Damascus Steak Knife Set of 4, Rosewood with Tooled Leather Roll

A steak knife spends its life at the table in front of a guest, so it is the piece of a kitchen people actually look at. This is a set of four hand forged Damascus steak knives, 5 inch blades, oiled rosewood handles over full tangs, packed in a hand tooled leather knife roll that ties shut. It is bought by people who want the table to match the rest of the kitchen.

Specification

What is in the set

The steel

The blades are Damascus, pattern welded over a high carbon core, then etched so the light and dark layers show. The pattern is raindrop, soft concentric rings that pool along the blade. Because the etch is done after grinding, those rings carry across the flat and straight down the bevel to the edge instead of stopping at the grind line. Carbon sits under the pattern, which is the trade. It takes a keen edge and comes back on a stone quickly, and it darkens with use and rusts if it is put away wet.

The handles

Every handle in the set is the same, oiled rosewood in a deep red brown, so the four read as one set on the table. Oiled rather than lacquered, so you feel the grain. Rosewood is dense and oily by nature. Brass pins run through the scales 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. Grain and color shift from knife to knife.

The knife roll

The roll is vegetable tanned leather, cut as one long panel with four stitched pockets, a pocket for each knife so the blades never touch. Fold the flap over the handles, roll it from one end and tie it shut with the leather strap sewn to the outer edge. The face is hand tooled with a basket weave inside a plain border, a square woven stamp struck row by row across the whole face, so no two rolls line up alike. Other sets in this category arrive in a card box.

Who it suits

Buy this for a table that gets used. It suits the house where everyone sits down properly at the end of the week and the knives are part of what is on the cloth, and it suits a couple setting up a first real kitchen. It goes out often as a wedding present, because nobody buys steak knives for themselves.

• Homes where the table gets used
• Wedding and anniversary gift buyers
• Cooks who want the table to match the board

What comes in the box

• Steak knife
• Steak knife
• Steak knife
• Steak knife
• The tooled leather knife roll

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 raindrop rings fall their own way on every blade and the rosewood carries its own grain. Yours will differ from the photographs.

Looking after it

Hand wash the knives in warm water and dry them straight away. Never leave one in the sink and never put one in a dishwasher. Damascus darkens with use, and that gray patina is normal. Wipe a light coat of food safe mineral oil on the blades before they go back in the roll, and sharpen on a stone following the bevel. More in our knife care and sharpening page.

Put a name on it

Laser engraving is 35 dollars for the set, added on this page, and that one price covers all four knives. It is not included, so a set arrives plain unless you choose it. Around 30 characters fits on a blade. We send a proof image before the laser runs, and it adds 3 to 5 business days. See the engraving page.

Questions buyers ask

How many knives are in the set? Four knives, all steak knives with 5 inch blades. They are identical.

Is the leather roll included? Yes. It is vegetable tanned leather with four stitched pockets and ties shut with its own strap.

Does the set come engraved? No. It is 35 dollars for the set, added on this page, and that one price covers all four knives.

Will Damascus rust? It can, there is carbon steel under the pattern. Dry them after washing and oil them.

Can they go in the dishwasher? No. Hand wash them and dry them right away.

Will my set look like the photo? No two blades etch the same, so your raindrop pattern will be its own.

For the same set with a natural handle see the Damascus steak knife set of four in stag antler, and for the board, the hand forged kitchen knife set of five in rosewood. More sits in kitchen knife sets, Damascus steel and rosewood handle knives.