Tojiro Gyuto Atelier VG-10 Kuro-uchi Damascus 210mm (8.3″)

TOJIRO Gyuto Atelier VG-10 Kuro-uchi Damascus 210mm is a multi-purpose Japanese kitchen knife, suited for preparing meat, fish and vegetables. Gyuto translates to something like ‘beef sword’, which indicates its affinity for cutting meat. 

VG-10 is an extremely well-balanced steel in terms of its qualities. It provides great corrosion resistance, as well as easy sharpening and solid edge retention, due to a high hardness of around 60-61 HRC it’s able to achieve.

BLADE SHAPE:
Gyuto is the most versatile and useful blade shape in the modern kitchen. It has a wide profile for easy food transfer and tends to be fairly flat towards the heel, enabling easy and fast chopping on the cutting board. A pointed tip allows piercing and precise, delicate work. A slight curve between the tip and the midsection makes the belly great for rocking the blade back and forth when cutting. It can be used for cutting meat, fish and vegetables.

STEEL:
VG-10 (V for Vanadium, G for “gold” as in “gold standard”) is made by Takefu Special Steel Company, a relatively small steel company that around 60 years ago managed to find just the right balance of different elements to create the most popular Japanese knife making steel today. VG-10 steel is stainless steel with relatively high Carbon (C) content (1%), 15% Chromium (Cr), 1% Molybdenum (Mo), 0.3% Vanadium (V) and 1.5% Cobalt (Co). The combination of Cr, Mo, and V forms a lot of hard carbides, making the steel abrasion resistant which translates to long-lasting, smooth sharpness.

LAMINATION:
The core layer consisting of VG-10 steel was sandwiched between 62 layers of softer steel. This technique is called san-mai damascus and is used to protect the hard (but delicate) core from outside factors and physical impacts, which could lead to breakage.

GEOMETRY:
It has a double bevel (symmetrical) blade with a flat V-edge grind. Viewed from the back of the blade, the knife is heavier and stronger at the handle and thinner and more precise at the tip. This blade shape makes the knife easier to use because the blade is very responsive, easily maneuverable and nicely balanced. This type of blade design is also called distal taper – you can read more about it in the article on blade geometry.  

BLADE FINISH:
Kuro-uchi is a layer of black, untreated patina on the blade which—besides giving the knife a really cool look—also prevents food from sticking to the blade. The lower part of the blade is adorned by a damascus finish.

HANDLE:
This knife was fitted with a large, octagonal, traditional Japanese cedar wood handle with an ebony ferrule. Suitable for a demanding chef for personal or professional use.

BLACKSMITH:
TOJIRO Atelier is the smithy inside the smithy so to say, a small department of artisans that is dedicated to creating elaborate knives for those that really appreciate the craftsmanship behind them.