Hand-Sawed Perfection: Exploring the Art of Traditional Irish Knife Making

Although we now live in a world where the household knife draws most of its power from being picked off a production line, it still seems that there is something irresistible about a knife where the blade was hand-sawed by someone with a deep and proud history of craftsmanship, creating a knife that’s unusual, functional, and beautiful in equal measure — an object to be treasured by chef and collector alike.

The Hand-Sawing Tradition: A Labor of Love

Every piece is hand-sawed, which requires great patience, a steady hand, and a thorough knowledge of metallurgy. 

Where a mass-produced knife comes out of a machine, ready to be sharpened, hand-sawed knives must be born of such careful craftsmanship that the patience of the bladesmith aids every edge, every grind, every ridge, and hollow. First, the metal is heated, beaten, or pushed into a solid blank. 

• Picking the Steel: Knifemakers lean on high-quality carbon steel or stainless steel, each with its own characteristics.
• Shaping the Blade: The maker cuts the blade from the forged steel blank to specification using a hand saw.
• Grinding and Heat Treating: The blade is ground to its final shape and heat-treated to make it harder and more robust.
• Handle Making: Handles are made from natural materials like wood, bone, or horn, which gives each knife a feeling of individuality.

The Allure of Hand-Sawed Knives

Hand-sawed knives offer a unique appeal that sets them apart from their mass-produced counterparts:

• Better Knives: Every knife is a unique work of art, the expression of one master craftsman.
• Personal Touch: Most makers allow you to pick your blade shapes, handle materials, and even engravings.
• Tradition: By owning a knife that you’ve hand-sawed, you’re linking yourself to a millennia-old tradition of knife-making.
• Investment Value: Handmade knives often appreciate value over the years, which is a bonus for any collection.

Where to Buy Hand Saws in Ireland?

If you go to a home store, your choice of knives will come from a tower of mass-produced products. If you want to find a knife that’s been hand-sawed, you need to do a little more searching. Here’s where:

• Craft Fairs and Markets: Local artisans often have tables where they sell handcrafted knives.
• Direct from Makers: A number of knife makers have websites and social media pages where you can browse their blades and order.
• KENTMASTER IRELAND – We have a profound collection and can get access to much more from the global networks we’ve built over decades. 

Choosing the Right Hand Saw

A saw that’s good enough for a DIYer or a professional chef to purchase once-off can be found by seeking:

1. The thinnest blade and narrowest kerf (kerf is the space created by the saw in slicing through a piece of wood).
2. A roughly paddle-shaped saw with thin metal blades connected by a laminated wood core and hinged to a wooden handle.

Taking Into Consideration

• Blade Type: A hacksaw or jeweller’s saw is suitable for cutting metal.
• Comfortable Handle: A comfortable grip is crucial for precise cutting and reducing hand fatigue.
• Replaceable Blades: Opt for a saw with replaceable blades to ensure continued use.

Hand-Sawed Knives: Tailored Tools for Every Kitchen Task

Hand-sawed blades provide an additional layer of customisation and control not found in knives that are mass-produced. This means that makers can create bespoke tools that are fine-tuned to the cutting task and ensure that culinary tasks are completed with increased efficiency and pleasure.

1. Chef’s Knives:
   • It is the jack-of-all-trades of the kitchen, the chef’s knife forged by hand and featuring curved blades that work best at a rocking motion for slicing herbs, chopping garlic cloves, and slicing up vegetables.
   • The hand-sawed edge, usually with a finer tooth pattern than factory-made blades, gives a clean cut and eliminates the bruising of tender produce.
   • Perfect for carving roasts, dicing potatoes, and just about everything you need to get done in the kitchen.
2. Bread Knives:
   • Serrated along the edges, hand-sawed bread knives glide through coarse, crusty loaves like a warm knife through butter, slicing through crispy outer coats without smushing the soft insides.
   • The hand-sawing process allowed a finer-grained control over the serration pattern, to ensure optimal cutting performance of the different types of bread.
   • Perfect for slicing sourdough, baguettes, sandwich loaves, and even delicate pastries.
3. Boning Knives:
   • These thin, flexible knives are indispensable for removing meat and poultry bones. Hand-sawed boners are usually thinner and more curved than machine-made ones.
   • This increased flexibility permits finer-tipped slices, fewer hairline fractures, and less wasted meat that’s too ripped to be used.
   • It’s perfect for deboning chicken and fish or for flattening things like pork loin for stuffing.
4. Fillet Knives:
   • Suited to the more delicate job of filleting fish, these hand-sawed fillet knives are made of a thin, flexible blade capable of slicing flesh from bone.
   • Hand-sawing allows for careful tapering of the blade, leaving the edge razor-sharp and drag-free, biting into the water and sliding through it cleanly.
   • Perfect for preparing salmon, trout, cod, or any other fish you enjoy.
5. Slicing Knives:
   • Hand-sawed slicing knives with long, narrow Granton-edged (‘scalloped’-edged) blades are optimal for cutting roasts, ham, and other cooked meats.
   • The Granton edge produces little air pockets, which keep the blade from sticking to thinly sliced vegetables so that the presentation is as picture-perfect as possible.
   • Sawing by hand lets the knife-maker control the size and spacing of the grantons to the needs of particular slicing.

The Hand Saw: A Versatile Tool for Knife Making

• A hand saw is the steel blacksmith’s primary tool for cutting a blank into the desired shape of the blade.
• There are different kinds of hand saws, which vary in terms of their precision and suitability for different types of blades. For example, hacksaws are commonly used for woodwork, while jeweler’s saws are ideal for thinner blades.
• Depending on the maker’s skills and the blade design he or she prefers, a saw can either be a dovetail saw, tenon saw, or a rip saw.

SUMMARY

Thanks to hand-sawing, Irish knife-makers are making blades that put the pleasure back in our meals. If you are a professional chef or a passionate home cook, a hand-sawed knife will become a treasured tool. If you simply appreciate how things look and feel, a hand-sawed knife is simply beautiful. And now you’ve read this, you know where to buy hand saws in Ireland.