Fabulous old Henckel's chef's knife...

[gben]

I love this old 15-inch, 38-centimeter, Henckel's Chef's knife. Forged masterfully from one-piece of wonderful steel. A nice finger-guard/stop is forged into the middle, then the steel is tapered to the end of the handle, and to a paper-thinness to the tip of the blade. I can bend the tip of the blade ninety-degrees to either side and it just springs right back to straight. I am guessing this is a pre-WWI knife, because Henckel had other awards later than 1904 which are not listed on the blade. So not only is it a tool for the artist in the kitchen to use, it is a tool made by artists!

 

[darth_cholo]

Wow. Don't know anything about antiques. Do you restore something that old or leave it in it's condition you found?

 

[John A. Larsen]

What I did with an older Dexter 9-inch chef's knife when I got it, was to first go all over it with 0000 steel wool and Isopropyl alcohol. The wash it, let it dry and hit the wooden scales with Flaxseed oil, which is edible Linseed oil. Yours looks to have some gunk down between the scales and the tang, that I would take out with a tooth pick, or a dental tool, then fill the gap with Super Glue, then use the Flaxseed Oil on the wood scales, and use the knife. Nice that you have such an old, but well made knife. John

 

[Wowbagger]

I can bend the tip of the blade ninety-degrees to either side and it just springs right back to straight.

Now that's a knife !
Thank you for educating me.