Miyabi Birchwood SG2 5000MCD Product Line Review

The Miyabi Birchwood knives line article is part of a series of articles we have prepared in order for you to get to know and select the best Miyabi knives for your needs. Also make sure you check out the Miyabi Morimoto knives Red 600S , Miyabi Artisan, Miyabi Fusion and Miyabi Kaizen lines in order to get a complete view of the entire product line.

Miyabi Product Line Features

Miyabi birchwood SG2 Knife set

In their search of how to create the perfect knife, the Miyabi brand, has created the Birchwood SG2 5000MCD line of knives. This new line embodies the ultimate Zwilling J.A. Henckels hardening technology with the most special steels and wood, made by expert Japanese traditional craftsmanship and German technology. This line as well as all other Miyabi lines of knives are made in Seki, Japan, the hometown of Japanese blades.

With a experience of over 300 years of knife making in Germany, the Zwilling group has partnered up with Japanese knife makers in order to create some of the best knives you can buy today. By using German special steel and hardening technology in combination with the Japanese tradition of laminating blades you can be sure that something special will come out.

Blade

The blade of the Miyabi G2 is one of those special things. It is made out of the unique Micro Carbide MC63 powdered steel core which is sandwiched together by 101 layers of soft and hard steel. This gives the blade not only its beautiful Damascus pattern but also its very hard but still flexible characteristics. The Micro Carbide MC63 powdered steel layers are evenly spread thus giving the blade an amazing edge retention of 63 on the Rockwell scale. Also this fact makes it cut like a scalpel for a very long time.

In order to maximize the steel properties, Miyabi uses for the Birchwood series, a registered Zwilling hardening process called CRYODUR. This process enhances the blades cutting performance, blade flexibility and corrosion resistance. This is a step by step process in which the blade is heated in special vacuum sealed ovens to a specific temperature. Then it is cooled down to almost room temperature before it is frozen at -196 celsius (-321 Fahrenheit). This complex process ensures you get the best blades on the market.

These knives have to be used with care. Thus they are recommended for advanced Japanese kitchen knives users. But if handled correctly you will surely feel the best scalpel like edge. This is fact is assured by the traditional Japanese sharpening process that is used to sharpen every knife. The traditional process is called Honbazuke and it is a three step process. First the knives blades edges are created and coarsely ground on a whetstone that rotates vertically. This will create the edge of the knife. Second the blade’s edge is sharpened and honed to detail on a horizontally rotating whetstone. The last step includes polishing the blade on a leather belt which will make your blade cut like a surgeon’s scalpel.

Handle

The blade of the Miyabi SG2 is not the only special thing that you can see on the knife. Also the handle is a amazing addition. Because the Birchwood series from Miyabi is more Japanese in design then some other lines like the Fusion or Red Morimoto edition, the handle is made in this respect also. The handle has a D shaped design that is traditionally Japanese. This makes it very comfortable to most users though some prefer the ortogonal handles. The material used is Birch wood which looks great on a damascus knife and is a very good material for knife handles.

This is probably the most beautiful Miyabi line of knives. The design is perfectly integrated blade to handle. The damascus flower pattern matches perfectly with the stripes and lines on the Birchwood. Also before and after the handle you have matching, polished steel bolster and end cap. These two elements also feature red separators which match with the overall design perfectly. In the middle of the handle you can see a mosaic pin in matching colors to the design which really completes the artistry of the knives. The end cap also has the Miyabi logo on the back sculpted in the material. Everything matches perfectly, colours, shape, design and logo. It is truly one of the most beautiful Miyabi knives line.

Price

The price of these knives is considerably higher than the other ones we have presented until now. But make no mistake, the price can be justified. The labour and process that went into the construction, the materials used and the extraordinary design, The manual sharpening and the exceptional hardness of the blade, all add up to a masterpiece. We consider the Birchwood line one of the best Miyabi lines on the market thus we consider the price to be overall fair. So if you like this line and you have the financial means to acquire such knives we recommend you give them a try. If you take good care of them they will never disappoint you, will be sharp and look great for you to enjoy for a lifetime.

Miyabi Birchwood SG2 5000MCD Product Line

The Miyabi SG2 5000MCD Birchwood product line features: 1 knife set, 3 chef knives, 2 paring knives, 1 utility knife, 1 Santoku knife, 1 slicing knife, 1 bread knife, 1 Nakiri knife and 1 sharpening steel.