• Sujihiki 265mm 'Foighne' Damasteel Concentric & Apex Ultra
  • Sujihiki 265mm 'Foighne' Damasteel Concentric & Apex Ultra – detail view
  • Sujihiki 265mm 'Foighne' Damasteel Concentric & Apex Ultra – side profile
  • Sujihiki 265mm 'Foighne' Damasteel Concentric & Apex Ultra – handle detail
  • Sujihiki 265mm 'Foighne' Damasteel Concentric & Apex Ultra – blade close-up
  • Sujihiki 265mm 'Foighne' Damasteel Concentric & Apex Ultra – view 6
  • Sujihiki 265mm 'Foighne' Damasteel Concentric & Apex Ultra – view 7
  • Sujihiki 265mm 'Foighne' Damasteel Concentric & Apex Ultra – view 8
1 8

Sujihiki 265mm "Foighne" Damasteel Concentric & Apex Ultra

Sujihiki 265mm "Foighne" Damasteel Concentric & Apex Ultra

By Collaboration

No longer available

Erik Gullikson

Reserve your place

We'll only email you when there's something to say. Invitations go out in signup order as new work becomes available.

This one-of-a-kind handmade kitchen knife, named Foighne—the Irish word for “patience”—is the work of renowned bladesmith Erik Gullikson. Designed as a contemporary interpretation of the Japanese Sujihiki, Foighne balances elegance and performance in a form that commands attention both visually and in hand. The profile is defined by a long, slender blade with an aggressively tapered spine, reducing weight toward the tip and enhancing its responsiveness during slicing tasks. Every line and angle has been carefully refined, resulting in a blade that feels light, precise, and deliberate.

The geometry features thin Walkschliff bevels—an advanced grind style characterized by a full convex profile from spine to edge, finally ground to zero at the apex. This grind creates an ideal cutting surface that combines reduced friction, excellent food release, and long-term sharpenability. It requires great skill and control to execute, and its presence here speaks to Erik’s mastery of the craft. When paired with the pronounced taper of the spine, this geometry results in a blade that moves effortlessly through both delicate and dense ingredients, excelling in everything from fine protein slicing to confident prep work.

The steel is as distinctive as the form. Forged in collaboration with Austrian bladesmith and metallurgist Tobias Hangler, the blade features an ApexUltra core clad in concentric-layered Damasteel—etched to reveal a subtle pattern and then finished with a fine satin polish to give it understated depth. The handle reflects the same level of detail: a geometric heirloom-fit bolster in black G10 transitions into stabilised crosscut bog oak, with alternating polished and grain-textured facets offering both visual rhythm and ergonomic grip. A deeply etched Damasteel Saga-pattern end cap and stainless pin complete the composition, merging modern form with timeless materiality. Foighne is not only a technical showpiece—it’s a meditation on restraint, refinement, and purpose-driven design.

Product Specification
  • Blade Type:
  • Overall Length: 390mm
  • Edge Length: 265mm
  • Spine Heel: 4.9mm
  • Spine Mid: 1.19mm
  • Spine Tip (20mm before): 0.9mm
  • Blade Height: 38mm
  • Weight: 149g
  • Cutting Edge Steel:
  • Steel class: Carbon
  • HRC: 66
  • Blade Construction:
  • Blade Finish: Acid Etched (Forced Patina)
  • Grind:
  • Handle Construction:
  • Handle Materials: Stabilised Crosscut Bog Oak, G10, Damasteel
  • Handedness: Ambidextrous

Blade type

Sujihiki

筋引

A long, slender slicing knife — typically 240 to 300 mm — and the Japanese equivalent of a Western carving knife. The narrow blade and long, straight edge are built to part cooked and raw proteins in a single smooth draw, producing clean slices with minimal sawing and minimal tearing of the surface. Height is kept low so the blade tracks straight through the cut.

A sujihiki is a specialist, and a worthwhile one for anyone who carves roasts, portions fish, or slices proteins regularly. Its length and narrowness make it poor for general board work and chopping, so it lives alongside a chef's knife rather than instead of one. The reward for that dedicated slot is slices a shorter, taller knife simply cannot match.

View full knife type guide →

Cutting edge steel

Apex Ultra

Low-alloy fine-grain carbon tool steel

Typical HRC
64–68
Corrosion class
Carbon
Production
Conventional
Origin
Austria (developed by Tobias Hangler and Marco Guldimann; project led by Hangler at Messerschmiede Hangler)

Apex Ultra is one of the most carefully engineered non-stainless kitchen knife steels in modern circulation, and the project of an Austrian smith — Tobias Hangler — who set out, with Marco Guldimann, to design a steel for the kitchen rather than borrow one from another industry. It carries roughly 1.25 percent carbon, around four percent chromium, modest tungsten and molybdenum, and a small vanadium addition. The composition is tuned to produce a fine, evenly distributed carbide structure that supports hardness up to 67 HRC while delivering toughness comparable to 52100 at the same hardness — a combination that is the entire point of the steel.

