The Japanese have a knife and sword making tradition that goes back thousands of years, and they’ve developed several very distinctive styles that have become traditional over the centuries.
One of those traditional styles is the petty knife, comparable to the western ‘paring’ knife – a small slim blade that’s standard in every kitchen around the world and an indispensable tool for every cook.
The Japanese petty knife is usually made with a Wa handle. The Wa handle is a traditional Japanese handle. They tend to have an overall lighter feel, giving the knife a blade forward balance. They come in all types of hardwoods. The wood of Wa handles completely encloses the tang, and the tang of the knife extends halfway to three-quarters the length of the handle, making for a very light handle.
In today’s blog I’d like to feature a few petty (paring) knives I’ve recently made with Wa handles using various exotic hardwoods. These handles are very light and comfortable to hold.
The first one pictured below is made with Black Limba, and exotic hardwood from western Africa. The blade is stainless steel and 5″ long. The bolster is a natural red hardwood. More photo’s here.
This next petty knife (or paring knife) features a Wa handle made of gorgeous Wenge wood with a reddish brown hardwood bolster. The stainless steel blade is 5″ long. See more photos of this beautiful knife here.
This paring knife (above) has a Japanese style handle made from cherry wood, with a red hardwood bolster. More photo’s and details can be viewed here.
All of the knives below are available for sale, and can be viewed here in the paring knife gallery with more photos and details.
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