Hand Forged Kitchen Knife Set of 5, Rosewood with Leather Roll

Five knives in plain 1095 high carbon steel, no Damascus in the set. The flats stay dark gray from the forge and the bevels are ground bright, so each blade runs dark across the face and clean along the edge. Chef, bread, carving, boning and paring, all with oiled rosewood handles over a full tang, all in a hand tooled leather roll. Of the five piece sets here, it is the least costly way in.

Specification

What is in the set

The steel

Every blade here is 1095 high carbon steel, plain steel with no layers or pattern in it. What you see instead is the forge finish. The flats stay dark gray with faint hammer marks in them, and the bevels are ground until they come up mirror bright, so the line where the two meet is the only decoration on the blade. It takes a keen edge and comes back on a stone quickly. The trade is rust. Carbon darkens with use and it will spot if a blade is put away wet.

The handles

The scales are rosewood in a deep red brown, oiled rather than lacquered, so your hand sits on grain instead of a film. Rosewood is dense and oily by nature. Brass pins run through the scales into the steel. Every knife is full tang, so the steel carries on through the whole handle and shows as a line all the way round the wood. All five carry the same handle, so the set matches in the roll. Grain and color shift piece to piece.

The knife roll

The roll is vegetable tanned leather, cut as one long panel with pockets stitched across it, one pocket per knife, so each blade sits in its own slot and nothing rattles. You lay it flat, drop the knives in, roll it up and tie it shut with the leather strap sewn to the end. The face is hand tooled with a basket weave inside a plain border, a square woven stamp struck row by row across the panel by hand. Most sets in this category ship in a bag or a box.

Who it suits

This is the working set. It is for the cook who wants five hand forged blades on the counter without paying for a Damascus pattern, and the dark flats against bright bevels are a look of their own.

• Cooks replacing a block of stamped knives
• Buyers who want hand forged steel without Damascus
• Anyone starting out with carbon steel
• Gift buyers after a set in leather

What comes in the box

• Chef knife
• Bread knife
• Carving knife
• Boning knife
• Paring knife
• The 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 sets finish alike. Hammer marks fall where they fall, the grain varies, and the leather is tooled by hand. Yours will not match the photographs.

Looking after it

Hand wash each knife in warm water and dry it straight away. Never leave one in the sink and never put one in a dishwasher. Carbon steel darkens with use and that gray patina protects it. Give them a light coat of food safe mineral oil. Sharpen on a stone following the bevel, and the bread knife with a round rod in each scallop. More in our knife care and sharpening page.

Put a name on it

Laser engraving is an option at 35 dollars for the set, added here on the page, and one price covers all five knives. It is not included. Around 30 characters fits, and clean line art beats a photograph. A proof goes out 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? Five. Chef, bread, carving, boning and paring knives.

Does the leather roll come with it? Yes. Vegetable tanned leather, one stitched pocket per knife.

Is engraving included? No. It is 35 dollars for the set, added on this page, and it covers all five knives.

Will 1095 steel rust? It can if put away wet. Dry each blade and oil it.

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

What board should I use? Wood or plastic, not ceramic or stone.

The same shapes in Damascus are the Damascus kitchen knife set of 5 in burl wood, and smaller, the Damascus kitchen knife set of 3 in olive wood. More sits in kitchen knife sets, high carbon 1095 and rosewood handle knives.