Tamboti heartwood and sapwood, on three knives that cover most of the board.
Tamboti heartwood and sapwood, on three knives that cover most of the board.
Price range: £280 through £895
The everyday cousin of the Tamboti Esoterica. Three knives that between them cover most of what a kitchen asks: a santoku for the board, a small nakiri for the fiddly jobs and a utility knife for the hand. Buy the set, or choose the one you need.
Tamboti is one of southern Africa’s great hardwoods: dense, durable and warm in the hand. Ours comes from a sustainable source, and we choose pieces where a little of the pale sapwood still runs alongside the dark heartwood.
That line is the point. It would be easy to cut it away. We would rather keep it, because it is the difference between a handle that is merely dark and one that looks as though it came from a tree.
The Tamboti Esoterica put this wood on some of our less mainstream blades. The trio puts it on three we reach for every day. The Mako is our drop-nose santoku and one of the flattest blades we make. The Nimble Chopper is a small nakiri with real depth, built for piles of herbs. The Stout Yeoman is the smallest we go before paring territory, with a full-sized handle.
No two handles are quite the same, which is rather the idea.
Each knife in the Tamboti Trio 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 blades are 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
Tamboti is dense and naturally oily. A light application of food-safe oil once or twice a year keeps it looking its best.
Yourself
“This above all: to thine own self be true.”
– William Shakespeare, Hamlet
Every Tamboti Trio knife is made to order. 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
