Four English timbers, a Butcombe blue spine and a navy leather wrap. A limited run, made with Butcombe Brewing Co.
Four English timbers, a Butcombe blue spine and a navy leather wrap. A limited run, made with Butcombe Brewing Co.
Price range: £390 through £2,200
Four knives that cover most of what a kitchen asks of them, each in a different English timber and all four sharing a blue and white spine made for Butcombe. The full set is available rolled in navy leather, cut and stitched in our workshop. A limited run. Buy the set, with or without the wrap, or choose the one you need.
When Butcombe asked us for a collection, we didn’t want four identical handles or a logo stamped on each. We wanted four knives with their own character that still plainly belong together. Each has a different job in the kitchen and a different story in its handle.
The Savernake Knife wears English oak burr, the wild swirls and knots that form when a tree’s normal growth is disrupted. Beautiful, unpredictable and not very stable on its own, so we set it in resin. Every piece is different, which is rather the point.
The OG Carver is in Hampshire yew, the timber of the English longbow. Botanically a softwood, in practice hard, dense and remarkably elastic. Its amber, orange and honey grain needs no stabilisation at all. The Stout Yeoman is English walnut, stabilised over about a month by a specialist in County Durham. It still looks and feels like walnut, just better suited to a working kitchen.
The Classic has the least likely origin. In April 2022 a London plane fell in Soho Square, narrowly missing offices associated with Paul McCartney. London specialists Fallen & Felled salvaged the timber, we secured some of it, and it went to County Durham for stabilising. A tree that spent its life in central London now has a rather more useful second career.
Along each spine runs a blue and white castellation: a poured polymer, cured through successive thermal cycles and tinted by hand. It is Butcombe’s blue, and it shows itself when you turn the knife over. The four travel in a roll-up wrap of deep navy Horween Chamois leather from A & A Crack & Sons, with old-gold highlights stitched by hand by Tiffany in our workshop. Smart, useful, and it should look better in ten years than it does today.
We hope these knives spend rather more time being used than admired.
Each knife in The Butcombe Quad is made from Sandvik (Alleima) 14C28N, a modern Swedish stainless steel, hardened in-house to 60 HRC using a nitrogen atmosphere process. The heat treatment takes the steel from 1080°C to -75°C in a controlled cycle that maximises carbide formation, edge stability, and corrosion resistance.
The blade is concave ground to 0.3mm thickness at 1mm from the edge. This geometry reduces drag and improves slicing performance without sacrificing rigidity. Every Savernake knife is sharpened to 15° per side.
CATRA, the global authority on cutlery performance, rank our blades in the top 2.5% of all blades ever assessed for initial sharpness and edge retention, tested to ISO 8442-5.
Washing
Wash by hand and dry immediately. The steel handles dishwashers, but the handle materials don’t, and the blade will dull faster regardless. Ten seconds at the sink is the right habit.
Day-to-day maintenance
A honing steel realigns the edge between sharpenings. Two or three passes per side before heavy use is enough. You don’t need to do this every time – just when the blade starts to feel less certain.
Sharpening
We offer complimentary workshop sharpening once a year for the first three years. After that we sharpen at cost. If you prefer to sharpen at home, our blades are ground to a 15-degree bevel – specify this if you use a third-party service, as most sharpen to 20 or 22 degrees as a default.
Storage
A magnetic strip or knife roll is ideal. Loose in a drawer accelerates dulling and risks chipping the edge. If a drawer is the only option, a blade guard solves both problems.
Handle care
The oak burr, walnut and plane handles are stabilised with resin and need nothing beyond normal washing. The yew is not stabilised: an occasional wipe of oil keeps it at its best. The castellated spine is a cured polymer and needs no special care.
The wrap
Make sure the knives are clean and dry before you roll them up. Wipe the leather with a damp cloth when needed and condition it now and then. Horween leather is oiled to age well, and the patina is part of the point.
Yourself
“There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern or inn.”
– Samuel Johnson, recorded by James Boswell
Every Butcombe Quad is made to order as part of a limited run. We aim to despatch within 4 weeks. If you have a date in mind, get in touch and we will usually be able to help.
All orders are delivered by Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed in specially-designed tubular Savernake packaging. A signature and age verification will be required on delivery.
We charge a £40 flat rate for delivery worldwide.
Lifetime Guarantee
With proper care, our knives are guaranteed for a lifetime of use
Unique Concave Geometry
Our signature blade profile. A cutting edge with only the thinnest sliver of near-parallel steel to follow through.
CATRA Top 2.5% Worldwide
Independently ranked in the top 2.5% of all knives ever assessed for sharpness and edge retention
60 HRC Hardness
Hardened in-house to 60 HRC using a nitrogen atmosphere and cryogenic treatment to -75°C
Individually Crafted
Every knife is made by hand in our Wiltshire workshop, from steel selection through to final edge
Like some more options?
Our configurator lets you choose from 18 blade designs, with full control over handle material, shape, spine pattern and accent colour.Â
