Tsunehisa Petty Aogami Super Kuro-uchi 135mm (5.3″) [Rosewood-Cedar]

The Tsunehisa Petty Aogami Super Kuro-uchi 135mm (5.3″) [Rosewood-Cedar] is basically a smaller version of a Gyuto knife (Chef’s knife). Petty knives are intended for all those smaller tasks where larger knives are deemed unwieldy, both on and off the cutting board. A must-have knife in every kitchen, it can be used for peeling, mincing, paring, and decorating food.

STEEL:
The core of this knife is Hitachi’s Super Blue Steel (Aogami Super), a traditional Japanese steel of the highest quality. The Kuro-uchi (black) patina on the upper part of the knife gives it a unique appearance. This knife was heat-treated to around 63 HRC. It is a very hard steel,  meaning that it will retain a super-fine sharpness for a long time. In addition, due to the high carbon content (1.4-1.5%), the knife is very easy to sharpen. Among high-carbon steels, Aogami Super is also the least sensitive to rust. It contains 0.4% vanadium as an admixture for micronized metal grains, which gives the steel more toughness. Aogami Super is rated as the most advanced carbon steel. The outer layers are of softer, stainless steel, giving the knife extra rust protection.

BLADE FINISH:
The Kuro-uchi finish, the unprocessed (black) part on the top side of the blade, has already developed a dark patina, which protects the blade and gives it a unique and rustic appearance. The blade was treated with hammer blows, resulting in a textured tsuchime look, which gives it a beautiful finish and also prevents food from sticking to the blade.

HANDLE:
The handle (traditional Japanese Wa) is made from rosewood and is oval and smooth. It has a maple ferrule and is suitable for both left- and right-handed users.

BLACKSMITH:
Tsunehisa knives are a brand that combines a variety of high quality knives from different knife centers in Japan such as Tosa, Seki and Sakai. Their philosophy is that each region has its own steel and different manufacturing processes. For example, Tosa is known for its Ginsanko and Aus-8 steels, Seki is famous for producing excellent blades from the V-Gold steel group, and Sakai for its single-edged Honyaki knives.