The John P Metal Art Blog

Can you say “overkill”? This kitchen knife has a 4″ full-tang blade made from 1095 high carbon steel. This is the same steel used for the combat knife below, and happens to be the steel required by the US Government for all Marine issue combat blades. This knife should hold a sharp edge for a very long time. Certainly longer than any commercially available stainless steel knife.

The handle is made from black linen micarta, an incredibally tough material which reveals beautiful tree-like striations when shaped and buffed appropriately. The handle is completely non-porous so it will not absorb blood, oil, water or anything else in the kitchen.

Because this blade is made of high-carbon steel, as opposed to stainless, it will discolor with use. This is absolutely normal, and after enough use it actually adds to the character of the knife. The only drawback is that carbon steel can rust, so the knife simply needs a little oil applied after cleaning and in between uses. Any oil will do, but my personal choice is olive oil. Just put a few drops on a paper towel, then rub all over the surface of the knife and put it away.

Think of it this way, all knives require maintanence… Stainless knives need to be sharpened all the time, this one just needs a little oil.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 12th, 2006 at 12:00 pm and is filed under John P's Knives. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.