Boker Knifestyle | EN Edition 2018 / 2019

36 CONSTRUCTION OF A KITCHEN KNIFE
CONSTRUCTION METHODS & BLADE JOINTS
The knife has been an essential universal tool for more than 2.4 million years. Knives are available in a wide variety of shapes and designs for
almost any purpose. As a tool, kitchen implement, decorative object or collector’s item – people value the advantages of these sharp tools
in every kitchen. The construction possibilities for a kitchen knife are almost as varied as the possible uses – from cutting fresh bread to
carving a beef tenderloin or filleting fresh fish. At the Boker Manufactory, we use three different blade and handle joint designs, depending
on the knife series.
Each design has its own tradition and purpose, and offers different advantages in terms of production, handling and use. Despite all
differences, these designs of Boker kitchen knives have one thing in common - they are all excellent and superior kitchen knives that you
will never want to put down. Depending on your individual and personal preferences in terms of design, weight, ergonomics and balance,
you are sure to find the right knife in our collection.
Bevel
Forged
bolster
Tang
Cutting
edge
THE FORGED BOLSTER
European kitchen knives are mainly used to cut with pressure.
The die-forged bolster offers a few distinct advantages. For this
cutting technique, the index finger or middle finger presses down
on the end of the blade. Thanks to its three dimensional shape, the
bolster serves as a comfortable pressure point. At the same time,
its weight supports the cutting movement when the blade moves
forward.
The knives in our Boker Core series are die-forged with a
bolster. Die-forging is a technique with roots in the early days of
industrialization. First, a roughly shaped piece is cut off from the
raw material. This piece is brought to a red heat and hammered
into shape inside a massive form consisting of two halves, top and
bottom. This process is also called drop forging. The bottom die
serves as a counter surface. The die dropping down onto the blade
is affixed to a drop hammer weighing two tons. The resulting blade
blank needs to be soft-annealed before the blanks are deburred,
which means that the excess material created during the forging
process is removed. The blank is calibrated again on a knuckle joint
press with 800 tons of pressing force. This process is particularly
suitable for sharply contoured blade profiles.
The bolster remains a technical challenge, even and especially
after forging. A grinder now shapes the knife’s fine contour
from the rough blank. The complex three-dimensional and conical
structure of the bolster requires the grinder’s full experience and
concentration. Careless handling can cause unsightly dents or
notches at all junctions of the blade and handle.