13cm Utility Nakiri
13cm Utility Nakiri
£250
A small, flat-edged knife with real depth: built for precise, repetitive work where you want the blade guiding on your knuckles and cutting straight through rather than wandering, particularly piles of herbs.
The Nimble Chopper and the Agile Yeoman occupy similar territory on paper and are genuinely neck and neck as utility knives. The difference is in the geometry: the Nimble Chopper has the flat edge and depth of a Nakiri, which means it suits a straight up-and-down technique and knuckle-guided work; the Agile Yeoman has the pointed tip and gentler belly of a European utility knife, which suits in-hand work and tasks requiring a tip. Which one you want depends on what you are usually doing when you pick up a small knife. Sometimes we just name things what they are: it is nimble, and it chops.
The Nimble Chopper 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 through dense produce 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
Timber handles benefit from a light application of food-safe cutting board oil once or twice a year. Composite handles need nothing beyond normal washing.
Yourself
“The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.”
– Dorothy Parker
UK and Channel Island Delivery is Free
Each knife has a default handle that is held in stock and available for next working day despatch.
If you’d prefer another of our standard handles, we’ll despatch within 7 working days.
If you design your own knife through the Configurator, we aim for 4 weeks or less to make it from scratch.
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 and use UPS.
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
