Hand Forged Chef Knife, 8 Inch with Buffalo Horn and Brass

A chef knife spends its day on onions and herbs and whatever else came out of the bag. Eight inches is the length most people settle on. This one carries brass between blade and handle. That is a bolster, and it is the reason to pick this one. The blade is 8 inches of 1095 high carbon and the scales are black buffalo horn.

Specification

The blade

1095 high carbon, spine left dark out of the forge, bevel ground up bright, so you can see where the fire stopped. The heel is flat and the edge runs forward into a curve. That is a rocking shape. Put the tip down, leave it there and bring the heel up and over, and the curve stays in contact the whole roll. It does not chop straight down as cleanly as a flat edged blade, which is the trade. Carbon steel darkens into a grey patina and spots if it is left wet.

The handle

Buffalo horn is dark and dense and polishes to something near black, with lighter streaks in places. The tang is full and three brass pins hold the scales onto it. The brass bolster sits at the front where blade meets handle, filed to meet both. It puts weight behind your hand and gives your fingers something solid to stop against when you pinch the blade. The handle is 5 inches, which leaves a full grip behind the bolster instead of crowded knuckles.

The leather blade cover

Vegetable tanned leather, hand stitched, cut around this blade and bolster so nothing sits loose. A welt goes in between the layers, a leather strip keeping the stitching in a channel where the edge cannot reach it. Basket weave is stamped into the face while the hide is damp. The cover takes the blade only and finishes at the bolster, handle out and easy to grab, as a drawer or a knife roll asks.

Who it suits

Plenty of knives here have no bolster and cut just as well. This is for people who like the feel of one.

• Anyone who pinches the blade rather than the handle
• Cooks who prefer weight back in the hand
• Buyers who want brass against dark horn
• People who like some heft

What comes in the box

• The 8 inch chef knife
• The stamped basket weave leather blade cover
• A care card
• Free sharpening for life

Every piece is different

Horn is grown rather than made, so the streaking changes on every pair of scales and some come out nearly plain. Each bolster is filed flush to its own handle, so the joint line ends up wherever the file left it. The forged spine darkens unevenly. No two come out alike.

Looking after it

Hand wash it and dry it straight away, brass included, since water in the joint between brass and horn is hard to spot. Food safe mineral oil goes on the steel, and the horn takes the same wipe now and then. Boards of wood or plastic. When the edge goes, a whetstone at roughly 20 degrees per side and a strop after brings it back. The care and sharpening page has more.

Put a name on it

Twenty dollars per blade puts lettering on it, chosen on this page. Around 30 characters, so a name and a date. Letters go on the flat behind the curve, clear of your pinch grip. A proof image reaches you first and nothing runs until you approve. That adds 3 to 5 business days. Ten blades or more and there is no charge. Look at the engraving page.

Questions buyers ask

What does a bolster actually do? It moves weight back toward your hand and gives your fingers a solid stop when you pinch the blade.

Why do so many knives skip it? Time and cost, mostly, and some cooks want nothing between fingers and steel. A knife without one is no lesser.

Does it get in the way of sharpening? No. The bolster stops short of the edge, so the whole bevel still reaches the stone.

What are the flat heel and the curve for? The flat presses down through a hard root. The curve rocks forward through herbs. This shape rolls, it does not chop flat.

Will it rust? Yes if you let it. Dry it after washing and keep oil on it. No dishwasher, ever.

How quickly does it ship? Most US orders arrive in 5 to 7 business days.

For more reach in pattern welded steel there is the 10 inch Damascus chef knife on black micarta, and for a tight kitchen the 6 inch chef knife in walnut. They all live in chef knives, plain steel under 1095 high carbon steel, the board range in kitchen knives.