KATSURAWoodworking Project Kit - 3.5-inch Paring Knife Blank - Japanese VG-10-67 Layers Damascus Steel - NO LOGO

This is a wonderful blade. I must admit, I got it when they had lowered the price a fair amount, so the value for money was even better for me. This is a good project for a woodworker with the right tools. It isn't exactly easy, but it's also not difficult if you are fairly experienced with working wood. Read the review by Benjamin Solheim at the top of the 5 star reviews. It is very helpful. If you are new to this recognize you will need stabilized wood for the knife scales (to make the handles). Those can be moderately expensive, depending on the look you want,, I spent $30 (including tax and shipping) for mine.

The knife came in a box that was glued all over. A had to wrip open the box to get to the knife.The knife itself is very sharp. The problem I had was with the tiny head pins. I made scales from my pear tree branch and almost ruined them because one set of pins did not want to seat correctly and was sticking out.I had to beat and beat that pin to make it go in to be flush with the scales.The company should use pins with higher heads to allow for more errors.

I have used this knife on many builds. My Wife’s knife used frequently is 4 years old and is still sharp. She loves it and loves me for making it for her.

The pattern is just lasered on

Pretty nice. Balanced, sharp, good weight. Seems like a quality product. Relatively straight forward handle design, mine came with rivets, which I didn't use except to hold the scales to the blade, upgraded to copper pins. For the quality knife, and my custom handles, it seems like I bought a high quality shen for half the price!

The media could not be loaded.  Holds an edge and dices food great.

This is not damascus steel, the damascus pattern is laser etched on the surface.

if you are familiar with Japanese knives it has a paper finish. Shaving hard salami gives almost paper thin slices. The steel flexes the correct amount and tangs the correct sound when stropping the edge after cleaning the metal. I Still have to epoxy and then bolt through the corby bolt through the holes but the metal is comparable to drop forged 404c surgical stainless with regards to cooking. If you are used to german blade geometry it is more of a planar edge but instead of rocking motion you cut from the handle of the knife out in a smooth motion. I have to find a good source of german edge kits like this to complement the ones I plan to buy for class of students, but for the Japanese french cuisine these fit what is needed in most professional kitchens.The picture includes two acrylic scales I bought in the standard size scales come in and an angle grinder belt sander will trim these down to match the tangʻs contour and then add the contouring necessary to have a rounded edge.