A special collaboration, timed to debut with the introduction of our newest bladesmith, Tobias Hangler, is this stunning chef knife with house-made steel by Mr Hangle that has been fashioned into the impressive tool seen here by fellow Austrian Martin Huber. With 248mm / 9.8" of thin, hard, and hair-popping sharp edge, the blade is forged by hand from a five-layer formula consisting of hand sanded, satin-finished stainless steel cladding and a vein of pure copper to restrict carbon diffusion from the core of 120-layer carbon damascus, a pattern-welded creation of 01 and 15n20 high-carbon alloys. The resulting look will turn heads, and the geometry will impress that much more. Tall, convex bevels slim from from the rounded spine to a thin edge with enough strength for the tougher cuts and ample finesse and precision for detail work. The spine tapers steadily and beautifully, beginning at 3.9mm wide above the heel, going down to 2.8mm at the mid-point, and barely 1mm an inch from the tip, providing the blade with the versatility to do it all, including an extremely fine, pointed tip for detail work. Matching the blade is a comfortable, wa handle in shield form, faceted along the top and rounded on the bottom, sculpted from spalted elm wood with front and back caps of black G10 and copper inlays to complete the build.