One knife at a time.
No batches. No production line. Every piece moves through the same five steps, made by the same pair of hands, in the same small room with bad light.
Five steps. None optional.
One bar of steel goes in one end. A signed, definitely-not-black knife comes out the other. Here's the messy bit in between.
Steel
It starts with picking a bar of steel for one knife. Not a batch. One. Slower, yes. Ask me if I care.
Grinding
Freehand, against the platen, in bad light. This is where a bar of steel starts becoming a Lohki — or firewood.
Heat
Brought up to temperature by eye, then quenched. The moment it changes state is the moment it decides whether it's any good.
Finishing
Hours of hand-work until the surface holds light instead of scattering it. The part nobody sees and everybody feels.
Signature
Measured, signed, photographed. Then it's out of my hands. Literally.
What comes out the other end is yours to actually use — not put behind glass. Though you probably will anyway.