440-042 Penanto Japanese Kiridashi Brass Knife

Yep, 5 stars for this little, single bevel, craft knife. In essence, it's basically an appropriately 1-1/4" #11 Exacto knife, wrapped in a flat, folded brass handle. The cap, or blade cover is made the exact same way as the handle. It comes extremely sharp, right out of the package, and performs exactly as expected. It's also great for an emergency EDC, or hold-out knife, as it's flat, and about 1/16" thick, virtually the thickness of a credit card. I kept mine in my cell phone wallet style case. If it get's dull, no worry, it's single bevel blade is super easy to sharpen. I used it to easily make contoured cuts in 8-9oz or 5/32" leather. Great bang for your bit coins.

For the price, I didn't expect much. I was wrong. This little knife is ALWAYS in my hands. I purchased it to mark fine lines for woodworking and it works flawlessly for this. I also use it to open up mail and boxes, carving wood, scraping paint, cutting rubber weatherstripping, trimming tape when taping off for painting, etc, etc, etc .... For me, it is perfect size, thickness, and razor sharp. The handle and sheath are made of folded brass. I was worried at first that it wouldn't hold up to excessive use but again, I was wrong. This little knife is definitely a diamond in the ruff. I highly recommend this to everyone. 10 stars!!! The photos are after extremely heavy use. Still functioning like day one with no sharpening.

I bought this for the same reason another reviewer did; I wanted something cheap but sharp enough that I could dedicate for cutting leather, specifically for skiving small pieces (wallets and such). I was almost disappointed seeing how small this thing was, several post-it notes stacked together are thicker than this thing but once I tried it... I was blown away. This little thing is sharper and easier to use than a razor blade. Admittedly I did strop it quickly before use on a piece of veg tan, no compound though. It has a nice look, small profile and I've already thought of several other things I can use it for. I will end up ordering a couple more. I did the old, shave the arm to test the edge trick... it's is bald now up to the elbow because I got carried away by how easy it was. Only complaint so far is that there is a little bit of play in the blade. It can pull forward in its 'hilt' about 1mm forwards and back. A small annoyance at most but if anything I'll either probably rig it in place or take the blade from the sleeve and mount it in something else. Very happy camper

Great addition to my hobby/craft tools. Very sharp. Priced very low for what I received. Will buy more for gifts to my Maker friends.

Nice little knife, good for packages and other light tasks, also has been a fun addition to my wood carving hobby. Single bevel came almost silly sharp. Highly recommend.

This thing is sharp! Like, deadly sharp. You really need to be careful with it. Honestly, it is a cheaply made knife, but who cares? For the price, you can't beat this a good shop knife.

Made of tin. You can bend it without really trying.

I don't know if this is actually manufactured in Japan, but it's got some kana stamped on it. Seems that's all it takes to call it "Japanese", lol. It is approximately in general shape of some styles of Japanese knife... I think it's great for a box cutter alternative. Very light, very slim profile. Razor sharp edge. The edge is also thick enough that you could resharpen, when the time comes. The cover is also very unlikely to come loose in a pocket. That said, this is just a very thin (but not quite disposable) blade that is wrapped in pressed brass. Extremely little to it. You could probably manufacture it yourself and get fairly similar results, assuming you had the blank metal materials, files and stone/diamond sharpener to create the edge, and stuff to bend/press the sheet metal sheath/handle. I think the value is good, though if it cost < $10 then I'd say it'd be an exceptional value.