The PUREST Form of Carbon Steel?! Have you met White Carbon?

White Carbon Steel aka: Shirogami, Shiro-ko(#1 & #3), Shironiko(#2)
White carbon is a near pure carbon steel which can easily take a razor sharp edge. It is a favourite steel among knife sharpeners and chefs for its ease of sharpening and polishing. White carbon steel has a very small temperature window for hardening, which means it requires a skilled hand in the forging process. There are 3 varients of this steel, white#1, white#2 and white#3. White#1 being the purest and white#3 being the least common. We often see white#3 in butchery knives like the maguro-kiri because it is slighlty tougher than its counterparts. All 3 types of white carbon are very reactive to food, so care must be taken to wipe your blade clean and dry immediately after use.
Its elemental breakdown looks a little like this:
C - 1.25 - 1.35
Mn - 0.20 - 0.30
Si - 0.10 - 0.20
P - 0.025
S - 0.004

[@SharpestStone]

I am a big fan of white #2! I'll be ordering that petty from you soon!

[@thecooksedge]

Awesome! Let us know if you have any questions!

[@sonkekoster3105]

I love Shirogami. I have two knives from Tanaka San in white #1 and knife from Mazaki in white #2. You can bring back the edge in seconds on a strop or a fine whetstone. I really like the patina formation on a full carbon steel knife.