Our materials

Blade material

1. Carbon steel

1.1 52100 or 100Cr6

Bearing steel widely used in handmade kitchen knives. It features a good combination of toughness and wear resistance while staying affordable.

Composition of the steel:

Carbon: 0.95—1.1%
Chromium: 1.35—1.6%
Manganese: 0.25—0.45%
Silicon: 0.15—0.35%

Our heat treatment:

1. (if forged) Normalisation
    - 915°C for 30 min
    - air cooling to room temperature
2. Annealing
    - 790°C for 30 min
    - cooling at 4.5°C/min to 650°C
    - air cool to room temperature
3. Austenitisation and quench
    - 830°C for 15 min
    - quench in oil
4. Tempering
    - 180°C for 2h

Theoretical hardness: 61-63HRC

1.2 Apex Ultra

Steel created in 2021 and designed for high performance forged kitchen knives. High purity, balanced alloy composition and excellent edge retention.

Composition of the steel:

Carbon: 1.25%
Tungsten: 2.60%
Vanadium: 0.40%
Chromium: 1.5%
Manganese: 0.3%
Silicon: 0.35%

Our heat treatment:

1. (if forged) Normalisation
    - 915°C for 30 min
    - air cooling to room temperature
2. Annealing
    - 790°C for 30 min
    - cooling at 0.9°C/min to 650°C
    - air cool to room temperature
3. Austenitisation and quench
    - 860°C for 15 min
    - quench in oil
4. Tempering
    - 180°C for 2h

Theoretical hardness: 64-66HRC

2. Stainless steel

2.1 14C28N

A quality martensitic stainless steel optimised for knife applications. Combines corrosion resistance and wear resistance at a contained price.

Composition of the steel:

Carbon: 0.62%
Silicon: 0.2%
Manganese: 0.6%
Phosporus: <0.025%
Sulphur: <0.010%
Chromium: 14%
Nitrogen: 0.11%

Our heat treatment:

1. Austenitisation and quench
    - 1050°C for 15 min
    - quench between aluminium plates
2. Tempering
    - 180°C for 2h

Theoretical hardness: 59-61HRC

3. Specialty steel

3.1 San-maï

Steel composed of three layers. Soft steel on the outside and hard steel on the inside. Can be carbon or stainless.

3.2 Damascus steel

Steel with multiple layers of contrasting steels. Can also be used for san-maï as the outer layers.

3.3 Powder metallurgy steel

Steel with exceptional properties made from powders in a sintering process.

Handle material

1. Wood

We use a variety of woods for handles. Most of them are local, from heating or carpentry wood, and include oak, walnut, acacia etc. They are used either in their natural form or stabilised.

2. Composites

We can also offer handles in composite materials such as micarta, G10 or carbon fiber.

3. Rivets and ferrules

Our rivets are either made of stainless steel, brass or plastic. Our ferrules can be in wood, salvaged aluminium, brass, copper, steel or wrought iron.

Packaging

1. Wrapping

Our knives are wrapped in magazine pages and carboard filler, only reusing existing materials.

2. Boxes

Boxes are also reused.