Tojiro DP Series Petty Knife 15cm Features Entire knife is made of Stainless Steel Blade is made of VG10 Stainless Steel, layered composite material well-known for being sharp and easy to look after. Outer Layer of the blade is made of 13 Chrome Stainless Steel Core is made of VG10 steel Handle and Blade are welded - no bacteria can accumulate because there's no gap between them. Among the wide range of knives in the series, you are bound to find exactly the one you need. Tojiro have welded a stainless steel handle to a blade made of layered composite material well-known for being sharp and easy to look after. The handle with its tornado, symbolizing “the TOJIRO PRO series,” is made to a special specification, using western tableware technology, that in Japan can be manufactured only in Tsubame-Sanjo. Not only is the handle beautiful to look at, but it won’t slip even if your fingers are wet or oily thus making it even safer to use. Another of the charms of stainless steel is that it is long-lasting and easy to maintain. Here, since the handle and the blade are in once piece, bacteria can’t enter through the gap where the blade joins the handle and the knife can be disinfected using hot water. Since bacteria don’t proliferate, the knife is very hygienic and has an excellent reputation even in food-processing factories where there is strict hygiene control. In 2000, the knife won the “Good Design Prize,” Japan’ s most prestigious design award. Heston Blumenthal Owner of the three Michelin stars restaurant The Fat Duck, voted No. 1 in The World's 50 Best Restaurants in 2005. "The knives I use for their precision, quality and design." It is also good protection for the blade but must be removed from the blade before cooking. Do not use wax, use at your own risk. Our most popular whetstone is Tojiro’s #1000/#3000 combination stone, but you may wish to start with a coarser grit for dull or damaged knives and fine-tune your edge using a high gritstone. Tojiro recommends sharpening using the “70/30” rule - spend 70% of your time honing the primary cutting side of your knife, and 30% on the reverse side removing burrs. If you’re right-handed, the primary cutting side is the right side of the knife when held in a natural cutting position; if you’re left-handed, it’s the left side of the knife. Guide to Whetstone Sharpening About Tojiro For over one thousand years, Japanese sword and knife makers have been renowned for crafting the world’s sharpest, hardest and most refined blades. Tojiro, one of Japan’s top knife makers, still follows ancient techniques handed down by generations of master smiths to handcraft knives for the 21st century. All Tojiro knives are painstakingly made at their Niigata, Japan factory. Tojiro knives are the #1 selling brand for professional in Japan.