I am not mistaken last time I saw him at a show he had a vey cool Khukuri that I would have liked
Peter neat regrind
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He's probably wearing a Samue(traditionally worn by Monks performing labour duty). Its what a lot of japanese craftsmen wear...quite comfy really.
What about those with Scottish (or with Scottish descent) knifemakers who wear kilts during these events? How 'bout the the Texans who wear those 10 gallon hats, boots and saucer belts? Any percentage on those?
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Yep, I forgot the name of those traditional blacksmiths and utility garb.
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Here's my Kiku blades:
1) The first one I bought wasn't a Kiku blade...it was one of the ones made by his son Masayuki. This one is called Hinoki(Japanese Cyprus) I like the patern and his cat paw maker's mark.
2) Yoroi Tooshi.
3) Kiku Basara
4) Kiku Hammerhead, one of his weirder looking blades but surprisingly functional.
5) Kiku Wolf Fang, I liked the design of this blade because it looks a lot like a Kris blade.
6) Kiku Hopuni
7) Kiku Full Contact Aggressive
1) The first one I bought wasn't a Kiku blade...it was one of the ones made by his son Masayuki. This one is called Hinoki(Japanese Cyprus) I like the patern and his cat paw maker's mark.
2) Yoroi Tooshi.
3) Kiku Basara
4) Kiku Hammerhead, one of his weirder looking blades but surprisingly functional.
5) Kiku Wolf Fang, I liked the design of this blade because it looks a lot like a Kris blade.
6) Kiku Hopuni
7) Kiku Full Contact Aggressive
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Heh, they r nice n comfy...except you get funny looks when u wear it outside Japan...and people keep asking why you are wearing your PJ's outside.