Just finished the first of 2 blade blanks I got from Ibukiblade.com The blades won’t be for sale, and they don’t carry my makers mark. I’ve referenced Ibuki in all my Instagram posts, and posted a picture of the billets when they arrived. I’ve been very transparent about their origin. To be very clear these blanks are not beveled. This is how the blanks look when they arrive, by the way 3 days from Japan to my doorstep! Blew my mind! I have packages coming from 3hrs west of me that take that long haha! I got these two blanks for a few reasons. One: I am very new to culinary knives. Two: I have never ground a blade that’s under 1/8 and already heat-treated (These profiled billets are 65 HRC). Three: my own kitchen suffers from a severe lack of ‘good,’ knives...quite sad really having been at this a couple of years lol. Below in the next post is what I did with the first knife blank. The knives are meant to be slotted into a handle, spine exposed and pinned. Instead I ground in a tang and used a traditional dowel fit.
Cherry Blossom Gyuto Weight 4.3oz / 122 grams HAP 40 Carbon steel core SUS 45 Stainless steel jacket Cherry Blossom Etched Design Stabilized Curly Maple Handle w/ Purple dye and 6 sided facets. Thanks for looking
Great looking knife Griff. I really like colour and the etching. What's a blank like that cost if you don't mind me asking?
$59 US Scott https://ibukiblade.com/collections/...speed-steel-blade-blank-gyuto-215mm-non-edged Not lucrative compared to mono steel 48” bar stock. I paid $58 for 4ft of AEB-L. But compared to other San Mai like billets it’s quite respectful. I had a feeling once etched this would look good. Also you can’t get Japanese steel bar stock so easy. Never seen HAP 40 available anywhere else. I’ve considered buying more and finishing them under a different business name, again being very transparent about the origin, and completely separate from GHK. The owners are on vacation currently. I’ve sent them an email to get a cost per each on a bulk purchase.
That looks awesome! Nice job on the mask/etch. The ripples in the curly look great too. Certainly a one of a kind knife. Mother's Day?
Not a bad idea Dan! Yeah, I’m going to do something similar with the second blank. I am hoping this one wasn’t a fluke haha! I did this in between 5 bushcraft knives, two large hunters, and a cleaver all in W2. Basically this knife was me putting off heat treating those lol. Thanks for looking
I’ll let you know Joel! I have the new TS Prof Kadet on order with a diamond stone set, and I’ll be holding off sharpening this knife until it arrives. I got the this one thin man, and I don’t want to sharpen it on the grinder lol!
@Scott Kozub So update on the blanks. Tomoki of Ibuki blades said the blanks are already offered at the best price he can offer them at $59 U.S. I’ll take him at his word, and in fact I actually like this better as it adds value and a certain uniqueness to the knife. Better still this business in turn is supporting the Japanese blade smith/ black smith that produces them.
