Windmühlenmesser Chef's Knife Set

A set of 4 premium Windmülmensser knives for the home chef.

Made by hand in Germany.

Set contains:

1x Chef's Knife 165mm
1x Bread Knife
1x Utility Knife 130mm
1x Paring Knife

A premium bread knife with a slightly cranked handle is of a older style. Supremely sharp, gliding through bread, with little to no crumbs and not crushing the bread.

A chefs knife at 165mm blade length will slice through hard vegetables and thick meats with ease.

Utility knife is an all rounder with 130mm blade - ideal for cleaning vegetables, cutting and peeling. It slices through meats like butter and leaves no balled crumbs when cutting through bread.

And the paring knife  is a vegetable knife that belongs to a popular assortment with its traditional oval shaped but long handle.

Material:
Handle - Cherrywood
Blade - Hard Carbon steel / Stainless
Rivets: Aluminium

Care:

Do not put in dishwasher 
Do not use on hard surfaces
Do not lever, turning movements or rocking, to ensure the fine blade is kept in fantastic shape. 
With sharpening, you only need 2-3 passes on a stone.

The blades are ground with a specialized oscillating jig that creates a convex surface, the most durable grind, and finished with a microbevel to improve the high-carbon steel’s already impressive edge longevity. These methods have been developed over generations by Windmühlenmesser in Solingen, which is immediately apparent by the masterful fit and finish. 

Glassine insert with information and care instructions included.

Still being made by hand since 1872.

From Windmühlenmesser:

Windmühlenmesser - Manufacturer Robert Herder has been manufacturing knives of exceptional quality and shape since time immemorial. Our positive approach towards craftsmanship is the foundation which still allows us to identify and appreciate the old Solingen craft trades today. It provides the basis for our wishing to retain and continue to uphold still existent know-how.

We are certain that, with our craftsmanship, we produce better and more carefully manufactured knives than other knife manufacturers. Our motto: “Good knives are made by hand.” The craftsmanship of our grinders and fine-glaze grinders, particularly that of our “blue-glazed” grinders, plays an important role. This work requires very great precision, skill, pa-tience and a good eye in order to achieve the required quality.

As this work used to be the work of the master grinders, we call the blue-glazed knives “Today’s Masterpieces”.

The human aspect is indispensable for many processes of our skilled craftsmanship because no other “tool” is as flexible, adaptive and sensitive as the human hand, especially when producing fine and exceptional knives.

In contrast to most knives today, “Windmühle” knives are still produced according to the “Solingen Dry-Fine- Grinding” technique. The grinding angle is much farther up on the blade than is customary today. The blade is dry-fine-ground and tapers to a thin, very sharp cutting edge. Knives ground in this way are defined by their special sharpness and long-lasting cutting edge. This traditional grinding technique which we still practise today has almost completely disappeared even in Solingen but it was once the basis for the high esteem enjoyed by Solingen knives all over the world.

“Glazing” is a special process of fine grinding the blade. At different stages, the blade surface is “fine-glazed” and then “blue-glazed”. Since time immemorial, these processes have formed part of the most time-consuming of the traditional Solingen grinding techniques, “blue-glazing” being the finest pro- cessing of the blade surface. Typical of this kind of blade are the bluish to rainbow coloured shimmers of the fine grinding marks. This work is primarily carried out by our master grinder W. Fehrekampf. One of the last true master grinders today who is still skilled in the fine art of “blue-glazed” knives, he is passing on his skill to our young grinders.

At a time when stainless steel did not exist, the aim of “blue-glazing” was to smooth the surface of the blade so finely and seal it so there was hardly any possibility of rust formation. Non-stainless blades processed in this way are more resistant to rust and discolouration. Stainless blades processed in this way have such a smooth surface that the cutting quality is enhanced still further.