Origin of Sentan
Sanjo is a very unique knife producing region. Unlike Sakai and Echizen which craftsmen are highly specialized: blacksmith only specialise in forging and will hand over the finished blanks to a professional sharpener; followed by the engraver. While this type of flow-line collaboration greatly enhances the production rate, some say the knives lacks individuality under such arrangement because two different brands could contract the same smith for knives, resulting in very similar profile / geometry.
Sanjo, in contrast, still keeps the very traditional everything in-house style. From the top brands like Shigefusa, Hinoura, to less known knife brands, all finishes their products in-house, from initial forging to the finial engraving. By making everything in house, different brands were able to preserve their unique characteristics. This well-kept tradition gives the Sanjo knives another layer of personality reflecting the maker’s interpretation, making buying Sanjo knives that little more appealing. For Knives and Stones, we decided to give the name of our Sanjo offerings: Sentan (仟锻) literally means “forged a thousand times“.
Kaigann
The Sentan Kaigann (灰岩, Gray Rock), is a line developed by K&S solely focused on brining you Sanjo knives from makers that I personally like them a lot. The Kaigann may not be as famous as the likes of Shigefusa or Hinoura but they do perform extremely well. More importantly, these knives are extremely affordable (just like all of the K&S best-sellers). The introduction of Sentan label, along with the Wakui and Hinorua that we are already selling, means K&S has finally started to carry knives from all the major hand-made knife-making centers: Sakai, Takefu and Sanjo. We dare to say have all your knife buying needs covered
The Steel: The Kaigann line has two popular steel options:
- Blue 2 core with stainless cladding
- SLD semi-stainless core with stainless cladding
Both of the steel provides superb cutting feedback due to their lower Chromium content. Both the Blue 2 and SLD are very easy to sharpen, holds the edge for a super long period of time.
In addition to the carbon core, both steel variants are sandwiched in a layer of soft stainless iron. Since it is normally the non-stainless cladding tends to rust rather than the hard carbon core, this type of stainless clad with high carbon core really enables you to enjoy carbon knives without worrying too much about the rusting (of course, you still need to clean and dry the knife after each use).
Design
While I have many offerings in traditional WA style octagonal handle, the Sentan is the only line that features the western hidden tang design with an integrated bolster, which I like it a lot. The Blue 2 line features a Nashiji finish similar to our popular Tanaka Ginsanko Nashiji, and the SLD line has a hammered diamond finish. They both give a very rustic handmade finish.
Measurements:
| Measurements | ||
|
Weight |
193 g | |
|
Total Length |
315 mm | |
|
Tip to Heel Length |
167 mm | |
|
Blade Height at Heel |
47 mm | |
|
Width of Spine Above Heel |
4.0 mm | |
|
Width of Spine at Middle of Blade |
1.9 mm | |
|
Width of Spine at about 1cm From the Tip |
1.2 mm | |
|
Steel |
Stainless Clad with Blue 2 Core | |
|
Hardness |
HRC 62-64 | |
|
Handle Design |
Western hardwood handle |
|