Miyabi Birchwood Utility Knife Full Review

Miyabi Birchwood Utility Knife Features

The Miyabi Birchwood utility knife is made by mixing German high end engineering with the Japanese tradition in knife making. Made by Miyabi in Japan, the Miyabi Birchwood series is one of the top lines of knives produced by the brand. The birchwood utility knives are 101 layer steel damascus knives with a micro carbide powdered steel core, ice hardened at 63 HRC through the Zwilling CRYODUR process. The blades are sharpened through the Japanese Honbazuke process and fitted with a Karelian Masur Birch wood handle.

The utility knife, in general is used for more specific tasks than a chef knife or paring knife. Thus it will be used a lot less in the kitchen then these 2 basic knives. Because of its size the utility knife is used for cutting vegetables and meat not large enough for a chef knife but too large for a paring knife. Being sandwich meats, cheese or larger vegetables, the utility knife will surely find its role in your kitchen.

Miyabi Birchwood Utility Knife Blade

The Birchwood utility knife is made by the traditional Japanese sword making process of laminating blades. Thus the MC63 powdered steel core is covered in 101 layers of softer and harder steel which create a beautiful damascus pattern. The MC63 core is made out a very special steel indeed. The alloy is basically a high carbon stainless steel made with a concentration of over 1% carbon and over 14% Chromium. Also the steel contains Molybdenum, Vanadium and very small percentages of Manganese, Silicon and Phosphorus from the production process. These elements increase the blade’s corrosion resistance and edge retention.

In order to reach the desired edge retention the knife blade is treated in Zwillings ice hardening process called CRYODUR. In this specific process the knife blades are heated up in a special oven before they are quickly cooled down to room temperature. Immediately after the blades are ice hardened at -196 Celsius (-321 Fahrenheit) in order to reach an impressive 63 HRC. This process ensures that the blades don’t only have a high edge retention but become flexible and not brittle.

Miyabi Birchwood Utility Knife Handle

The handle of the Miyabi utility knife in this series is made out of Karelian Masur Birch wood found in certain places like Finland and Russia. Just a few logs from hundreds have a irregular grain pattern and these are the ones used to make the beautiful Japanese D-shaped handle. Thus to contribute to the design the beautiful damascus flower pattern on the blade matches perfectly to the wood handles grain pattern. Also to complete the overall design the handle is fitted with matching red spacers, a ceramic pin in the middle and a engraved end cap with the Miyabi logo.

The Birchwood 6 inch utility knife from Miyabi has a manufacturer lifetime warranty.

Pros of the Birchwood Utility Knife

• MC63 high carbon stainless steel core
• 63 HRC Rockwell scale
• 101 Layers Damascus Steel Pattern
• Zwilling CRYODUR Hardening
• Unique Masur Birchwood handle
• 3 step Honbazuke Japanese hand Sharpening
• Mosaic Pin, Red Separators and Stainless Steel End Cap

Cons of the Birchwood Utility Knife

• The product is on the expensive side in its category
• Only one size (6 inch)

If you like the Birchwood utility knife make sure you check out the entire Miyabi Birchwood line to get a complete view of all the products offered.