sachem allison
Senior Member
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2011
- Messages
- 4,306
- Reaction score
- 48
Okay This is possibly on of the Oldest Sabatiers anywhere( who knows, probably not, but pretty damn old), Easily over 125 years old. it just says France. This is not a pretty knife, it has never been taken care of in it's lifetime, but whoever had him loved him anyway, this is evident in the wear and abuse this knife has taken. The blade has been sharpened so many time it is worthless, The handle is so twisted you wouldn't believe it would be possible to use it, yet it fits into your hand like a glove. The chef who had it loved it once and carved his initial into the handle and then wore it smooth over the years. The handle is oversized made for someone with bear pawed hands. It is made of old growth ebony. It is in the earliest nogent style.
The blade is a total rust bucket and ten inches long now, but I suspect it was 11 or 12 inches originally. It is 2 inches wide at the heel and I suspect that too is because of age and poor sharpening. I truly believe that this knife was sharpened on an old fashioned pedal knife sharpener. The blade starts out at about a 1/4 in on the spine at the heel , 3 in further down the spine it is 1/8 in and at the tip it is 1/32 in. I have never seen a taper like this on a knife. It is pretty thick behind the edge now and would need thinning to be useful. This is because the original edge and a large portion behind it are just gone from years of grinding. For those of you who want to know how to deal with the extended choil heel thingy take a look at the original way you were supposed to deal with it. remember in the old days you didn't sharpen your knives, a knife peddler would come buy and everyone would bring out their knives and he would grind away and give them back to you. Even chefs really didn't sharpen knives they just steeled them after the weekly grinding.
Anyway the reason I am posting this thread is I have a proposition to make. I am not presently in a position to refurb this knife and return it to some semblance of a useful life. I , however feel that this poor fellow deserves a new chance at life, like myself. I would like to challenge all the makers and hobbyists here to remake this knife into something that we can all be proud to own. Whether you choose to bring it back to as close to original as possible or whether you would like to modify it with a Wa handle , which would be cool by the way. I really don't care. It is a piece of history that has been forgotten and frankly, without it's influence none of you would have Gyutos to play with. This is the great granddaddy that started it all.
For doing this, I will give you the knife. I want nothing, other than to see this poor guy live again. Who is up to the challenge?
The blade is a total rust bucket and ten inches long now, but I suspect it was 11 or 12 inches originally. It is 2 inches wide at the heel and I suspect that too is because of age and poor sharpening. I truly believe that this knife was sharpened on an old fashioned pedal knife sharpener. The blade starts out at about a 1/4 in on the spine at the heel , 3 in further down the spine it is 1/8 in and at the tip it is 1/32 in. I have never seen a taper like this on a knife. It is pretty thick behind the edge now and would need thinning to be useful. This is because the original edge and a large portion behind it are just gone from years of grinding. For those of you who want to know how to deal with the extended choil heel thingy take a look at the original way you were supposed to deal with it. remember in the old days you didn't sharpen your knives, a knife peddler would come buy and everyone would bring out their knives and he would grind away and give them back to you. Even chefs really didn't sharpen knives they just steeled them after the weekly grinding.
Anyway the reason I am posting this thread is I have a proposition to make. I am not presently in a position to refurb this knife and return it to some semblance of a useful life. I , however feel that this poor fellow deserves a new chance at life, like myself. I would like to challenge all the makers and hobbyists here to remake this knife into something that we can all be proud to own. Whether you choose to bring it back to as close to original as possible or whether you would like to modify it with a Wa handle , which would be cool by the way. I really don't care. It is a piece of history that has been forgotten and frankly, without it's influence none of you would have Gyutos to play with. This is the great granddaddy that started it all.
For doing this, I will give you the knife. I want nothing, other than to see this poor guy live again. Who is up to the challenge?