New Vintage Canadian 20cm / 7.85" Chef Carbon Rosewood 50s

Hand forged after drop forging and hand ground with brass riveted rosewood handles in excellent unused condition, they have been lightly cleaned but are otherwise how they were made around 75 years ago. They were found in superb condition from long storage. 

In the later part of the 19th century the industrial drop forge was introduced into Thiers inititlaly in sizes appropriate for table knives and scissors. A smaller rope and pulley hand operated drop forge had been in use for folding knife blades but with the growing popularity of eating with table knives over the previous personal folding knives in the mid 19th century both sped production and encouraged new designs. The addition of a full tang handle to the short bolstered triangular Cuisine Massive / AKA Nogent style pattern birthed the ‘Canadian’.

Keep dry when not in use to avoid rust, carbon steel will naturally develop a patina with use.

These knives were made in Theirs, France in the 1950‘s. They are thin and light being hand forged on an old style 'Martinet' mechanical hammer after being drop forged and then ground by hand, very similarly to how these knives were made originally in the 19th sadly, these techniques and equipment are now long gone.

They are lighter and springier than their modern contemporaries with great cutting feel and are super easy to sharpen, don't over-polish them with fine Japanese stones, these do better with a coarser edge (equivalent to 1000 Japanese grit stone) and kept up with a fine honing steel. The advice to use a steel before you use your knife is the result of these kind of knives in a busy professional kitchen; steel them once you feel the edge starting to lean to one side.

Being handmade there are slight differences between knives and they may have slight imperfections that would be consistent with handmade knives of their day such as a slight waviness in edge and small bends, there can also be imperfections in small gaps in handle etc. They are not 'perfect' by strict standards but are still great knives.

If you can deal with these small issues you are rewarded with a knife that has a great cutting feel and is truly a piece of history!

New Old Stock, Vintage and New Vintage knives do not come sharpened. Please request sharpening if desired in the order notes section of the cart page.