Seto Knives – Excellent Japanese Geometry & Damascus Steel

Seto knives are among the Japanese knives that impress us when they arrive at the Blade & Butler workshop.

The reason isn't simply their attractive Damascus finish. More importantly, the underlying blade geometry is very good.

Seto knives tend to be thinly ground and finely tapered, allowing the blade to move through ingredients with considerably less resistance than a thicker Western-style kitchen knife.

That geometry is one of the fundamental ingredients of a genuinely good kitchen knife.

The steel also responds extremely well to sharpening and is capable of taking a very fine cutting edge.

As with most thin Japanese knives, owners need to understand that fine geometry comes with a trade-off. These aren't knives for twisting through hard ingredients, chopping bones or other abusive jobs. A thin blade should be allowed to do what it was designed to do: slice efficiently.

Our Verdict

Blade & Butler rating: 9/10

Excellent-quality Japanese knives with thin geometry, very good cutting performance and an attractive Damascus finish. Look after the edge properly and there is very little to criticise.