It all starts with the steel. Our knives are produced with the absolute best quality steels available. We use mostly non-stainless, high carbon steels because in general they are considered harder and more importantly tougher. 

Hardness and toughness are technical terms in the industry. Hardness, measured on the Rockwell hardness scale (HRC), is best thought of as a measure of potential sharpness. Toughness, which is a measure of how much resistance a steel has to fracturing, is a good measure of the durability of the knife and how thin they can be ground behind the edge. This correlates to reduced cutting resistance and improved performance.

The steels used in Birch and Bevel knives are heat treated for hardness ranging between 64HRC-66HRC. We use steels that are considered best in class in terms of their relation between hardness/toughness and edge retention. You will find that your new kitchen knife arrives very sharp and will enjoy very good edge retention. 

Hand forging our blades rather than drop forging or pressing them means that we can offer a more complex, high-performance geometry. This is more time consuming, but it simply means that we can offer better cutting performance. In a product that could be with you for the rest of your life that makes sense.

The geometry on our Gyuto is designed to be a kitchen all-rounder. The forge tapered blade is satisfyingly thick above the heel and laser thin at the tip giving you stability and heft at one end and dexterity and precision at the other. You can confidently push the knife through tough root vegetable and similar robust produce using the heel of blade, while the tip can easily perform more delicate tasks.

This kind of geometry is only really possible in a hand forged and ground blade.

We have designed the Birch and Bevel handles for easy replacement and durability. The handles are made from durable hardwoods and fastened using similar methods to those used for Japanese knives. This means that if your handle is ever damaged or broken it can be easily replaced.

The tapered Rokkaku Hanmaru handle is very comfortable. It features a facetted top, which helps with indexing and pivoting the blade, while the tapering and the curved underside give the handle an ergonomic form that is suited to all hand sizes.

The stacked birchbark and brass bolster is a signature feature and we think that it’s a beautiful and unique accent that sets the Birch and Bevel knives apart.