Ellis Nautilus Slicer 220mm

In an ode to one of Earth’s most ancient wonders of nature and itself seemingly an oddly evolved inorganic cousin of the creature which inspiredit, this Charlie Ellis chef’s knife is forged from the Nautilus steel Charlie created collaboratively with artists and fellow bladesmiths Joshua Prince and Nick Anderson. Over the course of a week, working long hours daily first with pen and paper followed by fire and hammer, the three creative minds conceived of and brought to life the metallic artistry seen in the blade and handle bolster of this extraordinary object. It was in Oakland, California during May of 2022 when the steel was realized, the concept long in the minds of the makers, consisting of a tentacled outstretch of 15n20 and 1084 carbon alloys set in a wavy sea of tightly layered 1080 and 1084 damascus. Representing the planispiral shell of the cephalopod, the forge-welded handle bolsters from which the blade protrudes are shaped from carefully rolled pieces of the same Nautilus damascus. The knife’s 220mm blade is as utilitarian as it is artful, designed for slicing and serving tableside, and versatile enough in geometry and balance for any number of cuts in kitchen and dining room. At his former studio in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Charlie shaped the blade with uncompromising attention to detail, giving the primary bevels a dynamic, tapering, compound ‘S-grind,’ the lower section convex before culminating at an especially thin, near-zero edge. The blade’s spine, wide out of the handle, begins tapering immediately, transitioning in angle around two inches from the bolsters where it morphs from a three-facet to two-facet profile before slimming further, steadily, to a fine, needle-like tip. At the opposite end, beyond the rolled Nautilus integral bolsters, with museum fit-up where steel meets wood, a handle is sculpted from beautiful, dark, bog oak. First, a domed, curved spacer of bronze is set. Then past the shapely, polished, naturally stabilized bog oak with it’s handsome and storied grain, Charlie completes the creature’s metamorphosis with an undulating bronze fin, a nod to the cephalopoda group of marine molusks which includes the squid, among other closely related cousins. From head to toe, or shell to tentacle, this one-of-a-kind tool is much more than the sum of its parts.