Anyone an expert in kitchen knives

Doesn't a ham knife have the dimples along the blade ??

The roughened area near the handle in the 2nd. pic. might be where a mild steel tang is forge welded to the thin, high carbon blade. This could make for a better, more malleable tang.

As for manufacturer, Sheffield was home to a great many self employed cutlery craftsmen, (little meisters) who, perhaps, might have sold some of their output individually rather than through established trade names.

Carbon steel blades were usually welded to an iron tang, and the remains of that create the puddle look. I believe welding was originally for cheapness because steel was expensive before Bessemer. Carried on later because it was found the combination is less likely to break at the tang.

Frances mentions sandwiching a high carbon steel core inside a mild-steel envelope. Same reason: knife steel is brittle, prone to crack, and supporting the hard blade inside a tough low-carbon steel makes the whole thing stronger.

Stainless knives don't need any extra help at the tang - the alloy used for knives is tough and hard without being brittle.

Dave

Only 45 years as a chef so still learning and not certain about your knife. Whatever it was it isn't that now .It's size and general appearance would say it's what's known as a French cooks knife.A general purpose tool that does the bulk of the daily tasks chopping and slicing. A fairly soft high carbon steel blade is the reason that it takes a good edge easily and why it has worn down over the years. I have a couple of knives in my kit that have been made into different knives by regrinding once they get past it but yours really should be used sparingly and cherished.

Bon Apetit

I tend to go with the weld idea as the marks sort of form a semi circle onto the blade section but oddly the other side of that blade is fairly smooth at the same point.

the handle is held on by a brass pin through it.

My wife has owned the knife for about 50 years (it was old then) and was  from the local deal in anything type guy.

P.S. the wife says her granny always sharpened knives in the back step.

Edited By V8Eng on 04/07/2022 00:01:59

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Some do, some don’t

MichaelG.

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Edit: __ Quoting verbatim from the page that I linked:

”The best ham knife is the one that effortlessly cuts through the ham without any meat sticking onto the blade. It can be quite frustrating to have to keep peeling off slices of ham from the knife every time you cut through the meat. One way to avoid this is to use a knife with a pitted blade. 

Traditionally, ham knives had smooth blades, but now you have the option of smooth or pitted blades.“

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 04/07/2022 06:14:06

Samurai swords were a bit more complicated than that. The better ones had different materials for the blade, the core, the back, and the skin. The fineness of the grain of the material depends on the both the number of times it was stretched and folded (normally between six and fifteen times) and on whether it was folded lengthwise, widthwise, or alternated. On a skillfully polished blade the grain makes beautiful patters on the blade.

Russell

This rather good video shows the processes very well; it's 45 minutes long but for anyone with more than a passing interest, is well worth the time.
Unfortunately, it looks like it's only available for viewing until 17th July 2022 from this source.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/video/4003161/?

Bill

To improve edge holding, steels may include alloys to promote hard carbides. Micro-hardness vs macro hardness. At an extreme, think of plasticine rolled in shattered glass. Also an opportunity for more pedantry. These carbides tend to make it harder to get a fine edge.

Modern japanese tools tend to be a thin piece of hard steel welded to a fat soft metal like wrought iron. The thin hard steel can still be bent so you can true up a plane blade edge by tapping it with a hammer - the hard steel bends and is held bent by the soft iron.

Thanks Bill, Very interesting video. The hard work the apprentices had to put in reminds me of what I went through in my martial arts training under top Japanese masters!

Russell

My sharpest knife is a folded blade from Japan. I have the water stones and a leather strop for sharpening or for touching up the edge. A light hone on the polish stone and strop will keep it sharp. So I went through my knives last night. My second sharpest knife is stainless blade from France. Then there is a huge number of knives that will not hold a very sharp edge at all. In saying that, the dullest will still shave hair, but they won't cut a tomato sideways without holding it down. The Japanese knife will, and so will the French steel knife. all others won't. The other test is the sharpest knife will cut a loose tissue, all others won't.