Damascus Kitchen Knife Set of 4, Walnut with Tooled Leather Roll

A bread knife is the only serrated blade in this range. A plain edge presses down and squashes the crumb under the crust. Scalloped teeth saw instead, so the crust gives and the loaf keeps its shape. It comes with a chef knife, a cleaver and a paring knife, four Damascus blades with walnut handles in a hand tooled leather roll that ties shut. It suits households that get through real bread.

Specification

What is in the set

The steel

All four blades are Damascus, pattern welded over a high carbon core. The etch is done after grinding, so the ladder pattern carries straight over the bevel instead of stopping at the shoulder as it does on a blade etched flat. Ladder is the pattern with bands running across the blade like rungs. The core underneath is carbon steel, and the trade is plain. It takes a keen edge and comes back on a stone quickly, and it darkens with use and rusts if a knife is put away wet.

The handles

The scales are dark walnut with a close straight grain, oiled rather than lacquered, so the wood feels like wood instead of a film over it. Brass pins run through into the steel. The tang is full on all four, so the steel runs the whole length of the handle and shows all round the wood. Every knife carries the same walnut and the same pins, from the 8 inch chef down to the paring blade. Walnut darkens over the years.

The knife roll

The roll is vegetable tanned leather, cut as one long panel with stitched pockets across it, one pocket for each of the four knives so no blade sits against another. Lay the knives in, fold the flap over the handles, roll the panel up and tie it shut with its own leather strap. The outward face is hand tooled in basket weave inside a plain border, a square woven stamp struck row by row until the whole face is covered. Most sellers in this category ship a plain roll or nothing.

Who it suits

This is a kitchen that goes through bread. Sourdough from a home oven, a bakery loaf on a Saturday, rolls in the week. The bread knife handles all of that and the other three cover the rest of the board, from the chef knife on onions to the small blade for peeling. Four knives is enough for most home cooking.

• Home bakers cutting their own loaves
• Households buying bread with a crust
• Cooks setting up a first kitchen
• Wedding and Father's Day gift buyers

What comes in the box

• Chef knife
• Bread knife
• Cleaver
• Paring knife
• Tooled leather knife roll
• Care card

Every piece is different

Each blade is forged, ground, heat treated and sharpened by hand, so runs stay small and no two finish alike. The ladder pattern lands differently on every knife and the walnut figure shifts. Yours will not match the photographs exactly.

Looking after it

Hand wash in warm water and dry straight away. Never leave a knife in the sink, and never a dishwasher. Damascus darkens with use, and that gray patina is normal. Give the blades a light coat of food safe mineral oil before they go away. Sharpen plain edges on a stone following the bevel, and the bread knife with a round rod in each scallop, not a flat stone. More in our knife care and sharpening page.

Put a name on it

Laser engraving is offered at 35 dollars for the set, which covers all four knives under one price. You add it here on the page and it is not included otherwise. Around 30 characters fits on a blade. A proof goes out first, and it adds 3 to 5 business days. See the engraving page.

Questions buyers ask

How many knives are in the set? Four knives, a chef knife, a bread knife, a cleaver and a paring knife.

Why is the bread knife serrated? The teeth saw through a crust without crushing the crumb under it.

Is the leather roll included? Yes. Four stitched pockets, tooled in basket weave, tied shut with its own strap.

Is engraving included? No. It is 35 dollars for the set, added on this page, and that price takes in all four knives.

Will this steel rust? It can if left wet. Dry each knife after washing and oil it lightly.

What board should I use? Wood or plastic. Ceramic and stone dull edges quickly.

The Damascus kitchen knife set of 5 in burl wood adds a carving and a boning blade, and the set of 3 in bone and turquoise is a smaller start. More in kitchen knife sets, Damascus steel and gift sets.