What is it: Honsanmai
Honsanmai, also known as San Mai, is the most common lamination technique used on swords. Let us tell you a little about what it is and why we use it.
The Honsanmai lamination technique makes the sword harder to bend, therefore harder to break as well. The words "San Mai" roughly translate as "three slices", which describes the structure of the sword very accurately.
The Honsanmai nagasa is composed of three different carbon levels of steel; Kawagane (medium steel) jacket surrounding the Shigane (soft steel) core and Hagane (hard steel) which provides a superior level cutting edge. Kawagane contains about 0.6% carbon, while the softer Shigane contains only around 0.25% carbon. Hagane on the other hand has a much higher carbon level, ranging from 1% up to 1.5%.
See below our selection of Honsanmai laminated swords.
