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Tobias Hangler

MCx Hangler

A partnership built on friendship and curiosity. MCx Hangler began with one vision: bring two of Europe's most innovative steels together in a single knife — Apex Ultra, the carbon steel Tobias created with Marco Guldimann and Larrin Thomas, clad in Swedish Damasteel. It's a combination we keep returning to, edition after edition, each one refining the last and pushing the limits of what these two steels can become together. An evolving line, made in limited numbers — join the waitlist to secure a future allocation.

Two great steels, one relentless pursuit

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Edition 03 Forging

In the studio

Our next release.

Edition 03Gyuto Damasteel Clad AU Edition 03

This next edition continues the line's enduring thread — the Apex Ultra core clad in Damasteel — pushed one step further. Tobias and MCx have agreed on a run of four to six pieces, each a one-of-one on handle materials. The headline developments this round are the return of the nickel diffusion layer and a sharpening of the blade geometry. The nickel layer was present on the first edition and skipped on the second; we intend to keep it on this and future batches, both for the bright line of contrast it gives between the Apex Ultra and the Damasteel and, more importantly, because it helps preserve the high carbon content of the Apex Ultra core. The profiles will likely remain Gyutos in keeping with previous releases, but with a more aggressive taper and a finer tip for greater agility and precision at the point.

The handle is where each piece becomes individual. Every knife in the edition carries the MCx Design Studio GripTec handle as its shared identity, finished with a unique wood accent — each a distinct, sustainably sourced Australian native. No two pieces will be alike, giving the edition a clear and ownable material story: a small set of one-of-one knives, each rooted in a different Australian native timber, made the way the line has always been made, with an eye to performance, refinement, and sustainability.

This is the plan as it stands today, but it's a living one. As the work moves from design to the forge and the bench, little things may shift — that's just the nature of making something by hand, and we'll always let the steel, the timber, and the final result guide those calls.

Subject to design and manufacturing considerations — not a guarantee of final specification.

The concept

Where Innovation Meets the Forge

MCx Hangler is a partnership in the truest sense — a direct collaboration between the MCx studio and Tobias Hangler, built less on a contract than on friendship and a genuinely kindred spirit. What draws us together is a shared, restless curiosity about the craft itself: how a kitchen knife is made, and how it could be made better. Can we build at this level efficiently, without ever compromising performance or quality? Can we do it in a way that's more thoughtful and sustainable? Those questions are the real heart of the line, and the answers keep evolving — every release a step forward in an ongoing conversation about process, material, and design.

The line began with a vision the MCx studio brought to Tobias: how fun it would be to bring two of Europe's most innovative, high-performance steels together in a single project — Apex Ultra, the remarkable carbon steel Tobias developed alongside Marco Guldimann and Larrin Thomas, clad in Damasteel, the Swedish PM stainless damascus. By a happy coincidence, Tobias had been turning over a similar idea with another Modern Cooking alumnus, Erik Gulikson — which is why the inaugural edition carries Erik's mark too.

This combination is the line's enduring thread. Rather than chase novelty for its own sake, MCx Hangler will keep returning to this pairing of Apex Ultra and Damasteel, exploring it edition after edition — each one an attempt to refine the last, sharpen the geometry, rethink the handle, and push the limits of what two such different steels can become in one knife. It's less a series of releases than a long experiment in getting closer to the ideal. An evolving line, made in limited numbers — join the waitlist to secure a future allocation.

MCx Hangler

The team

Who, and why.

Tobias Hangler

Partner · Messerschmiede Hangler

Tobias Hangler

Tobias Hangler stands among the most technically fluent makers in contemporary European bladesmithing, combining professional metallurgy with artisan blacksmithing from his workshop in Austria. A founding contributor to Apex Ultra and an active collaborator across Birch & ...

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Past editions

What we have made.

Chronological
Gyuto 235mm Damasteel Apex Ultra By Tobias Hangler
Edition 02 All allocated

Gyuto 235mm Damasteel Apex Ultra By Tobias Hangler

Apex Ultra

Limited release Read →
Gyuto 230mm Damasteel Clad Apex Ultra GoMai By Tobias Hangler & Erik Gulikson
Edition 01 All allocated

Gyuto 230mm Damasteel Clad Apex Ultra GoMai By Tobias Hangler & Erik Gulikson

Apex Ultra

Limited release Read →

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Join the MCx Hangler waitlist. Invitations go out in signup order when the next batch is ready.

MCx Hangler

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An MCx allocation is a soft commitment to pay in full. Invitations go out in signup order when the next batch is ready. We'll only email you when there's something to say.

Which variations from this line would you take?

Also at MCx

The other lines.

Line 01

MCx Oel × Kamon

Oliver Märtens × Benjamin Kamon

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Line 02

MCx Johnsson × Krichbaum

Jonas Johnsson × Simon Krichbaum

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Line 03

MCx Krichbaum

Simon Krichbaum

Visit the line →