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Honyaki knives are a method of forging a knife from one single material, almost always high-carbon steel, and quenched in oil (abura-honyaki) or water (mizu-honyaki) with clay to yield a soft, shock absorbing spine and hard edge for high sharpness. Since there is no need to forge weld, which occurs at around 1000 degrees Celsius, honyaki to begin with will have an inherently finer grain structure, and thus greater edge taking and holding than zen-kou, which are monosteel knives without differential hardening, or awase, which are knives made from a hard steel clad with another metal. Honyaki are usually thicker than other types of construction because thinner knives will warp or crack, and the wear resistance makes it hard to grind and polish them. Nonetheless, the grind should be expertly done and allow the knife to slide through food. Oil quenched honyaki yield a lower hardness, often around 60-63 Rockwell C, and have greater resiliency and toughness. Water quenched will be harder, often around 63-66 Rockwell C, and have a greater ability to hold a finer edge, but be much less resilient and tough, and thus easier to break. They are extremely difficult to forge, and even those with high level of skill and experience will be forced to discard unusable knives in the process of making one finished knife. Traditionally, chefs first use honyaki at the end of their apprenticeship, signified by a silver colored metal band in the handle. Handles are often ebony, instead of traditional ho wood, which is Japanese magnolia. The finest honyaki are mizu-honyaki, but for most applications they are not practical because they are expensive, difficult to make, more wear resistant and glassy feeling in sharpening, easier to break, and require experience and respect for what knife can be asked to do. However, feedback during cutting is superb and allows the chef to feel the different textures and density of food, and the surface finish of the food allows for a fresher, more intense flavor. The most common honyaki are shobu-hocho, or sashimi knives, the most common of which is the yanagiba. Honyaki are traditionally finished on Japanese natural stones from Kyoto. The most common honyaki steels are made by Yasuki of Hitachi Metals: White 2 and Blue 2. Some honyaki makers accessible outside of Japan include Masamoto Tsukiji and Sohenten, Monzaburo, Shiraki (a smith who makes them for Tesshu, Shiro, Hide brands), Genkai (a smith who makes them under his brand Fudo Kuniyuki, and some others like Yoshihiro), Mizuno Tanrenjo, Watanabe, Konosuke, Sukenari, Kikuichimonji, Ittotsai, Singatirin, Nenohi, and Tagaki. ==References== http://www.echefknife.com/ http://www.thejapanstone.com/ http://www.japaneseknifeimports.com/ http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/ http://www.knifeforums.com/ http://www.watanabeblade.com/ http://www.korin.com/ 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Honyaki」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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