What this means for a cook is unusual permission. You can ask a maker to grind an Apex Ultra knife thin enough that a White #1 owner would call you brave, then ask for the heat treatment to land at 65 HRC, and the resulting edge will hold for longer than Aogami Super without microchipping. It sharpens cleanly on natural and synthetic stones alike and patinas slowly because of the chromium content, though it is not stainless and should be treated as a carbon steel.

Apex Ultra has become a signature steel of the European maker community, and the Modern Cooking catalogue carries an unusually deep bench of smiths working in it. Tobias Hangler himself heads that group, alongside Marco Guldimann, Benjamin Kamon, Martin Huber, Jonas Johnsson, Karol Karyś, Birch & Bevel, and MCx. It is genuinely a step forward — one of the relatively few cases where the marketing claims and the underlying metallurgical data are saying the same thing.

View full steel guide →

Blade construction

Laminated Steel

A category covering knives built from multiple layers of different steels forge-welded together. The hard cutting steel is sandwiched between softer outer layers (cladding) that protect the core, add toughness, and often contribute visual contrast.

The most common laminated constructions in the Modern Cooking catalogue are:

SanMai (三枚) — three layers: hard cutting steel in the centre, softer cladding on both sides. The traditional and most common form.

GoMai (五枚) — five layers: a hard core, two intermediate layers, and two outer layers. Adds visual depth and structural complexity.

KuMai (九枚) — nine layers: similar logic, with more cladding layers for additional pattern and structural variation.

GoMai and KuMai are often chosen not only for the additional layers and visual depth, but also because the intermediate layers can act as a nickel diffusion barrier — limiting carbon migration out of the core into the cladding during forge welding, and protecting the core's intended carbon content through the heat of the forging process.

In all cases the cutting performance is determined by the core steel; the outer layers are cosmetic and structural. The lamination contributes corrosion protection (when a stainless jacket clads a carbon core), reduced reactivity, and the visible boundary between core and cladding that gives the knife its character.

View full construction guide →

Grind

Walkschliff

A traditional Solingen grind — also called a kettle or kessel bulge grind — in which the blade is hollowed high on the side so its thickest point sits a little below the spine rather than at it. Below that bulge the steel is taken down to an extremely thin, finely convexed cutting edge, combining the rigidity of a thick upper blade with the keenness of a very thin one.

The Walkschliff is among the most demanding grinds to execute, historically reserved for the finest German knives and requiring years of a grinder's experience to do well. For the buyer it is a high-craft European alternative to the thin flat grinds of Japanese knives — strong, stable, and keen — but it is a hand-ground specialism, and a knife that carries it is priced for the skill it took to make.

View full grind guide →

Handle construction

Hidden Tang

A construction in which the tang runs into the handle but stays concealed inside it, rather than showing between two scales. A narrower tang — a full-length stick or a shorter projection — is set into a drilled or burned channel in a one-piece handle and secured with adhesive, a friction fit, or a threaded fitting drawn up against the blade. This is the traditional construction of Japanese wa-handles and many European hidden-tang knives.

The design puts the handle material in charge of the look and feel: a single piece of wood, horn, or composite — often with a ferrule or spacers at the front — is shaped into any cross-section the maker wants, from the classic octagonal and D-shaped wa profiles to fully rounded Western forms. With no steel showing along the grip, the handle can be slim and light, and is frequently made to be removed and replaced, with the balance sitting toward the blade.

View full construction guide →

Shipping & Returns

Shipping

We process orders 5 days a week (Monday - Friday) and ship from our shop in Sydney, Australia. We ship with FedEx, UPS and DHL.

We are happy to offer free international shipping on a variety of orders depending on location and order value.

Free Shipping Regions and Minimum Order Values

For Australia and New Zealand the minimum is $500AUD. For the rest of the world it is approximately €1000EUR. The discount is applied automatically when you reach the minimum cart value at checkout.

Returns

If you're not entirely happy with your purchase, you can return it within 14 days of delivery for a refund. The item must be in its original condition with all original packaging.

  • Returns are accepted for 14 days
  • The customer is responsible for return shipping costs
  • A 15% restocking fee may be applied to change-of-mind returns
  • We do not accept returns on second-hand items for change of mind

Faulty or Damaged Items

You must notify us within 5 business days of receiving your order. Photographic evidence of damage is required. Once approved, Modern Cooking will cover return shipping costs.

Product Care

Cleaning: Clean by hand with warm water. Avoid wetting the handle when possible.

Sharpening: We advise using whetstones to sharpen your knives and a honing rod or steel to maintain the burr between sharpening sessions.

Reactive Steels: Reactive steels like Aogami Super, Apex Ultra or premium reactive German and Swedish steels are susceptible to rust if not properly cared for. Keep the knife dry between uses and when storing for longer periods, wiping the blade with Tsubaki oil or another food-safe oil is a wise choice. A patina can be a beautiful personal feature on your knife and helps to stop rust forming.

Handle Care: For non-stabilised wooden handles, apply Tsubaki oil or another food-safe oil from time to time. Food-safe wax can be applied to both stabilised and non-stabilised wooden handles. Never apply hot wax or oil as you risk warping or damaging the handle.

View full details