Production

From blank to finished flatware

2. Knives

In the case of knives, a distinction is made between hollowhandled and monobloc knives.

Hollow-handled knives

Hollow-handled knives consist of a forged blade and a two-piece handle. ZWILLING J.A. HENCKELS hollow-handled knife blades are made exclusively of dishwasher-proof, heat treatable steel to DIN 4122. They are much more costly to manufacture than monobloc knives. Some of the principal production stages are:

Production of blanks: the blade and handle are manufactured separately. An eccentric press stamps the corresponding parts out of rolled steel.
Hardening: the required properties of the steel, including corrosion-resistance, are optimized by heating, quenching and annealing.
Surface treatment: this includes the processes of grinding, finish grinding, dry-fine grinding and polishing.
Assembly: the blade and handle are joined and fastened with a special cement.
Honing: the knife is honed, thus receiving its cutting edge, before final inspection.

The assembly process and the precision grinding of the joint between the bolster and handle are complicated, high-cost production processes.

Monobloc knives

The so-called monobloc knives are made by using the second manufacturing variety. They are made from a single piece of metal. Heat-treatable steel is always used for these knives. Here again the surface treatment and hardening are of considerable importance in order to achieve resistance to corrosion and satisfactory cutting properties.