THE SOURDOUGH BREAD KNIFE
Hand Forged
Remade in England
Using Upcycled Materials
As used by Jim Challenger of Challenger Breadware.
Jim was one of the first people to order a sourdough knife from me, for which I am forever grateful. His exact knife is made from reclaimed Sheffield tool steel, with a half-charred oak handle and polished brass bolster.
FOR THE ARTISAN BAKER
Real bread is a joy to share with the people you love.
I wanted to create a knife that was worthy of the dedication, craft and passion we put into our bread. It had to be beautiful but also up to the task: to get through that glass hard crust (that we work so hard for) and also slice through the soft, open crumb (that we work even harder for!). This has been a challenge, but finally I have created a clear design philosophy and process.
I must give a big thank you to Jack Sturgess of Bake With Jack, who helped design and test this knife - hugely appreciated!
These are 100% hand crafted. Made with love and care in my Shropshire workshop.
" Fast-paced society? Digital age? Perhaps? All the more special and honour to know those moving in a slower lane. This beautiful knife is hand crafted by artisan Richard Harris. Hand-forged upcycled and remade with love, sweat, and passion from reclaimed steel (the Shropshire kind) and 4000yr old bog wood. Richard involved me from the beginning to the end of the creation process with images and conversations about our shared love of bread.
It is without a doubt an honour to own this beauty that not only looks great but does its job beautifully. I'm completely chuffed to bits! With much gratitude I thank Richard for sharing his artistry. "
Derrick, Amsterdam/NETHERLANDS
THE HAND FORGED
SOURDOUGH
BREAD KNIFE
TWO CHOICES
Two choices, both with the same purpose and philosophy; to tackle artisan sourdough. Hand forged and built entirely by my hands.
Due to the extensive process of making this knife (it is by far the most complicated to create for me), I decided to make two versions of this knife available.
I hope you find is helpful :)
1. Bespoke Reclaimed
reclaimed steel with sayaOne of a kind: Hand forged from vintage Sheffield tool steel, as a one off custom order. So as per my other knives, and as with the yanagiba I made (here). This forging process is much more extensive in terms of labour and material cost, so is naturally priced higher.
Being a bespoke order, this does allow more customization, as with my other knives. Fine details in design, shape, materials and custom stamping are available.
2. Be part of a small production run
New Steel in small productionSmall batches of 6-9: Hand forged from new 1.2067 high carbon steel (L3, 52100, cutlery steel). This is what I've used for all the prototypes you've seen. It's really excellent steel. Using new steel from Yorkshire means I can massively reduce the forging time and the expense to propane and abrasives.
To be able to offer this at a significantly reduced cost, these would have to be created in a small production run of 6+ knives at a time.
100% hand forged and entirely hand made by me.
All knives go through the process of forging and a complete heat treatment cycle including annealing, normalising, hardening and tempering. Freehand ground using ceramic belts, sharpened using waterstones, and the teeth are freehand ground and sharpened too. Each piece of locally sourced hardwood is selected and custom fit to each blade.
THE SOURDOUGH BREAD KNIFE
SPECIFICATIONS
- The blade is designed for cutting artisan bread
- Hand forged
- High carbon steel blade made from new 1.2067 or Vintage Sheffield tool steel
- English hardwood handle
- Forged copper bolster and pin
- Blade length 10" (too long? Read here)
- Blade height: typically 45-50mm
- Estimated 270-300 grams total
- Handles typically 6" in length with contoured grip
Note that this knife is made of high carbon steel which unlike ordinary stainless steel knives, will react to it's environment . See my care tips in my FAQ.
Your knife will vary slightly from these photos, due to the nature of using natural & reclaimed materials, but it's function and design will be the same.
" Where to start, the craftsmanship is absolutely amazing. Having used many knives to cut through sourdough, Richard's knife blows them out the water, to quote the old saying, was 'like a hot knife through butter'. The blade sharp as hell and a solid handle that gives great control.
Would not even try to use another knife with bread! "
Lisa & Kerwin, London/UK
ORDERING YOUR HAND FORGED SOURDOUGH KNIFE
Two Choices
1. Hand forged, using vintage tool steel
£800
This includes delivery in the UK.
reclaimed steel with sayaThis is a custom order for a hand forged sourdough bread knife created using reclaimed steel from vintage sheffield tooling. You also have more choice over materials and design, and this includes a custom made saya.
Once ordered, I estimate to dispatch your knife within 8-12 weeks.
Click "Pay Now" to take you through to a secure paypal payment (you don't need a paypal account), or contact me directly for a bank transfer.
2. Hand forged using new 1.2067 steel
£600
This includes delivery in the UK.
New Steel in small production
This order is part of a batch order and so is available at a significantly reduced cost. I need 10-15+ orders in a production run for this to be viable. I will post out a newsletter in order to try and gather orders efficiently, but because of this requiring a small production process, there may be an additional lead time of 7 days.
Once ordered, I estimate to dispatch your knife within 8-12 weeks.
Click "Pay Now" to take you through to a secure PayPal payment (you don't need a PayPal acccount), or contact me directly for a bank transfer.
WROUGHT IRON SOURDOUGH KNIFE
I'm now offering a THIRD choice with the sourdough knife!
Laminated antique wrought iron construction that's fire welded to a high carbon steel core.
INTERNATIONAL POSTAGE
Postage is included within the UK.
If you would like delivery from outside of the UK I'd be happy to arrange this. There may be a small increase in price, I hope you understand. I've included a drop-down options for the UK, EU and North America above to make it a little easier. If you're not sure or would like delivery outside of this area, just ask and I can get you a quote.
Hi, I’m Richard!
- I am passionate about sourcing food locally, which partly inspires my hand forged, upcycled kitchen knives
- I've always loved to cook. I'm someone who gets excited by bizarre things like purple sprouting broccoli and freshly baked bread, but I have never been a chef
- I love to travel, mostly for food
- My workshop is based in the heart of Shropshire, England
On the blade length…
When speaking to various bakers, it was almost unanimous that the length of the knife has to exceed the width of your bread. Otherwise it's just impractical to cut... If your boule is 8" diameter and your bread knife is 7" in length, then it's just not going to work very well.
Having said that, there were a couple of people who said they were somewhat intimated by a very long knife, and only baked smaller loaves, so had no real need for a 10" blade. I 100% get this as well, don't worry! If you'd prefer something shorter, I can of course still do this for you for both option 1 and 2 (above) :)
