A Fasinating trip to the Henckel Knives Website
Wow I just got back from a tour of the Zwilling J A Henckels factory. It is a pretty impressive place; no I didn’t go there physically. I took the tour through the amazing power of the internet. The company began when Peter Henckels registered his trademark in 1731. That would make the company about 278 years old.
The original trademark the “Twins” was registered on June 13th in Solingen Germany. Interesting since 50% of all businesses fail in the first 5 years these guys must have something going for themselves. Indeed they do! as they now have proprietary stores in 100 countries and own three distinct brands; two German and one Japanese. The top of the line brand of their German line is the J A Henckel twin 
trademark on the handle or the blade. You can even order your own custom registered set.
These knives come in all the standard formats including shears and cleavers. These are made from a carbon steel alloy blend and “stamped” out in a single piece. The knife is then heated to form the bolster and sent through a rigorous robotic process of shaping, grinding, honing, and then heated to 1000 degrees, cooled to minus 70 degrees and then re-heated to 250 degrees to give it strength and flexibility. This process is known as the Friodor process. Then the handles are added and the knives get rivets or hollow handles depending on the line. After another round of grinding to insure the handles have no exposed seams or burrs they are given a thorough inspection to guaruntee quality control and then released for shipping.
The second Brand is JA Henckels International using one of the twins as its’ logo this line includes several grades of never needs sharpening “everedge” serrated knives in all the various formats including a santuko style. Also in the line are flatware, kitchen gadgets and complete stainless or nonstick cookware sets.
The third line is the Miyabi line a collaboration of German technology and Japanese skill this line was acquired in 2004. The name Miyabi means graceful or elegant and to look at these knives they certainly live up to their name. Japanese cuisine contains a lot of foods that are “delicate” by nature,(Have you ever tried to cut a sushi roll with out tearing it?)consequently they demand a sharp knife. Two important things make for a sharp knife, the steel that is used must be capable of holding an edge and for that Miyabi offers 4 different lines and combination’s of steel, ranging from 66 Rockwell hardness down to 57. The other aspect is the use of the single bevel method of putting an edge on the blade. Traditional double beveled knives can hold an edge when ground to 15 degrees, whereas the single bevel enables the knife edge to be 12 degrees and still hold an incredibly sharp edge. This gives the knife edge an almost razorlike quality. I mentioned the Rockwell hardness scale, the higher the number the harder the steel,(More alloys etc.) the 66 will hold an edge for a long time but it will be tougher to sharpen than a 57.
The Miyabi series knives are the 7000 MC, 7000 D, 7000 Pro and the 5000 S series. Since they are single beveled knives they need to be purchased with right or left handedness in mind. I have been staring at this USUBA for 20 minutes. This is a traditional vegetable knife with a square tip, I would love to go after a 25# sack of carrots or onions with this thing. Maybe even try my hand at garde manger making sheets of paper out of a diakon for a fancy garnish. Here is a link to the world wide site, be prepared to spend a couple of hours looking everything over it is quite an education.
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