Meet the Maker

As their name suggests, mass-produced kitchen knives are designed to be made in vast quantities for as little as possible. Unfortunately, they are not necessarily made to give the very best experience to the user. While many can be great, the benefit of being a bespoke craftsman making one knife at a time is that I can take full advantage of a given steel's properties to get the very best out of it. Through careful heat treatment processes and years of refining my designs, Braydeston Knives are able to offer a vastly superior product and user experience, Sharper, more beautiful and truly handcrafted.

As a maker, I take many design cues from Japanese knives, globally renowned for their elegance and functionality. The classic octagonal handle or "Wa" handle caters to each user's unique grip preference. Japanese-style knives are also lighter and thinner than their Western counterparts, which often feature large, forged steel bolsters. This may throw off new users who are used to heavy European styles. However, with a thin bevel, at less than 0.1mm behind the 15° cutting edge, working with a Braydeston Knife feels truly effortless. 

Wood for the handles is taken through a process of stabilisation. The wood is dried to as close to 0% moisture as possible and then submerged in a specially formulated resin. The wood blocks are then placed in a vacuum chamber to have the air drawn from every possible void within the microscopic grain fibres. Once the vacuum is released the resin is drawn into the wood to completely saturate it. The next step is to bake the wood blocks at a precise temperature to plasticise the liquid resin, increasing the material's density and mechanical properties. When it is finally shaped into a handle, the resulting material makes for a long-lasting, water-resistant and, not least, beautiful finish.