Knife: The "Falcate" is a new exciting design
that I
named for the shape of a leaf; a falcate leaf is curved like a
sickle. I wanted to create a knife
that had a great crossover potential, in an accurate and narrow
carving and fillet knife, a blade that would be useful in slicing,
shaping, boning, and even light cutting board work. The curves of
the Falcate just beg to be used, a unique and beautiful asset as
well as a culinary work of art.
The steel: ATS-34 hypereutectoid martensitic stainless steel is an absolutely
excellent steel for the professional chef. The reason this
steel excels is because it's a martensitic stainless steel,
forming an incredibly strong microstructure of martensite,
the acicular, hard crystalline allotrope of the best tool
steels. It also can be treated to form profuse carbides:
iron carbide, chromium carbide, molybdenum carbide and
multi-element carbides. Much more important in this steel is
the very high molybdenum content. Moly is a strong carbide
former, aiding in nucleation points for eta carbide
development during heat treating and subsequent multiple
tempering cycles. This results in a tool steel that has very
high toughness, that is, resistance to breakage and
fracture. You can read
about ATS-34 on this page on this website. When properly heat treated,
ATS-34
is very corrosion-resistant as well. To
bring this steel to its zenith, I used my proprietary T3
deep cryogenic process in heat treating this blade; it's a
highly detailed, extremely sophisticated process that takes
33 individual steps and takes over a week long. The result
of this is an incredibly wear-resistant blade that has
extremely high carbide development, fine grain, and
extremely high toughness. Asperity is reduced; the
microstructure development is superior to any other typical
handmade knife, and far above any factory or manufactured
knife. This is ATS-34 at it's very best condition. I
tempered this blade to a flexible and tough 57.5 HRC, allowing play at
the tip without brittleness. The blade is completely hollow
ground, with a polished edge that is smooth and even. There
is no filework to catch debris and foodstuffs, and the steel
is clean and smooth and completely
Food Contact
Safe.
I bolstered the knife with
zero-care 304 high chromium, high nickel stainless steel
bolsters, which are contoured, rounded and finished for a
comfortable feel. The bolsters are secured with
zero-clearance peened pins and dovetailed to bed the handle
scales. The rear bolsters have a gentle quillon,
allowing even larger hands to comfortably grip the handle.
The handle scales of this knife are
a very hard, tough Majestic Agate from Idaho, a multicolored
chalcedony that has opaque and translucent areas. This
multicolored specimen is very hard to photograph; in the
photos you can
see that the reflection of the smooth, glassy polish makes
this difficult. To see what the stone actually looks like
without bright photographic lighting, please look at the 6
power enlargements in photos above and below. In these photos, I've removed the
photo reflectors so the light can penetrate the stone in a
more natural way. The colors are striking, to say the least,
and they change depending on the light source and viewing
position, with purples, deep reds, oranges, cream, brown,
black, and in sunlight, you can even make out areas of
gray-green along the spine. The natural lines in the stone
are not fractures; they are fusion seams and the stone is
very solid throughout. This magnificent gemstone requires zero care, it's strong and
tough and everlasting.
The knife feels elegant and graceful in
the hand. It's a long, tough, and narrow blade, and begs to
be used, feeing lightweight and keen.
A classic beauty,
this knife is
food-contact safe.
Stand: The stand for this elegant knife had to
be graceful and solid, so chose very striking Zebrawood
hardwood, with a slip of American Ash for the edge to rest
upon. The knife is easily guided into the slip, and is very stable
once inserted. The handle extending out makes the knife easy to
grasp and use. I mounted the hardwood sculpture to a cut, carved,
and polished base of Baltic Brown Granite from Norway. This is
an extremely strong granite, with browns, russets, and blacks and has
large phenocrysts throughout. In the bottom of the stone base, I've carved
and inset and attached an engraved black lacquered brass legend
plate to detail the knife and materials, and also set neoprene feet
to protect the countertop and allow air to circulate underneath the
base.
An elegant and tasteful fillet, carving, utility, and slicing knife, with
curved edge and a stunning work of art stand.
Copyright 1996-2024 by The Jay Fisher Company. All rights reserved. Federal copyright law prohibits unauthorized reproduction by any means and imposes fines up to $25,000 for each violation.
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