Damascus Nakiri Knife, Burl Wood and Blue Resin Handle

Chop a spring onion and the pieces come up joined by a thread of skin. The curved edge above them never reached the board. A nakiri has no curve at all. The blade is 7 inches of Damascus over a high carbon core, a tall rectangle with a dead straight edge, and the handle is burl wood in deep blue resin.

Specification

The blade

Damascus wrapped on a high carbon core, etched so the raindrop pattern shows. Dimples are punched into the billet, the bar is forged flat, and the layers ring around each dent. Surface work. The carbon underneath is what sharpens. The edge runs dead straight from heel to squared end with no belly anywhere, so the whole of it lands together and nothing is left half cut. It also will not rock, and anybody used to rolling a chef knife takes a week to stop. Carbon steel darkens to grey and spots if left wet.

The handle

Burl is the lumpy growth off the side of a tree, and the grain inside runs every direction at once, which gives the figure and leaves it soft in patches. This block was stabilised, filled with resin under vacuum, then set in deep blue that fills the voids and lights the burl. Full tang, three brass pins. The handle is 5 inches, and since a nakiri is driven downward you want your hand high over the blade rather than trailing behind.

The leather blade cover

Vegetable tanned leather, hand stitched, cut to the rectangle this blade actually is, a wider cover than most. A welt sits inside the seam, so the stitching runs in its own channel and the edge never touches thread. The face is stamped in basket weave with a border pressed around it. The cover goes over the blade and no further. The handle stays clear, so it lifts out of a drawer easily.

Who it suits

Anybody whose board time goes on vegetables and none of it on a joint of meat.

• Cooks who chop straight down out of habit
• Anyone facing a lot of vegetables
• Buyers who want colour in a handle
• People who own a chef knife and want its opposite

What comes in the box

• The 7 inch Damascus nakiri
• The stamped leather blade cover with its border
• A care card
• Free sharpening for life

Every piece is different

No two burls grow alike, so the figure and the amount of blue shift on every handle. The raindrops land wherever the dimples were sunk and the acid opens them at its own rate. Each border is stamped by hand, so those corners never line up twice. Yours will be its own.

Looking after it

Wash it by hand, dry it before it goes anywhere. A tall blade holds a bead of water along the spine, so wipe the whole flat and not only the edge. Food safe mineral oil before it goes back in the drawer. Wood or plastic boards, since a straight edge lands hard. A whetstone at roughly 20 degrees per side, then a strop. There is more on the care and sharpening page.

Put a name on it

Lettering is 20 dollars per blade, added on this page. Around 30 characters fits, and a nakiri has more flat than most. The proof image arrives before the laser does anything, and nothing is cut until you say so. It adds 3 to 5 business days to the order. At 10 blades or more it costs nothing. The engraving page covers everything else.

Questions buyers ask

Why does a straight edge cut all the way through? Every part touches the board at the same moment. A curved edge is only ever down in one place, so the ends get missed.

Can I rock it like a chef knife? No. There is no curve to roll on and trying it bounces the tip. Lift and chop.

What is the squared end for? It is not a point and never was. The corner gets into the base of a cabbage and the flat sweeps the board.

Is it a good first knife? Only if you already chop that way. Somebody who rocks will fight it.

Will it rust? It can. Carbon steel sits under the pattern, so dry it after washing and oil it. A dishwasher will never see it.

How soon does it get here? Most US orders arrive in 5 to 7 business days.

With a little curve at the tip and dimples on the flat, the Damascus santoku on ram horn is the middle ground, and to rock there is the 10 inch Damascus chef knife on black micarta. It stands in kitchen knives, pattern welded work under Damascus steel, the full bench in every knife we make.