Smith Forging

 

“Chakkau Hizukuri” is a unique Japanese forge welding method that was established in the Heian Era (794-1192) for making samurai swords.

 

The manufacturing technique for making shears came from China to Japan in the Muromachi Era (1338-1573).  Most of the cutlery in the world is made from hard steel but Japanese cutleries are made with soft iron steel for the main body and hard steel forge welded for the cutting edge.  This crafting method is called “Chakkou”

 

The main stream of the Japanese cutleries using the manufacturing process “Chakkou” results in the soft hanlding, sharp cutting and hard to break characteristics.  Steel has a characteristic of sharper cutting but less endurance when it is soft.  It is hard and has a longer endurance with less sharpness.

 

“Chakkou” takes advantage of the good points fo both soft and hard steels.  For the barber/beauty salon shears, we pick the optimum steel material and through heat treatment processes such as annealing, quenching and tempering, the final product is sharp and long lasting.

 

Our mission at Utsumi Co. Ltd is to ensure the traditional manufacturing technique is kept alive by performing an annual traditional ritual in the Osaka plant and to continue making the hand crafted shear using only experience craftsmen.