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Matsubara HAP40 Bunka 170mm is made by blacksmith Katsuto Tanaka who works from his famed shop in Omura City, Nagasaki Prefecture.
HAP40 is considered a top-shelf steel that is semi-stainless and holds an edge incredibly well. The core steel is covered in san-mai style with soft stainless steel. The cladding adds strength, reduces mass, and makes maintenance a lot easier.
This great-looking bunka has a rather flat section at the heel end and then transitions into a nice curved belly about halfway along the edge.Brand: Matsubara
Location: Nagasaki
Blacksmith: Tanaka-San
Steel: HAP40
Cladding: Stainless
Finish: Migaki
Knife Type: Bunka
HRC: 65-66
Handle: Rosewood Western
Edge Grind: Even
Weight: 4.3 oz (122 g)
Edge Length: 171 mm
Spine Thickness at Heel: 1.7 mm
Blade Height at Heel: 46.5 mm
HAP40 is considered a top-shelf steel that is semi-stainless and holds an edge incredibly well. The core steel is covered in san-mai style with soft stainless steel. The cladding adds strength, reduces mass, and makes maintenance a lot easier.
This great-looking bunka has a rather flat section at the heel end and then transitions into a nice curved belly about halfway along the edge.
Reviews
3 review(s) WRITE A REVIEW (Reviews are subject to approval)
Awesome! My new workhorse!, November 25, 2024Posted By: D
I love everything about the knife! Super lightweight, thin blade, great tip, I do like the handle a lot it's not to thin or thick just a straight forward workhorse of a handle and well made as the entire blade is as well. Ridiculously sharp out the box after an intense week at work and I didn't even need to bring it home to give it a sharpening for the coming week. (I work in NYC at a hotel as an event chef , very high volume, lots of knife work)
Very happy with this knife!
Thank you so much!!!
I love everything about the knife! Super lightweight, thin blade, great tip, I do like the handle a lot it's not to thin or thick just a straight forward workhorse of a handle and well made as the entire blade is as well. Ridiculously sharp out the box after an intense week at work and I didn't even need to bring it home to give it a sharpening for the coming week. (I work in NYC at a hotel as an event chef , very high volume, lots of knife work)
Very happy with this knife!
Thank you so much!!!
My first Japanese kitchen knife...wow!, October 6, 2024Posted By: Rob N
I caught the knife bug by way of high quality American folding pocket knives and have amassed a small collection; I enjoy using them for work and sharpening them, nerding out on steel composition and edge geo and using them as a functional kind of "pocket jewelry".
I chose this knife because of the great price and HAP40 is very close to being the Japanese analog of my favorite pocket knife steel, CPM-REX45: it very easy to get razor sharp, and due to its particular carbide makeup is above-average in toughness for how hard it gets in the ~65hrc area, in pocket knives its virtually "too hard to roll, too tough to chip".
This knife for the price and the extremely thin geometry and amazing steel seemed like a great value and I am really glad its my first Japanese kitchen knife! It's so sweet lol i love it. The grind is awesome, nice and thin, laser is right.
As the other review said, the handle fit/finish is not the best but functionally there are no problems with it and it fills and works in the hand very well, I quite like it for what it is.
I'm afraid I've been infected with another strain of knife bug now but I am so excited to get in the kitchen and use this knife!
I caught the knife bug by way of high quality American folding pocket knives and have amassed a small collection; I enjoy using them for work and sharpening them, nerding out on steel composition and edge geo and using them as a functional kind of "pocket jewelry".
I chose this knife because of the great price and HAP40 is very close to being the Japanese analog of my favorite pocket knife steel, CPM-REX45: it very easy to get razor sharp, and due to its particular carbide makeup is above-average in toughness for how hard it gets in the ~65hrc area, in pocket knives its virtually "too hard to roll, too tough to chip".
This knife for the price and the extremely thin geometry and amazing steel seemed like a great value and I am really glad its my first Japanese kitchen knife! It's so sweet lol i love it. The grind is awesome, nice and thin, laser is right.
As the other review said, the handle fit/finish is not the best but functionally there are no problems with it and it fills and works in the hand very well, I quite like it for what it is.
I'm afraid I've been infected with another strain of knife bug now but I am so excited to get in the kitchen and use this knife!
Lazer of a knife, cheap handle , May 15, 2024Posted By: Daniel Keown
3 people found this review helpful
First off, I'm a working chef use all my knives everyday. This is an amazing piece of steel, absolute Lazer.
hap40 is legit the perfect blend way better edge retention then VG and half the work to sharpen over zdp. Only complaint is the handle is cheap, short and light. In the process off getting it re-scaled professionally. What I'm paying to get the knife rehandled I should have spent to get a better knife but none the less this is an amazing knife with a really decent price point.
3 people found this review helpful
First off, I'm a working chef use all my knives everyday. This is an amazing piece of steel, absolute Lazer.
hap40 is legit the perfect blend way better edge retention then VG and half the work to sharpen over zdp. Only complaint is the handle is cheap, short and light. In the process off getting it re-scaled professionally. What I'm paying to get the knife rehandled I should have spent to get a better knife but none the less this is an amazing knife with a really decent price point.
