Alexandra, Victoria, Australia · High Performance Japanese-Influenced Kitchen Knives
Mark Cordina
Cordina Customs
The latest from Cordina Customs
3 available
Recent work
Recent releases from this workshop. Each made by hand in extremely limited numbers.
About the maker
On the workshop
Alexandra sits in the Goulburn Valley, about two hours north-east of Melbourne, and it is from a workshop there that Cordina Customs has run since 2020. Before making knives, Mark Cordina worked as a stainless steel fabricator/specialist, producing repeat-process and architectural feature work requiring fine detail, low tolerances and stainless finishes completed to a very high specification. When his outdoor education work stopped during the lockdowns, he made his first knife from a discarded industrial hacksaw blade and shed offcuts, then entered a maker competition with his second.
During the first years of establishing Cordina Customs, Mark also worked as a chef de partie in a fine-dining restaurant. The kitchen gave him a practical environment in which to test developing profiles and geometries. His early knives were flat ground, but experience, testing and a deeper engagement with Japanese kitchen knives progressively moved his work towards convex geometry with blended transitions, robust heels and purposeful distal taper while maintaining edge stability and blade rigidity.
The knives remain working tools first. Mark looks for sharpness to initiate the cut, thinness for a smooth passage through food, separation from the secondary bevel without wedging and sufficient relief above it to assist food release. His faceted, indexable handles are equally functional: an assuring hard stop at the ricasso locates the hand, a flat spine communicates blade orientation and the facets support secure use across multiple grip styles.
Cordina’s work spans forged mono-steel, San Mai, copper-clad and honyaki constructions. He uses 52100 as a robust benchmark for his Classic Series, 26C3 for a keener edge in his Deluxe Series and Hitachi steels within the Signature Series, where their performance and Japanese influence support his most complete expression of geometry, construction and finish.
For Modern Cooking, Mark Cordina belongs in the Collectors Selection as an Australian maker building knives meant to be cooked with, lived with and kept.
Steel preference
Signature construction
— Mark Cordina
Limited release
Reserve your place
Mark Cordina's work is highly sought-after for its distinctive combination of craftsmanship, performance, and design, with each piece produced by hand in extremely limited numbers — a pace of production that naturally cannot keep up with demand.
For those hoping to secure a piece through Modern Cooking, joining the waitlist is the best way to register your interest in Mark's work and share your preferred dimensions, design preferences, and intended use. As opportunities become available, we use this information to guide future allocations with care and consideration.
