NORA #1003 - 7' Kiritsuke - CPM M4 Carbon Steel

NORA knife #1003 is our take on the versatile Japanese Gyuto. The Gyuto is the Japanese version of the classic Western chef's knife but the blade tends to be thinner and holds a sharper edge. A gyuto is similar to a utility knife in that it is a multipurpose knife that can handle virtually every task including chopping, mincing and slicing meat, fish, vegetables and fruit.  Our gyuto has a long, western style handle but a Japanese style profile with a fair amount of belly in the blade to allow for a gentle rocking motion.

Every one of our knives is numbered and unique. This NORA knife has been handled with a beautiful Ruby Red and Black Shokwood. Shokwood is a hybrid mix of live edge wood and urethane based resins.  This particular handle has big leaf maple burl wood and a beautiful blend of rich red and black. The handle has a black G10 liner & the wood has been stabilized for durability.  

Wood stabilization is an added feature that we offer with our knives. Wood that is stabilized has been injected with a clear acrylic resin under a vacuum process. Stabilization helps to minimize, if not eliminate, any cracking, warping, shrinkage and/or expanding of the material. Stabilized wood will not absorb water and is generally impervious to oils. The process helps to ensure your knife has a long lifespan in the kitchen. 

This blade is a lean and mean at just over 7 inches and has a k-tip point.  It should provide excellent versatility in the kitchen.  We also etched this knife to help prevent rusting which is the reason for the dark tone to the knife.  This will wear over time and be replaced by a beautifully earned patina.  It should be noted, however, that CPM M4 is actually fairly rust resistant compared to many other carbon steels out there so you have that as an added bonus.

The steel on this is CPM M4, which is the best carbon steel we have ever used in regards to blade performance.  After doing a wide amount of research on this steel, we decided to give it a go and have been extremely impressed with its performance thus far. CPM M4 steel is unique in that it gets extremely hard (We heat treated this blade to 67 HRC) - so it has amazing edge retention- but unlike other steels at this hardness its not as brittle or delicate. It is actually highly wear resistant which means you don't need to worry as much about the knife chipping or breaking. This is in contrast to most every other knife that is this hard.

Its a pretty rugged knife for the performance it offers and this combination is rare when you harden the steel to beyond 62 HRC.  With that said, this knife is not bulletproof and if you drop it or misuse it, it will break, but for the performance you get combined with durability, we haven't been able to find anything better thus far.  It is - by far - our favorite knife steel in the kitchen.  (And, by far, our least favorite steel to deal with in the shop.)

The pros of this steel outweigh the cons in our opinion but it must be mentioned that this steel is harder to sharpen than many others so you will need to factor that into your decision as it does represent a bit more maintenance than other knives. Note that we provide free sharpening on all of our knives and we are always happy to help in this respect.  

 { Knife Details }

Metal: M4 Carbon Steel

Blade Length: 7.1 inches

Total Length: 12 inches

Handle Material: Ruby Red Shokwood, Black G10 Liner, Black Micarta Pins

Rockwell Hardness: 67 HRC

Total Weight: 7.1 oz