Description
Five inches of blade behind a seven inch handle. That ratio is unusual and it is deliberate.
| Overall length | 12 inches |
| Blade length | 5 inches |
| Handle length | 7 inches |
| Handle | Octagonal rosewood with a steel ferrule |
| Steel | 1095 + 15N20 Damascus, 352 layers |
| Hardness | 58–60 HRC, oil tempered |
| Pattern | Wind & Mix twist Fire pattern feather rain drop ladder Damascus Blade |
| Included | Hand-stitched leather sheath |
Suits: board work in a small space. Slicing, dicing, and pushing a pile of chopped onion aside with the flat. The squared profile makes it a scraper as well as a knife.
Why the handle is longer than the blade
Most kitchen knives put more length in front of your hand than behind it. This one reverses that, and the effect is that the balance point sits back in your palm. You get a knife that feels light at the tip and very controllable, which is what you want for fine work close to your fingers. The trade is leverage: you cannot lean into it the way you can with a front-heavy blade, so let the edge do the cutting rather than your shoulder.
A flat edge and a squared tip
There is almost no belly here. The edge runs flat to a blunt, angled tip, so the whole edge lands on the board at once and there is nothing to rock. That is ideal for push cuts through vegetables and poor for rocking through herbs. The squared tip is also safer around a crowded board — nothing to catch, nothing to stab. If you want the same idea in a smaller package, the Mavado cleaver blade runs 2.5 inches; for the exact opposite geometry, look at a long flexible Colorado Snake fillet knife.
Board work
Use a wood or plastic board. Glass, stone and ceramic boards chip a hard edge, and at 58 to 60 HRC this one is hard enough to chip rather than roll. Keep the board dry underneath so it does not slide, and wipe the blade between wet ingredients rather than at the end. If the edge does chip on something hard, treat it as a repair and not a disaster — a few patient passes on a coarse stone will take the damage out.
Care: high-carbon Damascus up front, one piece of close-grained hardwood behind it. Hand wash, dry the moment you finish, put a light smear of food-safe mineral oil across the steel before storage. The wood handle is long and will show a heated house sooner than a short one will, so treat it with the same oil a couple of times a year. Never soak it and never run it through a dishwasher. Our Damascus care and sharpening guide has the full routine.
FAQs
Is this really a cleaver? It is cleaver-shaped but light at 5 inches. Treat it as a vegetable and board knife, not a bone chopper.
Can I chop through bone with it? No. A hard thin edge will chip.
Does it come with anything? A hand-stitched leather sheath, made to this blade.
Model: Bmk-717
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