# Anybody who knows this knife blank?



## mark76 (May 6, 2015)

Is there anybody who knows this knife blank?





Its sold by Brisa (https://www.brisa.fi/portal/index.p...Mod=product_info&cPath=94_51&products_id=3070 ). I also found it in two other webshops, but everywhere it is nameless.


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## icanhaschzbrgr (May 6, 2015)

I wonder if the tang is welded.


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## chiffonodd (May 6, 2015)

Looks like a 19c27 wa version of a very common OEM knife that is made in various steels and rebranded by many different vendors.

Examples . . .

Sakai Takayuki 19c27 wa: http://www.hocho-knife.com/sakai-ta...hime-japanese-trad-style-santoku-knife-180mm/

Yoshihiro VG10 wa: http://m.ebay.com/itm/390810762120?nav=SEARCH

Sakai Takayuki VG10 western: http://m.ebay.com/itm/251942804048?nav=SEARCH

Ichiban AUS10 wa: http://m.ebay.com/itm/391131192991?nav=SEARCH

Gekko VG10 wa: http://m.ebay.com/itm/331535171853?nav=SEARCH

Ohishi VG10 western: http://www.epicedge.com/shopexd.asp?id=89161

And so on . . .


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## rick_english (May 6, 2015)

Wow, somebody knows his knives.


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## chiffonodd (May 6, 2015)

rick_english said:


> Wow, somebody knows his knives.



Naw, just ran into a lot of these recently while looking for a mother's day present


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## mark76 (May 6, 2015)

rick_english said:


> Wow, somebody knows his knives.



:biggrin:


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## chiffonodd (May 6, 2015)

icanhaschzbrgr said:


> I wonder if the tang is welded.



It looks like it doesn't it, from the way the hammering cuts off. Which is also what makes me think that this is one of those OEM knives that they "converted" for a wa handle. I wonder what the tang looks like on western versions. Maybe they initially only forge or stamp the blade and then weld one of two tangs?? Does that make any sense? Someone with knife making knowledge can answer


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## mark76 (May 6, 2015)

The tang isn't welded. It was made in one piece.

I found this blade on three sites and in all three cases it was without a handle. And without a brand name.


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## MadDurrr (May 6, 2015)

This is interesting...

One line of knives that I am leaning towards for my first Japanese knife purchase seems to be part of this same group:
http://www.japaneseknifeimports.com...n-knives/gonbei/hammered-damascus-series.html

I guess this is a common practice among brands in modern knife making? Out of curiosity, what are the benefits and downsides to buying an OEM factory knife vs a hand-forged knife at similar costs.


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## mark76 (May 7, 2015)

I'm curious whether this OEM thing is really happening. It looks like the blades chiffonod mentioned, but I can sometimes also see differences.

Normally (for example in electronics) an OEM manufacturer makes something that is then rebranded and sold by a second manufacturer. This makes sense because this second manufacturer can usually charge a higher price.

However, this blade is sold without even then mention of a name.


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## IndoorOutdoorCook (May 7, 2015)

Well here's a little rehandling project. Goko 19c27 damascus, not hammered. The Tang has a pretty distinct shape. I'd believe the OEM story


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## mark76 (May 7, 2015)

Brief update: the blade is bought by Brisa from a trading company in Seki, not from a manufacturer.


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## mark76 (May 7, 2015)

..


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## Keith Sinclair (May 7, 2015)

MadDurrr said:


> This is interesting...
> 
> One line of knives that I am leaning towards for my first Japanese knife purchase seems to be part of this same group:
> http://www.japaneseknifeimports.com...n-knives/gonbei/hammered-damascus-series.html
> ...



I bought this knife from JKI wanted it for home use 240mm. It came with no Kanji. The grind starts just below the hammer finish and gets quite thin toward the edge. Heel to tip is 246mm on my blade. Sharpening raise a burr medium stone no problem. Has decent edge holding and it cuts as good as it looks.


