HAP-40 Wide Gyuto Black 240mm (9.5″) – BLADE

HAP-40 Wide Gyuto Black 240mm (9.5″) is our second all-rounder made of powder steel that we designed in collaboration with the Japanese master blacksmith Osamu-san from the Yoshida Hamono smithy. With the HAP-40 series, we fused an optimal blade shape that matches the versatile nature of Western cuisine, Japanese tradition and knowledge of blade design and materials processing.

HAP-40 Wide Gyuto Black embodies the best characteristics we could possibly expect from a kitchen knife: The wide blade at the handle allows for comfortable (and lengthy) work with either right or left hand. The blade is perfect for scooping food from the kitchen board. The curved belly is designed for chopping larger amounts of veg. The length of the blade (240mm / 9.5″) allows for efficient work even with larger chunks of meat. The blade tapers off towards the tip and lends itself perfectly to precise work with food. Fine – and extremely long-lasting – sharpness. Very hard powder steel with 68 HRC. Simple maintenance and sharpening.

BLADE SHAPE:
Gyuto is the Japanese version of the classic Western Chef’s knife. Wide Gyuto, however, has a little twist to its shape: with a pronounced curved belly and a very wide blade, it sets itself apart from traditional Japanese blades and is suited to Western cutting and chopping techniques. The standard gyuto shape thus transforms into a blade that looks like a deba but is readily used for precision cutting, where you need really thin cuts (this makes it unsuitable for cutting through bones or making more robust cuts). A slight belly curve makes it great for rocking cutting technique, while the pronounced tip, triangular design and an enviable length (240mm / 9.5″) will make quick work of larger chunks of meat.

HANDLE:
This knife is without a handle so you can fit your own. Browse our selection of handles and create your own, custom-looking knife! If you would like that we fit the selected handle to the blade for you, select Handle fitting service when adding the blade to the cart.

STEEL:
The secret of this knife lies in extremely (68 HRC!) hard core made of a somewhat exotic and currently one of the most mysterious and attractive steels produced in Japan (at least as far as kitchen knives are concerned): Hitachi’s HAP-40 steel that fits into the category of modern and technologically advanced steels. HAP-40 is fine-grained enough to sharpen very well, and knives from this steel keep their sharpness 3-5 times longer than traditional knives. An interesting fact is that, considering it is a powder steel, it has a minimal content of chromium (around 4%) and can react as a high-carbon steel in specific circumstances.

This steel is heat-treated to an incredible 68 HRC, yet it can still be relatively easily sharpened on whetstones.

COMPOSITION: 1.27–1.37% carbon (C), 3.70–4.70% chromium (Cr), 5.60–6.40% tungsten (W), 4.60–5.40% molybdenum (Mo), 2.80–3.30% vanadium (V) and 7.50–8.50% cobalt (Co).

LAMINATION:
Blacksmiths counter the brittleness of material with special composition of the knife. In the case of this HAP-40 Wide Gyuto, Osamu-san chose a san-mai (also called “sandwich”) method. A layer of the core steel (HAP-40) is laminated between two external layers of softer, stainless steel. This creates a highly durable kitchen knife with a slightly more pliable core. The main advantage of these knives is that they are thin, sharp and retain their edge very well.

GEOMETRY:
It has a double bevel (symmetrical) blade.

BLADE FINISH:
The blade has a dark finish which is the reason this look is also called kuro-uchi – the word “kuro” means black. This look is traditional and robust, with an unprocessed top part of the blade that has already developed a dark patina.

Chef and entrepreneur J. Hartley had this to say after using the knife: “The HAP-40 is an unusual knife. It’s large, but I personally enjoy having two knives in one. The larger heel and straighter edge handle all manner of slicing and cutting, and the smaller tip end is great for more detailed work. It’s unusual in that it’s unbalanced, weighted toward the tip, but I have enjoyed that as for such a large knife it just naturally wants to fall into the cut and therefore make it an easier, smoother process. The fact it looks stunning and is sharp as shit doesn’t hurt!”

ABOUT THE BLACKSMITH:
The knife is manufactured at the smithy of Yoshida Hamono in Japan, a family company with an age-long tradition in manufacturing state-of-the-art tools and Japanese swords, i.e., katanas, by hand. Yoshida Hamono has a great deal of experience forging ZDP-189 steel in the traditional manner.