Description

Murata kurouchi Aogami petty 120mm is an ideal blade for cutting small fruits and vegetables. One can chisel and mince shallots, garlic or herbs, and even perform turning work on vegetables.

History and curiosity

Takeo Murata was born in Susaki in 1949 and is a blacksmith from the Japanese island of Shikoku near Kochi. He belongs to the top Japanese blacksmiths. At the age of 16, his famous uncle Tokaiji taught him how to blacksmith.

The Tokaiji family is known for the very special katanas they still produce. At the age of 32 Murata-san started working on his own. He only worked with a 40 watt incandescent lamp, so it was very important to be able to see from the color of the forged blade whether the right temperature was reached.

Murata-san’s blades are renowned for their high quality and he only uses the excellent Aogami #1 (Japanese blue steel). It hardens knives to a Rockwell hardness of 64 (HRc). Due to the tungsten in the blade, these knives are extremely durable and can be sharpened very sharp without becoming brittle.

The knives have a beautiful black kurouchi finish which is created during the forging process. This oxidation layer is also an additional protection against oxidation.

The handle

Handle made of stabilized and dyed yellow cedar burl, spacers in dyed maple, ebony and nickel silver, bolster in synthetic ivory.

Technical sheet

Brand: Murata

blacksmith: Takeo Murata

Steel: Aogami #1

hardness: 63-64 HRC

type: petty 120mm

finish: kurouchi

blade length: 12.2. cm

Blade height: 3.8 cm

thickness at the heel: 2.2 mm

thickness at tip: 1.2 mm

weight: 95 g