SHAPE: Santoku. Named after the three best things to do with this knife - slicing, dicing and mincing. It is the classic veg prep knife with both good breadth and width.

STEEL: SLD. This modern steel is made by Hitachi and has excellent wear resistance. It has around 1.5% carbon meaning it can be hardened to well over 60 Rockwell. There is also 11-13% chromium meaning it can almost be classed as stainless steel which generally has a minimum of 13% chromium. All in all a rather nice steel. It is very similar to SKD11 and D2 steel. Due to the non stainless nature of this steel care must be taken to dry the knives properly after use.

FINISH: Tsuchime. This is a hand hammered finish that is not only beautiful but also functional. The small depressions stop food sticking to the knife. This finishes comes in many different forms from the traditional round hammer marks to more modern patterns. 

HANDLE: D shaped Rosewood handle with a pakkawood ferrule. Theoretically this is a right handers handle but I know loads of people who happily use them left handed. 

BLADE LENGTH: 165mm.

MAKER: Ohishi - Niigata, Japan

SAUNDERS SAYS: "The fit and finish on these knives is phenomenal and they are fun to sharpen if you find sharpening fun."

These knives are hand-forged so there may be slight variations in measurements and finishes.