Bluecleaver Hand Forged High Carbon Steel Chef Knife with Blue Resin Handle and Damascus Steel Bolster & Leather Sheath | Butcher Kitchen and Chef Gift | RK-0010

The Bluecleaver pairs a hand forged high carbon steel blade with a blue resin handle and a Damascus steel bolster. Seven and a half inches of blade, twelve inches overall, and a leather sheath to keep it covered between jobs. The result is a pointed chef knife with a tall heel, a dark forged finish on the flats and a bright ground edge.

The blade is tall at the heel and narrows along a curved belly to a fine point. The height keeps your knuckles clear of the board on every cut, and the curve lets you rock through herbs and onions while the point does the trimming and scoring. It is the general purpose knife in most kitchens because one blade covers nearly every job on the board.

This one is forged and finished in the Czech Republic, from bar stock through heat treat, grinding, handle and bolster fitting, sheath making and final sharpening.

Specifications

How to use a chef knife, and what to keep it away from

Let the edge do the work. For herbs and onions keep the point on the board and rock the belly through the cut. For carrots and squash use a push cut, driving the blade forward and down from the heel. Your hand is steering, not powering, and a sharp edge needs very little pressure.

The flat of the blade is a tool in its own right. Lay it on a garlic clove and press with the heel of your hand to split the skin. Use the face to sweep chopped onion off the board and straight into the pan, which is faster and cleaner than a bench scraper.

What you must keep it away from is bone. This is a chef knife for vegetables and boneless meat with a hardened edge, not a butcher’s bone splitter, and a hard thin edge chips against bone rather than cutting through it. Keep it off frozen food for the same reason, and out of the dishwasher, where heat, detergent and the knock of other items will do more damage in one cycle than a year of correct use. See our chef knife guide for how the kitchen pieces compare.

Why high carbon steel and not stainless

No alloy tricks here. This is 1095 high carbon steel, forged, hardened and tempered by eye, then ground to an edge and given a black polished finish. Hardened into the mid fifties on the Rockwell scale, it is the most forgiving steel to resharpen and the least forgiving if you leave it wet.

That is the whole trade, and in a kitchen it is a sharper trade than anywhere else, because a kitchen is wet by definition. A stainless kitchen knife can be rinsed, left on a rack and forgotten. This one cannot. What you get in return is an edge that goes keener than stainless will and comes back in less time on a stone, and a blade that develops a patina with use rather than staying anonymously shiny. Cooks who like carbon steel like it for exactly that reason, and cooks who do not want to think about their knives should buy stainless without any embarrassment. More in high carbon versus Damascus and Damascus versus stainless.

The blue resin handle and the Damascus bolster

The handle is blue resin: dimensionally stable, chemically inert and effectively maintenance free. Nothing to oil, nothing to feed, nothing that swells when it gets wet or shrinks when the kitchen dries out. On a knife that lives near a sink that is a real advantage over a natural handle, and it is why resin has become the default on working kitchen pieces.

It also keeps its grip when wet, which matters more on a chef knife than on a paring knife because of the length of blade in front of your hand. The Damascus steel bolster at the front of the handle caps the joint where water would otherwise sit, and the tall heel of the blade drops below the grip to keep your knuckles off the board. Being forged Damascus, the bolster carries its own pattern, so no two look the same. Wash the whole knife by hand in warm water, dry it immediately, and it stays exactly as it arrived.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel or the handle. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us whether it goes on the blade or the handle. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it. The tall heel leaves a good flat panel near the handle, so names, dates and short phrases sit comfortably on the face of the blade. It is the reason this piece is a common choice as a gift for a cook. Layout and lettering examples are on the engraving page.

Care and sharpening

High carbon steel patinas and will rust if neglected. Wash by hand, dry immediately, and never leave it in a sink or on a wet board. Before it goes into a drawer or a block for any length of time, wipe a thin film of food safe mineral oil over the blade. Store it out of the leather sheath for long periods, because leather is tanned with salts and holds moisture against steel. Sheath care is in leather sheath care and the steel routine is in steel care.

Sharpening is where carbon steel pays you back. Match the existing bevel, work one side in overlapping passes until a burr rises along the full length, turn the blade and match it, then strip the burr with light alternating strokes. A tall blade is easy to hold at a consistent angle because there is so much of it to reference against the stone. For kitchen work go on to a fine stone: unlike a rope cutting knife, a food knife wants a polished edge. The whole method is in sharpening with a whetstone.

Made in the Czech Republic

This piece is made by hand in the Czech Republic, in a workshop that still works the old way. The steel is forged, ground, heat treated and finished by smiths who learned the trade from the people before them, and the wood, horn and leather are cut and fitted by hand rather than pressed out on a line. That is also why no two pieces come out exactly the same.

Ransack Viking is a United States company. We import these pieces ourselves, check every one when it lands and ship from our warehouse in Chicago, Illinois. Engraving is done here in the United States after the piece arrives, so your runes or your own design go on before it leaves for you.

A note on handmade variation

Every Bluecleaver is hand forged, not machine made and not bulk produced, so the knife that arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph on this page. The depth and tone of the black polish, the swirl in the blue resin, the pattern in the Damascus bolster and the exact line of the grind all vary because each one is worked by hand. The dimensions, the steel and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Can I cut bone with it?

No. This is a chef knife for vegetables and boneless meat, with a hardened edge that will chip against bone. A butcher’s bone splitter is a different tool with a much thicker, softer edge. Keep this one off bone and off frozen food.

Will the blade rust?

It will if you leave it wet, because it is high carbon steel rather than stainless. Wash by hand, dry it straight away, and oil it before long storage. It will also darken into a patina with use, which is normal and protective rather than a fault.

Why is the blade so tall?

The tall heel gives knuckle clearance above the board and a flat face for crushing garlic and scooping chopped food, while the blade still narrows to a fine point for detail work.

Does the handle need any maintenance?

None. Blue resin is stable and inert, so there is nothing to oil or feed. Just wash and dry it with the blade rather than leaving it standing in water.

Is the bolster really Damascus?

Yes. The front bolster is forged Damascus, so it carries its own pattern and no two come out the same. The blade itself is plain 1095 high carbon steel.

Can it be engraved as a gift for a chef?

Yes, and the flat near the heel takes lettering well. Use the rune converter for an Elder Futhark line, or choose your own design in the engraving option and tell us whether it goes on the blade or the handle.

What is in the box

• One Bluecleaver hand forged high carbon steel chef knife
• One fitted leather sheath
• Protective packaging
• Forged and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

Sitting beside it in the catalogue: Chef Knives, Viking Knives, Hunting Knives and Engraved and Personalized. Most of the questions that come before a first order are answered in the guides.

Close to this one

Another in the same line is the Rosechef chef knife, pattern welded Damascus. Next along the rack is the Hearthfold chef knife, pattern welded Damascus. For a straight comparison, see the Hearthkeen chef knife, pattern welded Damascus.

The Palebone fish fillet knife covers the other half of the same kit. Nothing here exactly right, build one to your own spec on the custom hunting knife page.