WAKASHISHI Kiridashi Craft KNIFE 175mm

As far as function goes, this knife is just what I wanted: I carry it in lieu of a boxcutter, and use it similarly. It's a bit bigger than the average boxcutter, but not inconveniently so; plus, it saves $ on razor blades, keeps an edge much longer, and looks great. Speaking of which:The construction on this knife is quite good for the price. The blade is thick, good quality steel (love the signature / makers mark on the strong), easily sharpened and has been blackened on part of the chisel side, giving it a two-tone look; the cap isnt tight but stays in place perfectly well enough for my purposes. The aesthetics though left something to be desired, but I fixed that up, in part by a happy accident. Firstly, the black plastic that holds the blade in the hilt had--i assume when still hot--oozed over the edge of the knife a bit. Some sandpaper fixed that in 30 seconds. More difficult was the paint job: it was a weird reddish color, like primer, and totally opaque so that the lovely wood grain couldn't be seen at all. I dont know why the makers did that but i was resigned to live with it as I didn't want to totally strip and repaint the knife. But this is where the happyaccident occurred.The knife came with a warning sticker on the handle, which left goo when I peel it off. I applied a drop of WD-40 to take that off and a cool thing happened: it took the ugly paint up along with the goo and diluted it into the consistency of wood stain. The color even looked good once it diluted, and I think the sticker goo gave it some useful viscosity. A bit more WD-40 and some gentle rubbing w/ fine sandpaper and now my knife handle and blade cover have a blond stain, with the wood grain clearly visible. I dont know if thats replicable, but if you hate the paint job as much as I did, give it a try. It seems appropriate for a Japanese knife, even a humble kiridashi, to be as aesthetically pleasing as possible.

Simple packaging, easy to open. Feels comfortable in my hand. Appears to be a right handed blade but I'll make it work in my left hand.However, the spine of the blade is not parallel to the handle. With a straight edge on the back of the handle, the blade spine is one eighth inch from the straight edge at the handle but one quarter inch away at the tip, 2 7/16" from the handle. a 1/8" deviation. The blade cover cracked when first put on because the blade isn't squarely aligned.Is this enough to demand a replacement and send it back? Of course not. Did cost them a star.This is a tool which will get used a bunch. The versatility and usefulness is most important with this knife.

Excellent slicing knife. I bought this to use as a larger brother to an exacto knife. It does that and moreThe grips is made of blonde wood of an unspecified species. It is sanded but not to a fine grit. Maybe 120 grit. It feels good, and provides good purchase during use. That being said, I'll probably sand it smoother and add some linseed oil.The blade is sharp carbon steel. It didn't seem super sharp at first, but then I opened an envelope with it. Dang it is sharp! Glides right through it. The edge is thin enough to slice easily, but not fragile. The chisel grind provides a good bit of steel behind that edge.Overall, a good heavyweight exacto/craft knife. Would recommend.

Steel is fine, handle size is good for woodcarving. But the finish on the handle is really dry and needs some work. And the sheath is WAY too loose.

For something that is not a traditional tool in North America this is a great addition to my shop. I find myself reaching for it as my first choice for general use. The blade is thick enough to be abused without damage. Because it is beveled only on one side it can be used to mark very accurate measurement on wood, plastic, metal, etc. I use it as a punch, chisel, knife, a small pry, etc., you get the idea. I like the feel of the handle, it is a good size to give me adequate control of the working edge. I am going to buy another one as a backup (I like it enough that I don't want to be without one).

Bought as an anniversary present, but the Japanese authorities destroyed it on the way here. I appreciate you have no control over this, but don't market or sell a product to someone you are unable to deliver it to!!! I'm sure the knife is lovely but I am now screwed as you can't find anything like this in the UK. Thanks a bunch.

It cuts nice but it's for left-handed people, unfortunately (and it wasn't mentioned in the description). Too much trouble to return so it's been sitting in my drawer over a year by now.

This is the kind of object I love. It exudes a typically Japanese sensibility: Design-y without trying to hard, functional, and very well crafted. I do a lot of graphic work with cut paper, and this blade slices through thick paper as if it wasn't there. That said, The wood is pretty rough, and I will make it smoother with some very fine sand paper. Also: There is a sticker on the wooden protector sleeve that slides over the blade. That sticker leaves the most annoying, sticky gooey residue when you remove it. Since the wood isn't really finished, the goo seeps into the pores of the wood and is practically impossible to remove. Still, I love this knife, and for the price, it's a fantastic deal. Just one of those little things you enjoy owning.