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KNIFE CARE
Carbon steel knives require some specialist care. The trade off for superior materials is that they have different qualities to your average stainless shop-bought kitchen knife, however - if you love your knife as much as we do then the care can be an enjoyable experience (a bit like washing your car).
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Essentially every knife that comes out the workshop will be made from high carbon tool steels of varying natures and properties, and at the very least, your knife will be high carbon for the edge of the blade itself. Most steels outside of stainless will rust, and rust fairly quickly, so the main thing to do is to keep you knife dry. Don't put it in the dishwasher!!! The salts and aggressive washing cycles used will not only distress the blade but will also have a huge affect on the knifes reactive carbon steel. A bit of roughage goes a long way, but dishwasher rustage can ruin your day! Hot soapy water will be fine for cleaning, but make sure to dry the knife off after. Try to avoid using your knife on heavily acidic foods as these will speed up the rusting process.
Our handles are made from seasoned, untreated wood. They're local, sustainable, and beautiful but, surprise surprise, they DO NOT like the dishwasher! They will swell up, lose colour, crack, warp, you name it - Make sure your KP/children/friends/partner/housemates know not to to throw this in with the wash!
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Carbon steel will take a patina, which you can, if you choose, polish off. A gentle buff using some Autosol metal polish is usually enough to tidy the blade. You can also use 00 or 0000 wire wool for a similar effect (or send it back to us for a refurbishment for a small fee), but the patina can also be really beautiful, help protect the knife from rust, and is part of owning a knife like this. Have no fear, your original pattern is still there hiding just under the surface!
If you want to prevent any patina or rusting at all costs (but really, chill) then you can immediately wipe your blade after use, and give it a light food-safe oiling whilst it's stored (your handles will appreciate this too!). However, the natural oils have a tendency to dry tacky and some people don't like that, so we use a food safe synthetic oil called white mineral oil which does exactly the same thing, but doesn't dry tacky. Stay away from exterior oils like un-boiled linseed oil and teak oil.
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The knives are heat treated. They are strong. They are also slightly more brittle. Don't chop into bone, metal, hardened plastics, can lids, wood... they really don't like it. If you drop one from a great height the super fine tip might break off - you can get it back with some persistent sharpening, or send it back to us and we'll give it a free MOT for you. But, if you've simply abused it, and trust us, we can tell, then you can pay for the refurbishment or a fix up yourselves and make sure to look after it better next time! Naughty!
If it just needs sharpening though, then send it to a knife sharpener. We recommend Scott at Sheffield Knife Sharpening. The man has the patience of a saint and does some truly phenomenal work at very reasonable prices.
Doing a little sharpening, and often, is generally better than letting your knife go completely blunt then having to reprofile it, in which case a hone is a good tool to have. A fine grit stainless or ceramic hone are good purchases. Diamond hones can be a bit aggressive at times and can make your knife feel toothy, as opposed to cutting cleanly.
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That said, whet and oil stones are generally the best way to look after your knives. A king 1K/6K is a good starter brick to get hold of.
You essentially get two stones in one. A relatively course side (1K) for shaping and a fine side (6k) for polishing on the same stone. The key to sharpening on a whet stone is to take material out from behind the edge first, then kick the angle up to sharpen the edge itself. Don't forget to strop your knife after you've sharpened.
There is no replacement for practise when using a whet stone. Its tricky and arduous, especially if you have to flatten some bevels, but with the right amount of time and effort you can get some truly refined results.
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One last tip, stay away from those shitty set angle pull sharpening blocks. If it wasn't obvious, they're shit.