Bunka Black Damascus 165mm (6.5″)

Bunka Black Damascus is the second knife we designed. We’ve learned many intricate little details about Japanese knives and the people who love using them, so designing a knife felt like a natural progression for us. Handing over our new knife idea to a skilled Japanese blacksmith was a no brainer – nothing can beat the centuries-old experience of forging swords and knives, so Bunka Black Damascus, like all knives in our shop, is made in Japan.

Bunka Black Damascus embodies all of our knowledge and years of experience presenting Japanese kitchen knives to knife lovers around the world. She already has a special place in our kitchen (and in our hearts 😍), and we hope it will soon find a special place in your kitchen too.

BLADE SHAPE:
Bunka Black Damascus is a multi-purpose knife, suitable for cutting veggies, meat and fish. Primarily designed for use in home kitchens, although we are sure it will be wielded by many professional chefs that want to have a shorter, more agile multi-purpose knife at hand.

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. Heat treated to the hardness of 60-61 HRC.

LAMINATION:
The excellent VG-10 steel with the hardness of 60-61 HRC is clad into 32 layers of softer stainless steel (san-mai damascus).

BLADE FINISH:
Bunka Black Damascus features a 165mm (6.5″) long blade, clad in what is called Black Damascus. A 33-layered Damascus cladding means every piece has a unique pattern on the blade, making every knife one-of-a-kind. 

GEOMETRY:
It has a double bevel (50/50 symmetrical) blade. The extremely thin profile of the blade (spine thickness at 1.8mm) and hard Japanese steel will deliver a smooth and long-lasting sharpness. 

HANDLE:
The handle attached to the knife followed the same logic as the blade – universal and easy to maintain. A beautiful, dark brown, octagonal-shaped Pakka wood handle sits well in your hands regardless if you are left- or right-handed. Pakka wood is a mixture of laminated wood and epoxy resin which is highly durable and will not get stained easily.

ABOUT THE BLACKSMITH:
Suncraft is a family company spanning four generations and specializing in the production of kitchen tools. The smithy was founded in 1948 and is located in a thriving manufacturing area of Seki in Gifu prefecture, where steelwork dates back to the times of the Samurai warriors.

CUSTOM SAYA:
We also made a custom-fit saya (knife sheath) which is not included in the price and can be ordered separately. Sayas are hand-made from walnut wood, so the pattern and colors are slightly different with every piece, as it can be seen on the photos.