Custom makers - any from Spain?

I'm big into heirloom items and heritage. Got some great furniture from my grandparents, too bad my uncle was faster with the knives ...

Anyway, I'm ready to infect my 18 month old son with "our" disease. He was born in NYC, his mom is a proud Catalan (from Barcelona) and I'm German.

I'm not in a rush, but eventually I want custom knives from all three countries. I'm already talking to Tilman Leder, reached out to Marko (haven't heard back), but I don't know any maker in Spain (preferably from the Catalonia region - Barcelona at the center - of course)...

Does anyone know a maker there?

I was sent to the supposedly 'best' knife shop in Barcelona, and other than some of those giant curved fish cleavers, I didn't see anything other than commercial grade stuff that was produced in Spain. Didn't see any unique knives in use at the restaurants either (although I didn't go to El Buli, et al).
If it did exist, my guess would be that you'd find the higher end cutlery in Toledo simply because of its historical association with advanced metallurgy.

Not a custom, but I found this http://www.quitokeeto.com/products/pallares-solsona-kitchen-knife

ecchef said:

If it did exist, my guess would be that you'd find the higher end cutlery in Toledo simply because of its historical association with advanced metallurgy.

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+1. Think ecchef is probably right to point you toward Toledo. Looking near Toledo, I found hits for makers on a regional tourist website right away. This link (giving the translated version) makes reference to a handful of custom knifemakers. Not sure if any are up to the standard you're looking for, or even do a lot of kitchen products... http://translate.google.com/transla.../artesania/navajas-y-cuchilleria/&prev=search but they were a fast find ...

If you want to aim for Barcelona and Catalan, there might be a shot. Filarmonica razors (I think) were made near Barcelona and there may still be some cutlery tradition there?? Out of curiosity, ran a bunch of Google searches on that thinking. I found little info....but that's hardly an answer. The famous knife shop (circa 1911) in Barcelona (ecchef - this the same place you mentioned?) - Ganiveteria Roca - doesn't appear to have much local wares on their website but maybe if f you wanted to contact them (especially given you've got a Barcelona connection in your house) they could point you the right direction. Their site is here: http://www.ganiveteriaroca.cat/en/historia/

I did visit there, but it's not the place I'm thinking about. The other place was downscale from this and featured mostly knives & scissors. I guess what I meant to say was the best 'to the trade' shop. It was more like something you'd find in Kappabashi-dori. Can't remember the name...that was about 6 years ago.

If it was me, I'd probably start with Ebay Spain (if there is such a thing) and look for a vintage blade in good condition.

I think the most iconic Spanish knife would be the cuchillo jamonero. It is used to cut the leg while it is in the stand (jamonero) to give you the thin slices of jamón. It is really flexible and will be longer than 8".

Here is a link to a Spanish guy explaining the knives for anyone interested.
[video=youtube;r9212EON5RQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9212EON5RQ[/video]

He recommends a knife about 28-30 cm long, and as you can see by the beginning of the video, flexibility is critical. Arcos makes these knives in Spain, and you can easily find some on Amazon. If I were to get a custom Spanish knife, this would be the type I would choose.

I think I found something in Catalonia http://www.pallaressolsona.com

They even say something about custom knives, and they use Carbon steel!

wrobelan said:

I think the most iconic Spanish knife would be the cuchillo jamonero. It is used to cut the leg while it is in the stand (jamonero) to give you the thin slices of jamón. It is really flexible and will be longer than 8".

Here is a link to a Spanish guy explaining the knives for anyone interested.
[video=youtube;r9212EON5RQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9212EON5RQ[/video]

He recommends a knife about 28-30 cm long, and as you can see by the beginning of the video, flexibility is critical. Arcos makes these knives in Spain, and you can easily find some on Amazon. If I were to get a custom Spanish knife, this would be the type I would choose.

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I think my wife would love me (even more!) if I'd get a full ham on our kitchen counter. It's a unique show piece and the right Jamon straight off the whole ham is a slice of heaven

La muela knives.

I think this video has come up on KKF before, but some beautiful jamon slicing:

[video=youtube;FbDUtBbMerg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbDUtBbMerg[/video]

Good luck on your search for Spanish custom knife makers.

Is anyone familiar with knives from Lagioule en Aubrec? Some are made from Sandvik and they are beautiful.

I think Albacete is the real center of cutlery production in Spain. I was there a few years ago. Great knife museum and more cutlery shops in one city than I've ever seen anywhere else. But not much of what you could call handcrafted or custom. There are also a handful of small shops making mostly folding knives that also turn out some basic traditional pattern kitchen knives if you hunt around the web.

I was not into kitchen knives (or cooking for that matter) when I was in Toledo about 7 years ago. I went to a place where they made and sold knives and swords but I don't remember any kitchen knives.

I'm sure you could find some, but the emphasis was more on selling ornate medieval/Asian swords and pocket/hunting knives to tourists.

I know this is an old thread but I am about to get a Pallares Solsona parer to test the edge OOTB, its potential for sharpening and its retention and its only going to cost a few bucks. Had a look at their complete catalogue and I reckon if you got in touch they would absolutely make you a custom. The operating model isn't that different from an old school Japanese Smith like yoshimitsu, they are family concern and make knives, hoes, ratchets, scissors etc. Really cool

Badgertooth said:

I know this is an old thread but I am about to get a Pallares Solsona parer to test the edge OOTB, its potential for sharpening and its retention and its only going to cost a few bucks. Had a look at their complete catalogue and I reckon if you got in touch they would absolutely make you a custom. The operating model isn't that different from an old school Japanese Smith like yoshimitsu, they are family concern and make knives, hoes, ratchets, scissors etc. Really cool

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Those are the guys I found, yes! They will make a custom ham/Jamon knife for me, with Olive wood handle [emoji7]

alterwisser said:

Those are the guys I found, yes! They will make a custom ham/Jamon knife for me, with Olive wood handle [emoji7]

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Once again this is an old thread, but did you ever get a knife from them? What do you think of it? Do you know what specific carbon steel they use? I can't find much information about them online, but I'm almost tempted to pick one up just out of curiosity, since they aren't badly priced. Though also, everyone I find seems to just be selling the same 4-5 carbon/ boxwood knives, while they have a catalog on their site that shows tons of different kitchen knives, including more typical stainless/ black ones.

