new member, help identifying a knife?

[davidchughes]

Hello,
I am new to the site, I'm grateful I found this forum.
My first question, can anyone help identify this knife?
I think it's a san mai blade, I have no idea what the kanji says.
Any info would be greatly appreciated. David

[cudgee]

Welcome, someone here will be able to help you. Enjoy your time here, lots of different and interesting threads and topics.

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

I think you may need to find someone to translate the Japanese characters. With the current popularity of Japanese kitchen knives, it is very difficult to research Japanese knives using google unless you already know the maker or at least the city where it was made.

[New_Windsor_NY]

Hello.....

Hi. You might want to post your question(s) here also.
viewforum.php?f=30

[davidchughes]

thank you

[Madmarco]

Hello,
I am new to the site, I'm grateful I found this forum.
My first question, can anyone help identify this knife?
I think it's a san mai blade, I have no idea what the kanji says.
Any info would be greatly appreciated. DavidIMG_2218.jpgIMG_2221.jpg

Can't help you with your knife David, other than to say it's waaaay cool, but, to the forum!

[Sharpnshinyknives]

Welcome aboard. This knife may be next to impossible to pin down. It looks like it was cobbled together. So the blade may be from another knife and the handle may be from a different knife. The hole in the bolster and the location of the pin are indications that this knife has been apart before and put back together. So who knows if the parts were from the same knife. Do you have a picture of the knife in the closed position? Does it fit properly? Is there any wobble in the blade in the open position?
Sorry you aren’t getting much help on this. A knife that was put together like makes it very hard to find anyone that knows much about it.

[davidchughes]

Hello again & thanks for all of the help. I think your point about the knife being cobbled together makes sense. Closing is a very tight fit.
I am not sure if there are any rules about posting photos, but here are a few more photos for anyone interested... it's an odd little knife, definitely has character.

[doglegg]

The rule on posting pictures is the more the better. I can't help with the knife but it appears that more knowledgeable folks have already spoken. And welcome.

[knife7knut]

Welcome to the forums! The additional pictures helped greatly in determining the actual size of the knife. Although I am not able to translate the stamping on the knife there may be someone who can. His name is Rich Stein and though I don't believe he is a member of this forum,he does so on the Japanese Sword forum known I believe as Ninonto. His specialty is translating Japanese markings on blades.I will check to see if I still have his contact info;he resides in New Jersey.
The blade construction is similar to the old Harry Morseth knives where they use a soft outer layer of steel surrounding a very hard inner core.Forget who made it but I believe it was Swedish in origin.
Handles appear to be horn or dyed camel bone.If it is indeed bone I have seen this on some early Pakistani knives(from a company called Bullet).
From the top view of the blade there appears to be a pretty serious gap between the tang and the bolsters which would contribute some wobble to the blade when open.
Japanese cyphers read from right to left so it may be read with the blade folded and the handle at the bottom. Don't recall ever seeing Arabic numbers combined with Japanese or any Far East cyphers.
Whatever the case it is an interesting little knife and thanks for posting it.

[davidchughes]

Ok, if anyone is interested, this knife is called a Shilin Cutter. Made in the Shilin district of Taipei, Taiwan for 5 generations by two families.
It seems they made them in 5 or 6 sizes, very hard to find the originals now.
One of the things I love about collecting blades is all of the cultural knowledge we can pick up along the way.
If anyone wants to sell their Shilin cutter I think I will try to add to my collection!

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

Awesome! I'm glad you found the info you needed to unravel the puzzle!

[Sharpnshinyknives]

Ok, if anyone is interested, this knife is called a Shilin Cutter. Made in the Shilin district of Taipei, Taiwan for 5 generations by two families.
It seems they made them in 5 or 6 sizes, very hard to find the originals now.
One of the things I love about collecting blades is all of the cultural knowledge we can pick up along the way.
If anyone wants to sell their Shilin cutter I think I will try to add to my collection! shilin cutters.jpg

Congrats on finding out about the origins of these. Looks like that pivot pin is exactly where it belongs. I wonder why there is a hole on one side like that near the pivot pin? That’s what made me think it was cobbled together.
So how did you find that information, I’m very curious?

[XX Case XX]

Ok, if anyone is interested, this knife is called a Shilin Cutter. Made in the Shilin district of Taipei, Taiwan for 5 generations by two families.

This information is correct. I had a friend of mine look at your photos and she confirmed exactly what you said.

____________
Mike

[davidchughes]

A co-worker was able to read the Asian writing on the blade. It's some sort of company logo plus the physical location
of the company.
271 on the knife blade is part of an actual address in Taipei but it's a wig shop now!

[Nephilim]

There's still a couple knife makers in Taipei producing these, but they have become increasingly hard to find. I have one older one that is not in as nice a condition as yours. User "Oregon" here on AAPK has a nice collection and some more knowledge about these.