• Kamon X Hangler High Chef Knife 235mm Damascus Clad Apex Ultra GoMai
  • Kamon X Hangler High Chef Knife 235mm Damascus Clad Apex Ultra GoMai – detail view
  • Kamon X Hangler High Chef Knife 235mm Damascus Clad Apex Ultra GoMai – side profile
  • Kamon X Hangler High Chef Knife 235mm Damascus Clad Apex Ultra GoMai – handle detail
  • Kamon X Hangler High Chef Knife 235mm Damascus Clad Apex Ultra GoMai – blade close-up
  • Kamon X Hangler High Chef Knife 235mm Damascus Clad Apex Ultra GoMai – view 6
  • Kamon X Hangler High Chef Knife 235mm Damascus Clad Apex Ultra GoMai – view 7
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Kamon X Hangler High Chef Knife 235mm Damascus Clad Apex Ultra GoMai

Kamon X Hangler High Chef Knife 235mm Damascus Clad Apex Ultra GoMai

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Benjamin Kamon

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A Kamon knives High Chef 235mm, crafted through the exceptional collaboration between Benjamin Kamon and Tobias Hangler, is a true masterpiece. Featuring an Apex Ultra core encased in 100 layers of exquisitely patterned nickel Damascus, this blade is a testament to precision and artistry. The convex grind, extending from spine to edge, ensures superior food release and cutting performance, making it as functional as it is visually striking.

Benjamin Kamon’s signature 'Denty' texture enhances the blade’s beauty, creating an intricate pattern of ultra-fine waves that swirl with organic fluidity. This stunning steel is perfectly paired with a beautifully textured American desert ironwood handle, crafted in Kamon’s classic heirloom Rokkaku Hanmaru form. The harmony between the steel's hypnotic patterns and the deep, natural tones of the wood handle creates a seamless blend of form and function.

Altogether, this High Chef knife stands as one of the most beautiful and meticulously crafted knives we’ve encountered in recent years. Its organic, rustic aesthetic gives it instant classic status, making it not only a superior tool but also a treasured heirloom piece for any serious collector or culinary artist.

Product Specification
  • Blade Type:
  • Overall Length: 365mm
  • Edge Length: 235mm
  • Spine Heel: 3.77mm
  • Spine Mid: 1.82mm
  • Spine Tip (20mm before): 0.45mm
  • Blade Height: 64mm
  • Weight: 236g
  • Cutting Edge Steel:
  • Steel class: Carbon
  • HRC: 67
  • Blade Construction:
  • Blade Finish: Textured, Acid Etched (Forced Patina), Satin Polish
  • Grind:
  • Handle Construction:
  • Handle Materials: Ironwood, Copper
  • Handedness: Ambidextrous
  • Saya / Storage Included: Yes

Blade type

Chef Knife

The western chef knife is the traditional European all-purpose profile, usually 200 to 250 mm, defined by a continuous curve running from a tall heel to a fine, pointed tip. The height at the heel gives knuckle clearance and the leverage to work through denser ingredients, while the curve keeps part of the edge on the board through a whole stroke, which is what makes the rocking motion work for mincing herbs and aromatics. The tip is where the profile earns the rest of its range — fine enough for detail work, scoring and tip cuts that a broader nose cannot manage.

That combination, tall at the heel and fine at the tip with the curve between them, is what makes it the most adaptable shape in the western kitchen: comfortable rocking, slicing and chopping without demanding a single way of working. Regional interpretations shift the emphasis, the French pattern running slimmer and lighter with a more continuous curve, the Solingen pattern taller with a more pronounced belly. The gyuto, which traces its lineage directly back to this profile, carries a flatter edge and rewards push- and pull-cutting, where the western chef knife stays the more forgiving of the two across a wider range of techniques and hands. Modern makers increasingly blur the line between them, drawing a profile that rocks and push-cuts equally well — Birch & Bevel's Modern Gyuto profile, Antoine Kniamen's Western Gyuto, and Benjamin Kamon's own gyuto profile are all examples of that hybrid thinking.

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 (ApexUltra project — developed by Larrin Thomas, Marco Guldimann and Tobias Hangler; FFG-funded, associated with Messerschmiede Hangler)

Apex Ultra is one of the most carefully engineered non-stainless kitchen knife steels in modern circulation — a steel designed from the ground up specifically for handmade knives, rather than borrowed from another industry. It was developed by metallurgist Larrin Thomas together with smiths Marco Guldimann and Tobias Hangler. It is a low-alloy carbon steel — roughly 1.25 percent carbon, 2.6 percent tungsten, 1.5 percent chromium and a 0.4 percent vanadium addition, with manganese and silicon kept low. That composition is tuned for high purity and a fine, evenly distributed mix of chromium-enriched iron carbides, tungsten carbides and vanadium carbides — the structure that lets it hold a very hard edge without the coarse carbides or plate martensite that sap toughness in other high-hardness carbon steels.

What this means for a cook is unusual permission. Apex Ultra carries very high toughness in the 66+ HRC range — the highest of any knife steel its developers have tested at that hardness — so you can ask a maker to grind it thin and run the heat treatment hard, and the edge will hold far longer than the carbon steels smiths usually forge, without microchipping. It forges and forge-welds much like 52100 or 1.2562, sharpens cleanly on natural and synthetic stones without needing diamond plates, and its modest chromium slows patina a little — though it is not stainless and should be cared for 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

The Kesselscher Walkschliff is a traditional Solingen grind in which each face of the blade curves outward from the spine, reaching its greatest thickness slightly below it before tapering towards the edge. Beneath this pronounced convex “bulge,” the blade is ground exceptionally thin and continues into a fine, subtly convex cutting edge. This distributes material through the upper blade for rigidity and stability while preserving the low cutting resistance of a very thin edge.

Achieving this compound geometry consistently demands considerable control, specialist knowledge and experience, whether it is produced on a traditional grinding wheel or with a belt grinder. Once part of Solingen’s celebrated grinding tradition, the Walkschliff is now practised by relatively few makers. A well-executed example is valued for the way it reconciles qualities that can otherwise seem opposed: strength through the body of the blade, fineness behind the edge and an exceptionally keen, confident cut.

View full grind guide →

Handle construction

Takedown

A takedown is a hidden-tang construction built to come apart. The tang passes through the handle and is drawn up by a threaded fitting — a nut at the butt, or a pommel that screws down — so the handle can be dismantled and re-fitted rather than being permanently bonded in place. Everything else follows the hidden-tang pattern: a concealed tang inside a one-piece handle, with no steel showing along the grip.

The point of the design is serviceability. Because the handle is mechanical rather than glued, it can be taken off for thorough cleaning and drying, swapped for a different material or profile, or replaced entirely if it is ever damaged — all without destroying the original fittings. It is the construction to choose for a knife meant to be maintained and kept for the long term, and for owners who like the option of changing a handle later.

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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