18cm Mid-Sized Nakiri
18cm Mid-Sized Nakiri
£320
The Savernake Knife is the only knife most cooks need on the board. The 18cm nakiri form gives you length to slice a melon and depth to scoop chopped onion clean off the board without picking up a second blade. Neither so specialised it sits idle nor so generic it feels half-committed.
The shape is the argument. A flat edge meets the board along its whole length, so you get full cuts without rocking. The squared tip removes the wasted geometry of a chef’s knife: there’s nothing on this blade that isn’t doing work.
The Savernake Knife came out of a question we kept being asked. Customers would buy a knife block of six and ask which one to start with. We’d send them a chef’s knife. Six months later they’d email and say: actually I keep reaching for the smaller one. Or: actually I want something with more weight at the front. Or: I never use the tip.
A nakiri answers all three at once. It’s flat where a chef’s knife is curved. It’s deep where a paring knife is shallow. It has no real tip, which sounds like a loss until you realise how much of a chef’s knife you don’t use.
18cm is the size that does it. Shorter and it becomes a vegetable knife. Longer and it starts asking for a butcher’s block. At 18cm it sits in the drawer next to your bread knife, lives on the counter in most blocks, and does the work of a 20cm chef’s knife with less wrist.
We made it the flagship because it’s the knife we’d keep if we had to keep one. Everything else in the range exists because someone, somewhere, wanted a specific job done better. This is the one that does most jobs well enough that you stop reaching for the others.
The Savernake Knife is made from Sandvik (Alleima) 14C28N, a modern Swedish stainless steel. We harden it in-house to 60 HRC using a nitrogen atmosphere process, taking 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. The geometry reduces drag through dense produce and improves slicing performance without sacrificing rigidity. Every Savernake knife, including this one, 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
“Confine yourself to the present.”
– Marcus Aurelius
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
