Forged at his one-man studio in Canada's east, the unique and striking stainless damascus steel which forms the blade of this nakiri by Noah Vachon is unlike any we have seen before. Dreamed up collaboratively and turned into reality by Noah as well as damascus artists Joshua Prince and Jeremy Yelle, three distinct high-performance stainless alloys, AEB-L, CPM154, and 440c, combine to produce a dark, two-tone, undulating wave that flows through a sea of satin stillness highlighted by ripples both wide and narrow. All of this is, as expected of Noah's outstanding work, shaped for unabashed cutting precision in the chef's kitchen. A very thin, very sharp edge is backed by symmetrical, convex bevel geometry that slims downward from a rounded spine, which itself tapers steadily forward to produce a versatile, 176mm / 6.9" blade that is tough and robust in the rear while becoming finer in the front for more delicate cuts where the edge profile curves upward just slightly. At the tang where steel enters the wa-style handle, and in small areas along the blade's flats, are marks of the knife's hand-forged origins. Balancing just at the 54mm-tall heel, this one-of-a-kind tool moves nimbly and naturally in the hand guaranteeing vegetable chopping efficiency for years to come. To control the knife with comfort and ease is a traditional Japanese-inspired handle shaped from stabilized buckeye burl, accented with a green dyed inlay bookended by rings of black micarta, and tapered in several directions to ensure a world-class cutting experience.