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## chiffonodd (May 7, 2015)

IndoorOutdoorCook said:


> Well here's a little rehandling project. Goko 19c27 damascus, not hammered. The Tang has a pretty distinct shape. I'd believe the OEM story



Where'd you get that one? I like it better without the hammer finish. Want to try a wa handle project too


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## mark76 (May 7, 2015)

Sorry for deleting my previous post, but I felt it contained errors and I needed time to fix that.

This Goko knife is sold under different names by different shops: Echizen uchihamono Go or Goko Hamono or plain Goko. These names are sufficiently similar to make me think they were given these names by the shops and they are not a rebranding. So I dont think they are an OEM story in that sense. (The also come in the same packaging.)

My confusion was about the factory these knives come from. Some accounts say it's from a cooperation called Echizen Uchihamono cooperation in the town of Echizen. (link <- in Dutch, so you'll have to use Google Translate) Others say it's from a workshop called Goko in the town of Kashiwa. (link <- this link links to "the site that shall not be named"). Echizen and Kashiwa are located at opposite sites of Japan :O .

There are more cooperations of knifemakers in Echizen, by the way, like Takefu knife village. I posted about that before: http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/s...-and-other-knives-(Terayasu-Fujiwara-Yamawaku)


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## Keith Sinclair (May 7, 2015)

IndoorOutdoorCook said:


> Well here's a little rehandling project. Goko 19c27 damascus, not hammered. The Tang has a pretty distinct shape. I'd believe the OEM story



Nice should look good when finished. Is that Koa & Horn? When I bought the Gonbei from JKI I had planed to rehandle it. The Emoto is quite wide on these knives. Now seeing how the tang is on these blades sure I can pull off a nice rehandle.


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## IndoorOutdoorCook (May 7, 2015)

Figured Mango wood and black buffalo horn. The tang is very flat, it's no thicker than the rest of the spine, and this thing is a laser. If you want to cut a hole to fit, you need to drill a tiny hole and use a "saber" saw. Otherwise you'll be filling lots of epoxy. I got this one from that certain banned site for $120 last february or so, my first j knife.


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## Keith Sinclair (May 7, 2015)

Yeh Mango looks nice when polished up too.


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## IndoorOutdoorCook (May 24, 2015)

keithsaltydog said:


> Yeh Mango looks nice when polished up too.



Yeah it's done!


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## havox07 (May 24, 2015)

IndoorOutdoorCook said:


> Yeah it's done!



Wow that looks fantastic! I really love the simplistic look, all these super intricate wa handles look weird to me.


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## chiffonodd (May 25, 2015)

IndoorOutdoorCook said:


> Yeah it's done!



Looks great! How'd ya do it?


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## IndoorOutdoorCook (May 25, 2015)

Hate to derail, but since chiffonodd asked, I got help haha. My friend is a pro woodworker , doing mostly furniture stuff with reclaimed barn beams from his day job. Not being burdened with an overabundance of handle making experience, we just did whatever we wanted.

Highlights
1) roughly cut the horn and wood to shape
2) cut a square hole in the horn, square peg the end of the wood, what they call mortise and tenon, epoxy together
3) drilled the tang hole and widened with saber saw
4) burn fit no dowel, maybe just lucky here now that I've read more...
5) sand it to hexagon, sandpaper up to 1500 grit, linseed and beeswax made it shiny

We used the kochi handle as a size guide because I like it. I'm doing some forgecraft rehandles on my own, I hope they turn out half as good


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## Keith Sinclair (May 25, 2015)

IndoorOutdoorCook said:


> Hate to derail, but since chiffonodd asked, I got help haha. My friend is a pro woodworker , doing mostly furniture stuff with reclaimed barn beams from his day job. Not being burdened with an overabundance of handle making experience, we just did whatever we wanted.
> 
> Highlights
> 1) roughly cut the horn and wood to shape
> ...



Looks good


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