La Mezzaluna made with
standard Myrtle wood handles -
prices
This is a traditional chopping knife from Italy and Switzerland, and is the most interesting for me to make and use. It is used with two hands and the food is in between you and the 'Luna' on the cutting board . Rock the edge over the food towards you, dicing as you go. Then push the food to the back of the cutting board again and repeat. It took me a few days to get used to using it, but then it was hard to put down. I have adapted it for use in the modern day kitchen. What I mean is that I felt it needed to be very easy to clean and sharpen in the kitchen. Hence the tiny bolts holding the handles to the body. Many of my customers hang theirs on the wall . A big seller to Europeans as no on else on the European Union makes these anymore out of carbon steel. The body is made from 1/16th inch thick high carbon tool steel and is 2.5 inches wide from top to cutting edge. It is usually 7 inches wide, although I have custom made these all the way to 12 inches wide. The handles are bolted on with small button head stainless steel 6 x 32 bolts, with lock nuts. The handles are removable for easy cleaning, sharpening and transport . The unit can also be sharpened without removing the handles if you like , with an electric or hand sharpener . The handles come with with brass bolsters and are 6 inches long in total.
Above: Close up of my custom 1/4" rivet that is placed in the butt of my handles. Square brass inside round brass, filled with brass and steel rods and red-dyed epoxy. It goes through the handle
Below : An example of western style Double Brass Bolsters with a high French polish on . Cost for double brass is $35
extra per knife .
Above: Western style Fancy Handle -
with stabilized Box Elder Burl
wood with two 1/8" black and white spacers ~ brass/white/black/handle wood. This costs $20 above cost of
knife for spacers, and $47 for stabilized burl wood.
E-mail me of your interests when ordering.
Above: Western style extra fancyhandle & blonde
handle wood is called Myrtle Wood. Traveling up the handle then, above the Myrtle, is
brass sheet, 1/2" stabilized Redwood burl insert, white and black spacers and then the brass bolster. Handle has brass 1/8" rivets as well as a company chop in the butt. The chop is a 1/4" tube filled with red dyed epoxy and brass rods and tubes. While the wood insert will vary from piece to piece, one can order this style of handle. Other wood inserts I use are Ebony and various dyed stabilized woods.
Above: Madrone wood for handles
The carbon steel I use is 1/16th or .062 inch thick ( except for knives longer than 12”) . The steel is 1075 cold rolled high carbon tool steel, which is heat treated one knife at a time, by me in my shop. I machine my knives, thereby saving the expense of forging a thick piece of steel out to the thickness of the steel I use. Properly heat treated carbon steel, allows for a knife that will keep a keen edge, yet is noticeably easy to re-hone for a new keen edge. All the sweeps of the edges of my knives have the classic French curve, for that nice rocking motion. For ease of use and re-sharpening.
I use various woods for the handles, depending on your preferences. The first choice is called Myrtle Wood or Bay Laurel. It is generally light colored (lighter than the Rose Wood ) although some pieces can be tawny. Many pieces have tremendous chatoyance. It was locally harvested over 25 years ago along with the Madrone wood I am now using.
Madrone is very hard and grows wild all over the west coast. It exhibits swirls and waves at it's best. I call it the Northwest's answer to Pink Ivory, because of it's pink overtones. It is much like Eucalyptus in that the skin of the tree sheds it's bark and some leaves in summer. It is ideal for kitchen knives. I also use Santos Rosewood, which is heavier and more oily than Myrtle, because of climatic conditions. It is harvested from a finca in southern Mexico one tree at a time, and is an abundant excellent substitute for Cocobolo ( which is rare and super expensive ) . It still has the brown base and can exhibit swirls and dark longitudinal lines. It is perfect for a kitchen knife handle. Madrone, Myrtle and Rosewood are the same price in the drop down menus. If I have Myrtle and you want it, great. If I am out, I may need to replace it with Madrone. Any questions about this, write me. The last choice of wood I offer, is stabilized burl wood. All species and handles can usually be highly figured with swirls and eyes. If you go to my F.A.Q. page ( & scroll down ) , there you will find two links to my suppliers. Simply cruise around their sites seeing if you can find the wood you want on your handle, then e-mail me. If your busy and you want me to look, let me know. Each wood choice is unique, with no two exactly alike. I charge $20 over the cost, plus shipping/handling to work with this wood. Part of the $20 is the cost to ship it to me. The stabilized wood, absorbs very little moisture and the color will not fade. Below are two sources of stabilized wood.
Cruise around their sites, and see if something hits your fancy. If it does,, simply e-mail me along with size of knife you want, and I will invoice you. Any problems with size match and I will get back to you promptly. Each side of the knife has a SCALE and each knife has a set of scales. Minimum size of each scale of wood should be : 4 3/4" long, 1.5" wide and 5/16th" to 3/8th" thick. Any questions about this process, please let me know. They carry many different woods (both local and exotic) and most are quite nice. Just noodle around and let me know, or tell me and I can send a few choices if you like. e-mail here
1- Burl Source - they are two valleys over from me.
2- Alpha Knife Supply - numerous choices. I prefer not to work with spalted wood.
The finish on my blades is finished to 600 grit . Over time the surface of carbon steel kitchen knives, will take on a patina. All handles come finished to 400 grit, with a coat of vegetable oil. Presently I use Orange/Olive Oil. The brass bolster is riveted and glued onto the full tang, and is in between the handle and the blade. It serves to protect the end grain of the handle wood and adds the perfect weight to the handle. Handles generally measure out to about 5 ¼ inches – ¼” leeway from the back of the blade to the bolster, 3/4" of brass and then 4 1/4" of wood. All blade lengths are close but not exact.
The handle is secured with 4 rivets, which are glued and pressed into place. There are three 1/8” brass pins, and a company chop in the handle ‘butt’. My chop goes through the handle and is functional. It is made in 12” lengths and is comprised of 4 - 1/16” brass pins, with a steel center, inside a 5/32nd square brass tube, which is inside a round brass tube. Red dyed epoxy is injected into the 12” tube, to hold all a-tanto. I then cut them down to about an inch and install. (Back to the top)
Prices for La Mezzaluna Want to get info on how to order, options for handles or how to pay → click here ←
