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Buying a Japanese nakiri

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Serious:
I have 5 "ornamental" Japanese swords, blunt but look good on the wall. I then have a real one from the WW2 period and a folded steel one <love, love, love>.

I used to be able to practice with them, a long time ago, usually using the blunt ones. Now I can barely pick them up let alone swing one. Although I do still carefully oil the good two occasionally, no visible rust.

Strange thing with the UK law is you can still legally buy Japanese sword style blades under 50cm in length or ones made by traditional methods. Note that does not make them less lethal, plus you can still buy European, Asian or African style blades without problem. There are plenty of other weapons that are just as lethal, getting hit with a Lochaber axe would definitely spoil your day.

So far they have worked well enough, 56-58 Rockwell is hard enough for most uses. Best blades are 60+ Rockwell but are actually harder to sharpen. Usually the decent folded steel knives have a very hard 60+ core with a softer folded metal outside wrapped around it.

The best Japanese knives are all high carbon alloy steel and have thin edge angles, misuse one and it can break or become damaged. There are people who repair these but even they can only do so much.

Also watch out for cheap Chinese folded "steel" knives. often they are not hardened and will not hold an edge. When destructively tested a good high carbon steel blade will snap, a spring steel blade will bend a little and then spring back. These just bend and break.

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