KATSURA Woodworking Project Kit – Santoku Chef Knife Blank – Ultra Wide Blade 40mm – 5.25 Inch – Japanese Premium AUS 10V, 67 Layers Damascus Steel – Storm-V Series – NO LOGO

The handle isn't perfect as I'm new to this.I liked the first two so much that I orderedtwo more.I recomend highly!!

I recently purchased and completed the 8” Katsura Gyuto chef knife “kit”. To begin with, the steel is first rate. The AUS 10 is a legitimate super steel and three Katsura chef knives I gifted last Christmas that had the AUS 10 steel are still very sharp and serviceable and have yet to need sharpening. The fit and finish of the blade is excellent. The Damascus pattern was beautiful and the blade was polished to perfection. The bolster, the area that transitions from the blade to the handle area was well detailed. The full tang handle had cut outs which reduce weight and help achieve a comfortable balance with the knife in hand. Where the full tang meets the bolster the right angle of that intersection was clean and crisp and the tang was perfectly flat. This makes adding the handle scales much easier since all mating surfaces are true and square to each other. The kit comes with steel rivets and a 5/16” diameter mosaic pin. I chose to use 5/32” brass pins instead of the rivets as they were very complimentary to to brass detail in the mosaic pin. When considering a project such as a knife kit the obvious question that comes to mind is will the knife be worthy of my time and effort and what will I end up with when I am done? This is a first rate knife and worthy of your time to transform it in to an everyday go to chefs knife. This kit requires basic fitting, gluing, wood shaping and polishing skills well within reach of the beginner or aspiring wood worker. If you use a quality handle material like exotic wood or micarta and execute the project well you will end up with a knife worth $200-400 dollars and have the added satisfaction of saying…”I made that”. And one more thing, the knife comes with a lovely gift box which is a nice touch.

Great knife blade with excellent quality and super sharp. Added desert ironwood scales. Will be ordering again!

As a hobby woodworker, I regularly make cutting boards as gifts, and often times pair them with a custom knife. I've used a number of brands over the years but I've recently started replacing my own daily use kitchen knives from other brands with these since I love the way they sharpen up easily and how they take and hold an edge.The kits come well packaged and after 10+ purchases, I have never had an issue with any of their knives. On this particular build I was making a new knife for myself for slicing roasts and steaks, and I ended up using two of their mosaic pins instead of the three pin design that is in the packaging. I had an extra pin left over from another knife where I went with a different handle design.Quality product and I definitely will be buying more blanks from Katsura.

I ordered this for my boyfriends new hobby. First of all, the knife came in a nice box. The Damascus blade is a very nice pattern and is razor sharp. We chose a pearl blue epoxy and burl wood scale for the handle. This does not come with the kit, however the kit does include a mosaic center pin and other pins to attach the handle you make. I think he did an awesome job on the handle. This kit was definitely well worth the money.