Santoku Knife double crop olive wood

ALPHA Olive

The handle scales of the series Alpha Olive are made of selected olive wood that is up to 500 years old. The wood of the olive is very hard and weatherproof. This makes it the ideal material for knife handles. The strong grain and the distinctive light-dark effects of the olive wood make each knife an elegant one-of-a-kind. The blade of chrome-vanadium-molybdenum knife steel is hand-forged from one piece of steel. In over 40 further manual operations by hand, it becomes a unique piece of Solingen knifemaking art. The handle scales made of finely textured, velvety olive wood should not be put in the dishwasher. The blade is stainless, ice-hardened and of course hand-sharpened.

Material

There are sometimes contradictory requirements to be met by the blade material of knives. Thus, it is important to weigh up the different requirements and to realise an optimum. On the one hand, a knife steel should be hard, but not too hard, otherwise it runs the risk of breaking. On the other hand, the steel should not be too soft either, because otherwise the knife would lose its sharpness too quickly through wear. That is why the knives in the Alpha Olive series from GÜDE are made of a chrome-molybdenum-vanadium knife steel. This steel has an optimum hardness of approx. 57-58 HRc (Rockwell). The hardness of the knife steel in the amount of 57-58 HRc of the series Alpha Olive optimally fulfils the different requirements of a high-quality knife. Due to this hardness, the blade of knives from the Alpha Olive series is torsionally stiff, so that it guarantees exact guidance of the knife and thus a precise cut. But even a hard steel, such as the GÜDE knife steel, can be ground very thin. This means that even a hard steel can be very flexible. A flexible blade such as that of the Alpha Olive fillet knife is particularly well suited for filleting fish. Thanks to its flexibility, the blade can be moved back and forth between the skin and the fillet with a slight bend.

Production

The knives in the Alpha Olive series are traditionally drop-forged from one piece of steel. The result of the technology of drop forging is a high material strength even under dynamic stresses. During drop forging, the entire forging blank is heated and deformed between the upper and lower dies. In a multitude of further manual work steps, the drop-forged blank is turned into a handmade unique item from the knife manufactory GÜDE. After forging and punching, the knives are roughly ground, calibrated and cleaned, followed by so-called ice hardening: the knives are cooled to -80 °C to improve the structure of the microstructure in the blade steel. In a further step, the knives are tempered in two stages. Tempering is a Solingen knife-maker term that means that the knife is heated again and thus made unbreakable. Now the blade is pre-ground, followed by pre-grinding of the upper part of the knife, the back of the knife. This is followed by the fine grinding of the back of the knife and the sharpening of the bolster, the thickening between the blade and the handle and at the end of the handle. The inside of the handle is now pre-ground. Pre-grinding of the front and rear bolsters is done in another 5 steps. Now it is the turn of the fine grinding of the blade. The Solingen knifemaker also calls this "pliesten". For bread knives, the special GÜDE serrated edge is now applied, and for hollow knives, the bolster. Tomato, cheese and steak knives get their serrations. The two olive wood handles are now fitted to the knife handle. Then the holes for the rivets are drilled. A countersink must be drilled in the holes for the heads of the rivets. The two handle scales and the tang are now joined by rivets. In another five or so operations, the grip scales are roughly sanded to the tang and the front and rear bolsters. These five steps must then be repeated with a finer abrasive belt. Now the back of the knife is given its fine grinding. The fine grinding of the front bolster follows and the knife handles are pre-polished. Then the central decorative rivet is inserted and the handles are finely polished. Only now does the knife get its sharpness, because the knife edge, also called the bevel, is now ground (the knifemaker calls this "honing") and the trigger is polished. In the next step, the GÜDE logo is etched onto the blade. In the final stages, the knives are cleaned and the quality is checked. Then the knives are put into a sheath for protection. And finally, the shipping bags are fitted with rivets and the labels belonging to the series and the blade type. The finished knives now go to the warehouse and are ready for shipping.

Form

Forging in the die provides degrees of freedom in the design language. From the tip of the blade to the end of the handle, shapes can be created that would not be possible with any other forging technology. For example, a design language like that of Alpha is only possible in the drop forging process. This is the reason why GÜDE has remained true to this proven and traditional technology since it was founded in 1910, now in its fourth generation. A typical feature of many series from the manufacturer GÜDE is the unmistakable double bolster. The bolster is the knifemakers' term for the thickening of the blade steel that is achieved during forging. The (front) bolster between the handle and the blade serves as finger protection and at the same time as a balance weight. The second bolster at the end of the handle gives the knives in the Alpha Olive series an even balance. This guarantees the user pleasant and fatigue-free work at the same time. The knifemaker's term tang refers to the part of the steel to which the handle scales of a knife from the Alpha Olive series are attached. If the tang extends from the blade to the end of the handle, it is a so-called full tang. The knives in the Alpha Olive series from GÜDE all have a full tang, because this gives the knives a better balance of weight. The full tang is completely visible over the entire length of the handle, both from above and below. This is virtually proof that the knives in the Alpha Olive series are forged from one piece. There is no seam, no material transition - just as it must be with a knife forged from one piece in the die.

Function

High-quality knives must not only be sharp, they must stay sharp, they should lie well in the hand and be balanced so that fatigue-free and safe work is guaranteed at all times. The optimum sharpness and edge retention of the Alpha Olive series is ensured both by the hardness of the GÜDE blade steel with approx. 57-58 HRc (Rockwell) and by the GÜDE bevel angle of approx. 33 degrees. The handle shape, the continuous tang and the double bolster that is unmistakable for GÜDE make the knives of the Alpha Olive series a tool that guarantees perfect handling and balance. When it comes to sharpness and edge retention, the bevel angle is of particular importance: cutting can be described as driving a wedge through a material to be cut. The more acute the angle of the wedge, i.e. the bevel angle, the better this works. The blade angle is the knifemakers' term for the cutting edge, i.e. the sharply ground part of a knife. A sharp bevel angle makes a knife sharper than a dull bevel angle. However, if the bevel angle is too acute, the bevel can break. That is why the knives in the Alpha Olive series from GÜDE have an optimum bevel angle of approx. 33 degrees. This angle guarantees both sharpness and stability. The chrome-molybdenum-vanadium knife steel of the Alpha Olive series with its hardness of approx. 57-58 HRc (Rockwell) ensures long-lasting sharpness. The prerequisite is cutting on a suitable cutting surface, e.g. wood or plastic. The incomparable balance of the knives in the Alpha Olive series is a result of the double bolster in combination with the full tang, which creates a counterweight to the blade in the handle area. For the user, this means perfect balance and fatigue-free work. A secure grip is always guaranteed. The front and rear bolsters enclose the hand and protect it from slipping, even when greater force is applied. The knives in the Alpha Olive series deliver what knife lovers expect from a perfect knife. Handcrafted, drop-forged from a single piece, with the experience of centuries of Solingen knifemaking.