James loves cooking over fire and this month he has put together his ideal set for doing just this. The kit comprises three tools; A slicer, A Cleaver and a fork. All Wrapped up in a tough leather case, hand stitched by local leatherworker Harry Owen.
The Slicer and Cleaver are both forged from our proprietary laminate of mild steel and pure nickel, with a core of Blenheim Black—an extremely pure, tungsten-alloyed high carbon steel that we had custom made to our exact specifications. They are finished with sturdy full tang handles crafted from select pieces of our recently acquired English Walnut. Both feature a heavy forged texture on the upper blades, complemented by robust yet precisely ground convex bevels. This ensures that the edges are strong enough to handle occasional encounters with bones but also have thin secondary bevels, making resharpening a quick task.
The Cleaver is sufficiently heavy to effortlessly handle tasks such as jointing a hot cooked chicken or breaking down a rack of ribs. Meanwhile, the Slicer is versatile enough to tackle a variety of other tasks – it’s long enough to handle a full brisket and features enough curvature in the blade to serve as a lengthy chef’s knife, perfect for preparing salsa or chopping herbs.
James has forged the forks from particularly tough spring steel. Lightweight yet strong, these are the ideal tools for lifting items on and off the grill, rearranging coals, or even carving at the table.
The roll, made in Deptford by our long-term collaborator Harry Owen, is a hand-sewn, padded knife case crafted from rugged and characterful vegetable tanned leather from Tuscany. This oily full grain leather showcases all the natural scars and blemishes of the animals.
Cleaver
*Blade length – 180mm
*Overall length – 290mm
*Blade thickness at the spine – 5mm
*Blade Depth – 80mm
Slicer
*Blade length – 260mm
*Overall length – 380mm
*Blade thickness at the spine – 4.5mm tapering to 1.5mm
*Blade Depth – 50mm
Materials
*Blade – Core Steel Blenheim Black, Cladding- Mild Steel and Pure Nickle
*Handle – English Walnut
Price
*BBQ Set – £1220
A full tang utility knife with a blade inspired by the Puukko knives of Finland and a design that draws on elements of the traditional Japanese Tanto short swords.
With a chunky rounded spine that allows your thumb to bring more force to bear on the task at hand, these blades are sturdy and rigid with a flat ‘Scandi’ grind to a very fine edge. They feature a textured forged finish that mirrors nicely on the core line which is highlighted by the Nickel shim. Jon opted for a full tang construction where the handle and blade are constructed out of a solid continuous length of steel. This guarantees a robust knife with a reassuring weight, that excels at cutting and whittling, from decorative carving projects to fire-making or cleaning fish and game.
The handle and saya (wooden sheath) are likewise constructed out of a single piece of unique timber that was split down the middle to fit the blade and handle. Jon used Hornbeam timber sourced from a tree that was felled in Uxbridge. This is famously the hardest native timber and Jon has selected blocks that display lovely spalting patterns. These patterns have been carefully matched to run the length of the sheath and handle. The blades were attached to the handle scales with brass pins and the sheath and handle are fitted with a patinated brass bolsters. Rare earth magnets were set into the sheaths to hold the blades securely in place.
Dimensions
*Blade length – 100mm
*Overall length – 215mm
*Blade thickness at the spine – 3mm
*Blade Depth – 23mm
Materials
*Blade – 1084 Mild Nickel
*Handle and Saya – Spalted Hornbeam, Brass
Price
*Puukko – £380
Arch 228-229, Blenheim Grove, London SE15 4QL
