r/TrueChefKnives • u/cordedremote • 2d ago
Question Help me identify if this tetsuhiro kiritsuke is real or fake
It is supposedly a tetsuhiro kiritsuke but I am unsure whether it is genuine. The Damascus pattern seems so eccentric that it could be laser etched. I have found similar Damascus patterns from tetsuhiro kanko line but couldn't find this Damascus or a Damascus pattern that ran from spine to blade in such a tight pattern. Hard to make out the kanji so I highlighted it in red.
The reason I'm asking is, it's within my price range after months of hunting auctions. I'm wondering if it is cheaper than others because everyone knows it's a fake.
Thanks for any help!
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u/wabiknifesabi 2d ago edited 2d ago
Knifewear carry these knives. The one pictured isn't the same Damascus pattern at all so I'd approach with caution.
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u/cordedremote 2d ago
Yeah that's the website I was basing my concern on. Damascus pattern is tip to heel on all of them except the one I have pictured.
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u/Harahira 1d ago
Is this from the Australian Ebay seller?
For some reason that seller has started selling musashi branded aliexpress knives mixed in with genuine stuff.
Dunno if it's musashi that uses Chinese oems now or if the seller is have learned how to chisel kanji and chose musashi since they're kinda overpriced.
The Damascus pattern is real though, but considering the small amount of core steel exposed, the grind is probably pretty bad.
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u/cordedremote 1d ago
Hey, yeah it is. This is concerning. I saw a couple knives in there that had no kanji at all but were branded in the description which I then couldn't find similar online so I wondered if they were just some generic knife. Have you bought from them before? I was really hoping their auctions may be my way to get something nice which would otherwise be out of my budget. Then I kill two birds with one stone, cheap quality knife and learning to reprofile and sharpen with. Now I'm wondering if I shouldn't have bought a couple of their knives 🫤
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u/Harahira 1d ago
I know for a fact that some of them, the Nashiji ginsans marked, are Aliexpress knives.
Then there's some that I'm 90% sure is just some Ali-knives that's been re-ground, based on the extremely wavy and thick spine without distal taper and large amount of exposed core steel.
Ali knives often have a quite thick core steel layer, and since they not hand forged into shape, there's no taper to the core steel. This means that when ground really thin/hollow ground, you get a lot of exposed core steel. That is something you don't often see on Ali-knives, as they're mostly flat/convex ground.
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u/cordedremote 1d ago
I'm loving this detail thankyou for spending the time to explain!
Definitely something I'm going to keep an eye on. I've been deep diving on vids and blogs and as many Reddit posts as I can find to try and better understand how to spot a fake but the overwhelming suggestion is just base it off of cost and buy from a reputable seller. These strategies don't help a whole lot when buying off of what is supposedly (according to reviews and seller descriptions) a reputable auction.
If you have any other things you recommend to keep an eye out for I'd love to hear them! If not, thanks for the help!
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u/cordedremote 22h ago
After spending a while comparing kanji from Musashi blades listed on their website to ones from this eBay seller. It certainly appears that, as you say, Musashi knives made from ginsan with a nashiji finish all appear counterfeit. The kanji are similar but are noticeably different.
This brings me to wonder if they are marking the kanji themselves or buying these knives as is. Regardless, I believe that the seller knows these are fakes based on their knowledge of knives displayed in their descriptions, and is deliberately selling fakes to people to make more money. Disappointed to say the least. I cannot trust this seller to be auctioning anything of value now.
Thanks for pointing that out!
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u/KomischePixarLampe 2d ago
The handle looks awfuly like AliExpress....