The latest iteration of our trusty Shucking knives. These blades were originally developed with the help of Shucking World Champion Connor from Oyster Boy Events, the oyster specialists with regular residencies at East London’s Columbia Road, Broadway Market.
When designing these tools, Ricardo and Connor set out to create a simple but effective blade that can meet the demands of commercial use. Oyster knives come in many forms but Ricardo has opted for the longer thinner continental style blade which can inserted in the hinge or the side of the oyster using precision and accuracy rather than force to open them up. He kept enough thickness in the steel to make this a robust blade, forging the taper in with a ball peen hammer to give the textured finish.
Over the past year we have been putting aside some of our favourite pieces of timber for this project – using up pieces that are often too small for our usual knife handles, but too beautifully figured to waste. The Shuckers will be available finished with Turkish Walnut, London Plane, Rippled Brown Oak or Richlite (a durable composite material made from many layers of compressed paper).
Each knife comes with the option of a hand made leather sheath by local leatherworker Owen Leather.
Dimensions
*Blade length – 65mm
*Overall length – 145mm
Materials
*Blade – High carbon stainless steel (Sandvik 14C28N)
*Handle – Black Richlite, Turkish Walnut, London Plane or Rippled Brown Oak
A good few years ago we headed down to the Hunter Gather Cook tree house to meet Nick Weston and work with him on developing the perfect hunting knife. As an expert in hunting, fishing and foraging Nick was the perfect candidate to help us understand exactly what was needed in such a blade. After many hours of game butchery and various rounds of prototyping we finally came up with a design we were happy with.
Since then, a lot has changed in our practice. Our skills have developed along with our tooling, equipment and understanding of steel. The hunting knife has evolved alongside this. In recent years we have become custodians of some extremely rare, specialist forging equipment and this has unlocked many new possibilities in what we produce and how we can work.
This latest batch of hunters had been made using a combination of careful hand forging and a specially made former in our biggest of power hammers to forge in an integral bolster. This feature, the sudden increase in steel thickness where the blade meets the handle, has a lot of benefits in this style of knife. It makes it easier to keep clean, improves the balance and adds strength. The blade and tang both feature severe tapers meaning that edge is very strong towards the heel but has a very fine delicate tip, perfect for the surprisingly intricate process of butchering game.
This years batch have been forged from C105 steel that has been clad with tough mild steel. C105 is a very rare German carbon steel, it was produced in the 1920s and our supplier salvaged a limited supply from a closing down tool factory. This steel is one of the cleanest low alloy steels in existence and is a joy to forge and sharpen. Whilst it will require a little more maintenance than some of our previous stainless steel hunters James feels it is worth the extra effort as the edge you can achieve with very little effort is phenomenal.
For the handles James has used a mix of rippled maple and some incredibly dense Ironwood that we picked whilst at a US knife convention earlier in the year. This hard, resinous timber is a nightmare to work with but will take a super smooth finish and is as tough as old boots.
This blade is designed specifically for butchering deer and small game, but is also useful for a variety of tasks eg – breaking down poultry or boning joints of meats. This blade is also great for chopping up bits and bobs in the wild.
Each knife comes with a hand made leather sheath by local leatherworker Owen Leather.
Dimensions
*Blade length – approx. 95mm
*Overall length – 200mm
*Blade thickness – 4mm
*Blade Depth – 30mm
Materials
*Blade – German high carbon steel C105 clad with Mild steel
*Handle – Rippled Maple or Ironwood
Arch 228-229, Blenheim Grove, London SE15 4QL
