Fleur de Lys Nickel San-Mai Nakiri-1 115mm (Blade Only)

SPECIFICATIONS

Knife Style: Nakiri
Steel Type: Carbon Steel
Blade Material: 80crv2
Blade Finish: 410 Stainless with Nickel San-Mai
Blade Hardness: 62HRC (+/-1)
Bevel: Double
Handle: None ➛ Choose yours
Blade Length: 115mm

Forged in Québec. Built by hand. Made only once.

The Fleur de Lys Collection is a celebration of Québec bladesmithing at its most hands-on—a collaboration between Kakushin, Noah Vachon, and Jérémie Yelle created for cooks and collectors who appreciate Japanese-inspired geometry, purposeful performance, and the character that can only come from a truly handmade knife.

This version of Fleur de Lys is built around a striking San-Mai construction, combining an 80CrV2 high-carbon steel core with outer layers of 410 stainless steel, separated by pure nickel.

At the center of the blade, 80CrV2 provides the working edge. Known among bladesmiths for its toughness, fine edge potential, and dependable sharpening characteristics, it is a performance-driven carbon steel well suited to a kitchen knife designed to be used—not simply displayed.

Surrounding that core, 410 stainless steel forms the outer cladding, helping reduce the amount of reactive carbon steel exposed across the blade face. Between the core and cladding, nickel creates a bright, defined transition that emphasizes the handmade San-Mai construction and gives each blade a distinctive visual identity.

The result is a knife that balances two different worlds: the performance and character of a carbon steel cutting edge with the practicality and contrast of stainless cladding.

Every blade is individually forge-welded, shaped, ground, heat treated, polished, and finished by hand in Québec. Slight variations in the cladding line, nickel transition, grind, texture, and overall appearance are part of the process. These are not flaws to be eliminated—they are the fingerprints of a blade that was made individually rather than produced to look identical to the one beside it.

Inspired by traditional Japanese kitchen knives, Fleur de Lys combines thin cutting geometry, carefully shaped profiles, refined tapers, and precise edge performance with a distinctly Québec approach to bladesmithing.

This particular piece is Model No. 1, a one-of-a-kind 115mm Nakiri.

At only 115mm, this is an unusually compact interpretation of the traditional Japanese vegetable knife. Its short rectangular profile makes it exceptionally agile, precise, and easy to control, particularly for smaller ingredients and detailed board work.

The relatively flat cutting edge is naturally suited to push cutting and chopping, while the blade height provides useful knuckle clearance and control despite its compact length. Vegetables, herbs, garlic, shallots, fruit, garnishes, and other smaller prep tasks are exactly where this profile feels at home.

Its size also gives Model No. 1 a personality quite different from a traditional full-size Nakiri. Rather than being a large dedicated vegetable knife, it feels almost like a hybrid between a Nakiri and a compact utility blade—quick in hand, extremely maneuverable, and especially enjoyable when a larger knife simply feels unnecessary.

The short blade also makes the exposed nickel San-Mai line particularly prominent, allowing the transition between the 80CrV2 core and 410 stainless cladding to become an important part of the knife's visual character.

This knife is offered blade-only, leaving the final character of the piece in the hands of its future owner. Choose a handle from Kakushin’s available inventory and the knife will be professionally assembled, balanced, sharpened, and finished in our workshop.

Because the exposed 80CrV2 cutting edge remains carbon steel, it will react naturally to moisture, acidity, and use, gradually developing a patina over time. The stainless cladding makes maintenance more forgiving across most of the blade face, but the edge should still be kept clean and dry after use.

Fleur de Lys is about the work hidden inside the finished blade—the forge welding, shaping, grinding, heat treatment, and countless decisions made by hand along the way.

Kakushin can handle the blade-to-handle assembly for you at our shop. If you're new to the custom knife world and want to confirm the fit and sizing of a handle with a specific blade, feel free to reach out!