A Pedra Das Meigas Aries Granton Ham Slicing Knife & Stone Sharpener Kit 1360-ALV

Description

A Pedra Das Meigas set comprising the Aries Granton Ham Slicing Knife (30.5 cm), with a Sandvik 14C28N stainless-steel blade and an ergonomic Micarta handle, and a natural-stone sharpener for water sharpening with a waterproof pressed-wood handle.

Ham slicing knife

Use

A long, slim knife with a flexible blade and straight edge, made especially for slicing ham.

The blade

The blade is made of SANDVIK 14C28N, a state-of-the-art steel whose composition is:

• Carbon (0.62%) — adds hardness, high strength and cutting ability to the alloy.
• Silicon (Si — 0.18%) — makes the alloy more uniform and non-porous.
• Molybdenum (Mo — 0.61%) — increases impact resistance, greatly deepens the hardening and improves corrosion resistance.
• Phosphorus (P — 0.017%) — at this level, increases tensile strength.
• Sulphur (S — 0.0018%) — at this level, aids machining.
• Chromium (Cr — 13.95%) — adds hardness and prevents corrosion.
• Nitrogen (N — 0.096%) — promotes the formation of ferrite in the alloy.

The handle

The handle is made of Micarta, a material used mostly in sporting and military cutlery for its great strength and durability, pore-free and dishwasher-resistant. It is built from alternating layers of cotton cloth and thermosetting resin; when hot-pressed, the resin seeps through the weave to produce a very strong, stable material. It is mounted to the blade with steel pins (not rivets) and bonded; the scales are hand-finished once fitted.

The blade is characterised by its progressive flexibility: it only bends from its second quarter onward, and gradually, so the first section cuts through the ham powerfully — even across areas with different degrees of curing — while the section nearer the tip becomes more flexible, easing the wrist when cutting on the far side to avoid the bone.

A special heat treatment (quenching to demagnetisation temperature reaching 60 HRc, then a tempering cycle) leaves the edge at 56.5 HRc in the cutting zones and 58 HRc elsewhere — ideal for good edge retention together with good flexibility.

Natural-stone sharpener

The Aries knife is designed so it can be maintained by the professional for many years at the same edge quality it ships with, which is why it comes with a set of natural-stone sharpeners, also by A Pedra Das Meigas. Sharpener No. 1 is a medium-grit natural stone, selected to remove a minimal amount of metal when the steel calls for it; sharpener No. 2 is a very fine natural stone that polishes the edge and increases its cutting penetration. Both are mounted on pressed-wood handles for durability. Wet the stones with water before and during use so the steel glides well and forms a slurry that improves the result.

How to sharpen the Aries

Given the knife’s flexibility, the easiest and safest way is to lay the blade flat on a wooden cutting board thick enough to clear your hand. At the same angle as the blade itself, set the sharpener stone on each face (varying the angle only slightly to avoid scratching the side of the blade) and, with the stone kept wet, sharpen each face in a back-and-forth motion — first with sharpener No. 1 and then with No. 2.

Aries ham slicing knife (granton) kit — specifications

Other Aries ham slicing knives and kits

Accessories for slicing ham

Once you have chosen your knife, browse our catalogue of ham holders and ham tongs.

Besides the ham slicing knife, we also recommend a boning knife to clean the areas around the bone and a short butcher’s knife to remove the rind.