Tall, bold, and beautiful, describe the striking style of this chef knife by Sydney, Australia’s James Oatley. Versatile, balanced, and hard-working describe its capabilities in the hands of the chef. Shaped from Vinland-pattern Damasteel stainless damascus, the premium, small-batch specialty steel made in northern Sweden, James fashions a workhorse blade with pronounced convex bevel geometry, a thin, razor-sharp edge, stiff, faceted spine designed as a workhorse for the cutting board. The 186mm / 7.3″ edge is relatively straight for push-pull chopping and precision slices with just enough curvature to rock on the board as needed. The tip culminates at a fine, pointed end for detail work. The heel, standing 63mm tall, angles backwards to lie under the fingers in the pinch grip, as James’ blades often do, providing added control, and maximum edge length in a compact overall footprint. With domed bronze pins that allows for removal in the case that care or maintenance are needed comes a handle sculpted from magenta-dyed and stabilized maple in James’ comfortable, well loved and hand-filling wa form. A custom saya is included.