Vintage J A Henckels 10.5" Chef Knife 102-10" Carbon Steel Solingen, Germany Pre-WW2?

Vintage / Antique J A Henckels model 102-10" 10.5" carbon steel chef knife, hand-forged after drop-forged and hand-ground carbon steel with signature two pins and one cutlers rivet handle. Thin, light, and super nimble, a great example of fine old Solingen knife making.

This knife has been re-ground and thinned behind the edge on a large 3 foot diameter Japanese water stone wheel (kaiten mizu toishi) and then resurfaced with a medium fine finish, our take on an old style grinding and finishing technique.

While the particular wheel used to refurbish this knife is typically used in Japanese knife making, it is very similar to the old grinding wheels used to shape European and American hand ground cutlery. A convex face to a blade greatly increases a knife's performance as there is less sticking than on a flat face and the blade does not get thick behind the edge nearly as fast after sharpening.

Since we are often working with old blades that need re-shaping and may have rusted, expect some minor imperfections. We try to give a fresh start to our re-ground blades with an eye towards their original grind style, keeping as much metal as is possible.