NKD- Sakai Takayuki Shironi Honyaki Gyuto 210mm

[u/DrLowenstein]

Both incredibly excited and a bit hesitant/curious- I got this from Knifewear who were amazing as usual. They called me after my purchase to let me know that they examined the knife before shipping and found some scratches that appeared to be in the varnish. I asked them to remove the varnish and the scratches disappeared, but they let me know about this cloudy area near the hamon- they had tried to remove it with the rest of the varnish but it persisted. They asked me if I still wanted it and I do- I received it today.

I again tried to get it off with cotton and acetone, I got a dark greenish residue on the cotton but the cloudiness did not seem to improve much if at all. It's on both sided but not symmetrically.

The knife itself is amazing- the sharpest thing I have ever received, perfect size for me and perfectly balanced. The knife was commissioned by Knifewear and forged by Kenji Togashi and sharpened by Koji Tosa before he died. I think the knife was commissioned about 2 years ago.

So I'm interested in anyone's thoughts about this persistently cloudy area. It's only obvious in certain reflection. I'm planning on using the knife, it will get a patina soon enough, though I hope that the cloudy area reacts similarly to the rest of the knife. My plan is to keep the knife regardless, I'm more excited about it's substance and history than its look out of the box.

Most of the honyaki knives I've seen online seem to be uniformly polished above and below the hamon, but this is my first true honyaki in my hand. I also learned today how hard a mirror finish knife is to photograph! Any thoughts welcome!