Yoshiharu Hamono 440-042 Penanto Japanese Kiridashi Brass Knife

Yep, 5 stars for this little, single bevel, craft knife. In essence, it's basically an appropriately 1-1/4" #11 Exacto knife, wrapped in a flat, folded brass handle. The cap, or blade cover is made the exact same way as the handle. It comes extremely sharp, right out of the package, and performs exactly as expected. It's also great for an emergency EDC, or hold-outknife, as it's flat, and about 1/16" thick, virtually the thickness of a credit card. I kept mine in my cell phone wallet style case. If it get's dull, no worry, it's single bevel blade is super easy to sharpen. I used it to easily make contoured cuts in 8-9oz or 5/32" leather. Great bang for your bit coins.

I don't know if this is actually manufactured in Japan, but it's got some kana stamped on it. Seems that's all it takes to call it "Japanese", lol. It is approximately in general shape of some styles of Japanese knife...I think it's great for a box cutter alternative. Very light, very slim profile. Razor sharp edge. The edge is also thick enough that you could resharpen, when the time comes. The cover is also very unlikely to come loose in a pocket.That said, this is just a very thin (but not quite disposable) blade that is wrapped in pressed brass. Extremely little to it. You could probably manufacture it yourself and get fairly similar results, assuming you had the blank metal materials, files and stone/diamond sharpener to create the edge, and stuff to bend/press the sheet metal sheath/handle.I think the value is good, though if it cost < $10 then I'd say it'd be an exceptional value.

i find myself using this sharp simple little knife for all kinds of cutting and marking task around the shop. i keep mine on the wall with a magnet so i can easily grab it when i need it. the single bevel blade has retained its sharpness surprisingly well indicating obviously that the steel is of high quality. in short its a small well made no frills shop knife that didnt cost alot.

For the price, I didn't expect much. I was wrong. This little knife is ALWAYS in my hands. I purchased it to mark fine lines for woodworking and it works flawlessly for this. I also use it to open up mail and boxes, carving wood, scraping paint, cutting rubber weatherstripping, trimming tape when taping off for painting, etc, etc, etc .... For me, it is perfect size, thickness, and razor sharp. The handle and sheath are made of folded brass. I was worried at first that it wouldn't hold up to excessive use but again, I was wrong. This little knife is definitely a diamond in the ruff. I highly recommend this to everyone. 10 stars!!! The photos are after extremely heavy use. Still functioning like day one with no sharpening.

I bought this for the same reason another reviewer did; I wanted something cheap but sharp enough that I could dedicate for cutting leather, specifically for skiving small pieces (wallets and such).I was almost disappointed seeing how small this thing was, several post-it notes stacked together are thicker than this thing but once I tried it... I was blown away.This little thing is sharper and easier to use than a razor blade. Admittedly I did strop it quickly before use on a piece of veg tan, no compound though.It has a nice look, small profile and I've already thought of several other things I can use it for. I will end up ordering a couple more.I did the old, shave the arm to test the edge trick... it's is bald now up to the elbow because I got carried away by how easy it was.Only complaint so far is that there is a little bit of play in the blade. It can pull forward in its 'hilt' about 1mm forwards and back. A small annoyance at most but if anything I'll either probably rig it in place or take the blade from the sleeve and mount it in something else.Very happy camper

I am using this primarily for woodworking. It does a better job cutting cross-grain hardwood than my Stanley utility knife. I still use the Stanley for marking because it follows a guide nicely and makes a wider, more visible cut, but I love this knife for deepening the cross-grain lines and cleaning out places the Stanley is too fat to reach. The metal is excellent and besides a basic honing now and then, I have not had to resharpen it. If you are doing leatherwork of fine woodworking, I totally recommend this knife!

After much frustration with inexact / dull pencils in marking wood for cabinetry projects, and then using a clunky utility knife, thought I's try one of these. They're great! Sheath is too snug to conveniently use every time, but just leaving it (point down) in an apron pocket has worked like a charm. Bought everyone on my Christmas list one as a stocking stuffer - a great little knife to just have around.

I ordered 10 of these, to give as gifts.All are very sharp and will serve as excellent desk tools. (My suggestion will be to keep it in the center desk drawer, where it can be easily retreived, but not laying out on the desktop, where it would probably "disappear".The Kanji characters are not as deeply stamped on the ones I received, as they seem to be in the photos of the knife. Also, two of the ten had small indentations (at the same location) in the brass sheath. Those two, I will keep for my own use, as I would not want to give "damaged" goods as a gift - although the indentations do not impact the usefulness, they detract from the appearance.I had expected a higher grade of finish to the product. But, I guess I was just overly optimistic on what I would get for eleven bucks.Still, these will make useful desk tools.