Kai is leader in the production of high-quality damask steel knives. Those damask knives are praised and appreciated for being the sharpest knives in this category. Damask steel – also called damascene steel – has a long tradition and history. In the Middle Ages the armourers from Damascus were legendary. Thanks to a special technique of forging of hard and soft layers of steel, the swords were characterized by high stability and special hardness and sharpness. The technique found its way to Japan, where was developed a high culture of the manufacturing of the Samurai swords: The blades were made from up to thousand layers of folded hard and tough steel. Like this the damask steel found also its way to kitchens of Japan. Japanese cooking is traditionally based on raw products and needs for that reason sharp and long-lasting knives who cut precisely fish as well as fine vegetables.
Traditional damask steel may rust over the years and has to be maintained and oiled. It was the development of a new and rust-free damask steel who paved the way to Europe for the damask knives.
The Kai professional knives are made of this newly developed rust-free damask steel with 32 layers according to the traditional Japanese Samurai sword art of forging. The inner layer consists of “V-Gold-10” steel which is extremely corrosion-resistant and hard and leads to a blade which stays nearly permanent sharp. The layering of two variable carbonic steels combines the advantages of hard and soft steel and leads to an incomparable and unexpected long-lasting sharpness and robustness.