Hosco TL-I-KUKR Japanese Kuri Knife, right bevel, with a comfortable wooden handle

Japanese Kuri Knife with Special Wooden Handle by Hosco. Perfect for detailed trimming and finishing tasks where larger tools might be too cumbersome.

• Wooden handle length: 139mm

What is Luthier's Kuri Knife?

Japanese word "Kuri" translates to "Chestnut". In culinary uses Kuri knife is often used to peel chestnuts, which gave the dedicated knife its name. Chestnuts have very tough peel and to cut it with a knife the blade must be very short to allow for safe peeling near our thumbs. Blade has a pointed tip to ease the starting cut.

For Luthier or for wood working in general, Kuri knives are a beloved tool for precision tasks, such as shaping and carving wood.

Features of a Luthier's Kuri Knife:

• Straight Blade: The blade is usually straight, although it might have a slight curve.
• Sharp Edge: The knife is very sharp to allow for detailed and delicate work, especially when working on fine wood pieces.
• Compact Size: This knife is typically small, making it easy to handle for precise work on instruments like violins, guitars, or other stringed instruments.
• Pointed Tip: Similar to the culinary version, the pointed tip is essential for making detailed cuts or starting a cut in a precise location.

Which Kuri should I buy: Left, Right, or Double-beveled?

To control the cut precisely with a Kuri knife, you need to see the line you're cutting. Since you carve towards yourself, monitoring the cut is mirrored compared to other knives.

For a right-handed person, the knife is held in the right hand while the item being carved is held in the left. The cut is monitored from the right side, so a Left-Beveled Kuri knife is preferable. The flat right side of the knife glides closely along the cut line, preventing optical inaccuracies.

Similarly, a left-handed person would monitor the cut from the left side and should use a Right-Beveled Kuri knife.

So why choose a Double-beveled Kuri knife (with a symmetrical bevel on both sides of the blade)? It’s ideal for people who use both hands, offering versatility for ambidextrous users, though it may not provide the same precision in certain tasks as a single-bevel knife.