• Petty 175mm 24 Layer Damascus Poplar Burl, Carbon & G10
  • Petty 175mm 24 Layer Damascus Poplar Burl, Carbon & G10 – detail view
  • Petty 175mm 24 Layer Damascus Poplar Burl, Carbon & G10 – side profile
  • Petty 175mm 24 Layer Damascus Poplar Burl, Carbon & G10 – handle detail
  • Petty 175mm 24 Layer Damascus Poplar Burl, Carbon & G10 – blade close-up
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Petty 175mm 24 Layer Damascus Poplar Burl, Carbon & G10

Petty 175mm 24 Layer Damascus Poplar Burl, Carbon & G10

By Martin Huber

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Martin Huber

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A vibrant and contemporary styled 175mm petty/utility knife from bladesmith Martin Huber. The blade is forged from in-house made 24-layer Damascus steel, a combination of 1.2842, 75Ni8 and C100. The result is a very premium steel, suitably hard for a tough edge and featuring a beautiful, high contrast wave pattern. At the spine the blade features a small amount of brute de forge, giving the steel a nice textured feel at the pinch point.

A k-tip profiled knife with a stiff, relatively consistent spine thickness and a classic petty edge profile. A 42mm blade height for a decent amount of knuckle clearance makes this a very versatile and nimble little blade, at home in the kitchen or at the table next to a block of hard cheese.

Martin’s signature tapered Rokkaku Hanmaru handle feels great in the hand with the facetted shoulders giving the user a perfectly indexing point to pivot the blade for detail work. The handle is shaped from a vibrant stabilised piece of popular burl, which is paired with carbon fibre spacer and G10 bolster for a unique contemporary look.

Product Specification
  • Blade Type:
  • Edge Length: 175mm
  • Spine Heel: 3mm
  • Spine Mid: 2.67mm
  • Spine Tip (20mm before): 1.5mm
  • Blade Height: 42mm
  • Weight: 154g
  • Cutting Edge Steel:
  • Steel class: Carbon
  • HRC: 64+
  • Blade Construction:
  • Blade Finish: Brute de Forge
  • Grind:
  • Handle Construction:
  • Handle Materials: Stabilised Poplar Burl, Carbon, G10
  • Handedness: Ambidextrous

Blade type

Petty

ペティ

The Japanese small utility knife — the name comes from the French petit — typically 120 to 150 mm. A petty bridges the gap between a paring knife and a chef's knife: long enough for in-hand work like peeling and trimming, yet precise enough for detailed board tasks such as slicing shallots, segmenting fruit, or breaking down small items where a full-size blade is unwieldy.

Its versatility is the point, and so is its ceiling. A petty is nimble and confidence-inspiring for fine work, but the short blade and light build make it inefficient for high-volume chopping or anything large. Most cooks keep one as the constant companion to a larger knife rather than as a primary.

View full knife type guide →

Cutting edge steel

Damascus

Pattern-welded composite construction (term, not an alloy)

Typical HRC
Determined by core / outer steel
Corrosion class
Varies
Production
Pattern-welded
Origin
Global

“Damascus” is a construction technique rather than a single steel — though that deserves a careful qualification. A damascus billet is built by forge-welding alternating layers of two or more steels — typically a higher- and a lower-carbon partner, or a contrasting-nickel pair — and then folding, twisting, ladder-cutting, or otherwise manipulating the billet to expose the layer interfaces in a pattern. The visual interest comes from the etch, which preferentially attacks one of the steels. A damascus billet is never melted and homogenised into a single chemistry the way a conventional alloy is; but once the layers are forge-welded they are bonded at a molecular level, so for every practical purpose the finished billet behaves as one steel.

For a kitchen knife the relevant question is always: what is the cutting steel? Damascus reaches the edge in two ways. In clad damascus the pattern-welded material is only a decorative jacket wrapped around a separate core — a stainless core such as AEB-L or MagnaCut, or a carbon core such as 26C3 or Apex Ultra — and it is that core, not the jacket, that does the cutting. In full damascus the entire blade is pattern-welded (the more common approach in custom Western work), and the cutting edge is formed by the harder of the laminate’s component steels.

This is one of the points where a customer-facing entry has to be honest: a beautiful damascus pattern is a craft achievement, but it does not on its own tell you how the knife will cut. The cutting steel does that — and a good maker will always list both the pattern and the steel behind the edge.

View full steel guide →

Blade construction

Damascus

Damascus, or pattern-welded steel, is made by forge-welding multiple layers of different alloys together, then manipulating that billet — through folding, twisting, ladder-cutting and similar techniques — to disrupt the layer interfaces and create a distinctive pattern. The pattern is revealed by acid etching, which attacks the alloys at different rates, darkening some layers while leaving others bright.

The result is a single, unified steel. It may be used purely decoratively as an outer cladding layer, or on its own in a solid “mono-Damascus” construction. Because the finished steel is a blend, its hardness and toughness are dictated entirely by the alloys chosen to go into it — which makes steel selection especially important to evaluate in a mono-Damascus knife, where the pattern-welded material forms the cutting edge itself.

You may also encounter “super Damascus,” a name given to pattern-welded steel made from high-performance, high-toughness alloys. These steels are more difficult to forge-weld successfully, and that added challenge is reflected in their value.

View full construction guide →

Grind

Convex

A grind whose bevel bulges outward in a gentle curve from spine to edge, rather than running flat. That extra steel directly behind the edge makes a convex grind notably strong and resistant to chipping, while the curved geometry helps food release and lets the blade glide through dense ingredients with less wedging than a flat grind.

The strength comes at the cost of ultimate thinness and ease of maintenance. A convex edge has more metal behind it, so it is not quite as effortlessly keen as a thinly flat-ground edge, and it is harder to sharpen freehand — holding the curve takes a stropping technique or a deliberate hand rather than a single fixed angle. The reward is an exceptionally tough, smooth-cutting edge.

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.

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