DanHumphrey said:

Once again this is an old thread, but did you ever get a knife from them? What do you think of it? Do you know what specific carbon steel they use? I can't find much information about them online, but I'm almost tempted to pick one up just out of curiosity, since they aren't badly priced. Though also, everyone I find seems to just be selling the same 4-5 carbon/ boxwood knives, while they have a catalog on their site that shows tons of different kitchen knives, including more typical stainless/ black ones.

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I haven't yet, no. I want to meet them in person and last time I was in Catalonia I didn't have the chance. I will get one of their typical/standard carbon knives first though to try... Probably in May...

That Pallares stuff looks pretty nice... reminds me of a Spanish Robert Herder. I've been eyeing that Aragon line (it's the 'vintage' looking line with the reclaimed looking wood and carbon blades) but for some crazy reason they are sold in loads of hipster stores across the US and Australia, but nowhere in Europe.:scratchhead:

Jovidah said:

That Pallares stuff looks pretty nice... reminds me of a Spanish Robert Herder. I've been eyeing that Aragon line (it's the 'vintage' looking line with the reclaimed looking wood and carbon blades) but for some crazy reason they are sold in loads of hipster stores across the US and Australia, but nowhere in Europe.:scratchhead:

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Did you try to reach out to them directly and ask if they sell B2C as well? Or if they can give you names of distributors/vendors?

I speak Spanish, but I know that they do speak English as well if you contact them via email. Not a given in Spain

alterwisser said:

Did you try to reach out to them directly and ask if they sell B2C as well? Or if they can give you names of distributors/vendors?

I speak Spanish, but I know that they do speak English as well if you contact them via email. Not a given in Spain

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Not yet... since my knife budget is rather limited I prefer to put it into 'known value' for now and leave the gambling for more affluent times.
But thanks, I hadn't really thought about them being such a small company that they would sell straight to consumer.
Still really curious about the steel though, so looking forward to your experience with it!

alterwisser said:

Did you try to reach out to them directly and ask if they sell B2C as well? Or if they can give you names of distributors/vendors?

I speak Spanish, but I know that they do speak English as well if you contact them via email. Not a given in Spain

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I emailed them to ask about the steel type (but assume I won't hear until Sunday night at this point). I did find a few places to buy them, and will probably take the plunge on a 10-12cm one:

http://www.marchsf.com/store/cookware-knives-pallares-solsona
http://koromiko.com/collections/pallares-solsona
http://www.quitokeeto.com/collections/pallares-solsona

I figured at that price it's hard to go wrong, and if I like it I may pick up an 8" Aragon to get used to that size while on the crazy waiting list at Bloodroot for my custom work.

DanHumphrey said:

I emailed them to ask about the steel type (but assume I won't hear until Sunday night at this point). I did find a few places to buy them, and will probably take the plunge on a 10-12cm one:

http://www.marchsf.com/store/cookware-knives-pallares-solsona
http://koromiko.com/collections/pallares-solsona
http://www.quitokeeto.com/collections/pallares-solsona

I figured at that price it's hard to go wrong, and if I like it I may pick up an 8" Aragon to get used to that size while on the crazy waiting list at Bloodroot for my custom work.

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I bought the 5 inch blade at Koromiko, worth the try, and I don't have to deal with the hassle of trying to explain my father in law how to get one...

alterwisser said:

I bought the 5 inch blade at Koromiko, worth the try, and I don't have to deal with the hassle of trying to explain my father in law how to get one...

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If you don't mind, let me know how it is. If you hadn't, I'd have ordered one myself tonight.

Also, do you know what's up with the shape of the 5" model? It's much thicker and more leaflike than the other lengths, and other knives.

And I got impatient and ordered the 8" Aragon. Hopefully I like it better than my Chicago Cutlery.

Sorry to bump this again, but they got back to me about their steel question:

Pallares Solsona said:

We use an special Carbon Steel a mill makes specific for us. To have an idea is like C75.

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About which, ZKnives says:

ZKnives said:

C75(DIN) - Relatively simple carbon steel. Can produce pretty decent results when heat treated properly, Several knife manufacturers use it in their budget knives, including Boker folders.
Manufacturing Technology - Ingot

Country - Germany(DE)

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So, not outstanding (which is to be expected at this price), but hopefully good enough to have some fun with a carbon chef's knife. It should arrive tomorrow.

I received it yesterday. Edge pretty mediocre, fit and finish kinda rough. Blade finish not very even/consistent, couple of minor blemishes and scratches. Like the handle wood.

Ugh, that's not reassuring. Well, I'll try to put a decent edge on it and see if it's worth keeping around for the tasks too ugly for a nice knife.

Yeah, mine is junk too - the edge is non-existent and the blade itself curves left as you view the spine. It could possibly take a decent edge if I put in the time, but with the F&F issues, it's not worth it. Ah well.

Thanks for saving me the time and money guys!

Jovidah said:

Thanks for saving me the time and money guys!

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You owe us 30 cents each for the service [emoji12][emoji23]