Refurbished J.A. Henckels 14.5″ Chef Knife Carbon Steel Solingen Germany Transitional Late 1960s

Refurbished J.A. Henckels 14.5″ chef knife

made in Solingen Germany with carbon steel blade, walnut or fruit wood handle scales with aluminium rivets. This is from a transitional period; drop-forged, but not hand-forged, with the post-war handle shape of the 1950-60s (round transition from bolster to handle) but with aluminum rivets that began to be used in the 1960s. The tang in the handle has no taper indicating it was not hand-forged after drop-forged. but it was likely still hand-ground to a degree when new.

When we found this it had been sharpened in enough so that the edge was starting to get thick and had some bends in the edge along with some rust. It has been thinned and re-ground here, in the old style leaving a thin convex face. There are a few remaining pits from the previous rust and 99% of the bends are out of the edge. Handle is nice and secure and it’s ready to get back to work.

This is a beast of a knife and represents a long gone era of Solingen knife making predating the prevalence of stainless steel. Great for cutting giant rouladen, immense cabbages, etc. or as a centerpiece to a collection. 

14.5″ blade, 2.5″ wide at heel, 20″ overall 17.3 oz