With its perfectly balanced, hammer-finished Gyuto blade affixed to an oak Wa-handle and maple ferrule, Shāpu is designed to make mealtime preparation easier and take your cooking to the next level.

Like you, we love to cook and inspired by ‘those’ cooking shows, we decided it was time to look for a new chef knife – the heart of any kitchen.

But we quickly found our choices were limited. There were either disposable pieces of junk from a big brand store or incredibly overpriced blades from a premium retailer

During our ‘knife hunt’, we came across a number of like-minded cooks who all expressed similar dissatisfaction in not being able to find the perfect knife for all occasions.

So we set out to create a high quality, chef knife we all desired, but at a fraction of the price.

After a culmination of months of designing, fabricating and testing, Shāpu was born – the ultimate everyday knife.

To pre-order your Shāpu knife and cut through time spent on meal preparation, click Back This Project. Or read on.

MATERIALS

At the heart of any blade is the steel. And, from the beginning we wanted something that not only functioned well, but lasted the test of time.

Even the sharpest knives will dull after extended use. However, blades forged from quality steel will sharpen better and hold their edge longer.

That’s why we decided to make Shāpu from AUS-8 high Chromium Stainless Steel forged in Aichi, Japan.

What makes this Japanese steel so good?

It exhibits high levels of hardness, toughness, is corrosion resistant and has great edge retention.

EDGE RETENTION

A good knife is sharp. A great knife stays sharp 

Shāpu Cr/SS blade’s AUS-8 steel possesses both high hardness and high carbon content.

The chemical combination of these two metals what enables Shāpu to maintain excellent edge retention throughout its life.

SHARPNESS

Let’s face it. A knife can only be judged by how sharp it is.

A sharper knife not only makes your food better, but also tastes better. A blunt knife crushes the cell structure making vegetables and meat bleed out their juices.

A sharp knife on the other hand will make clean, good looking cuts that keep flavor and juices intact.

Kireaji – or sharpness – is embedded in Japanese knife culture and this is reflected in the metallic construction of the blade.

PERFECT SIZE

Shāpu’s gyuto-style blade is designed to accomodate all styles of textured cutting – from meat and vegetables to fruit and even fine pieces of garlic.

Regardless of whether you want to rock, chop, slice or dice, cutting food should be quick and effortless so knife size is important, especially in kitchen preparation areas where space is often limited.

That’s why Shāpu has been weighted and designed to fit comfortably in your hand with ease, giving you maximum control when cutting into any type of food or produce, from any angle.

FUNCTIONAL HANDLE

If we learnt anything from the Japanese knife-smiths, it’s that simple isn’t easy. Trust us, we found that out the hard way!

After months and months of prototyping, we finally settled on a traditional Japanese Wa design.

This classic octagonal design works to ensure the blade fits comfortably in the palm of your hand while naturally aligning itself in the vertical plane, leading to a cleaner cut.

BLADE GEOMETRY

It’s not just the edge that makes Shāpu special.

Compared to most Western knives, Shāpu’s bevelled cutting angle creates a thinly ground blade with a razor-sharp cutting edge.

The dynamics of its blade geometry reduces friction and resistance behind its sharpened edge, allowing you consistently cut through all types of food with ease and precision

We are a group of friends who are passionate cooks. From left, Richard is an experienced chef who loves well-made objects, Mat, a cooking enthusiast and entrepreneur and Hamida, a chef and restaurant manager who loves great food. Our objective was simple, to develop a high quality knife that remains sharp for as long as possible at an affordable price. 

In creating the Shāpu knife, we challenged ourselves to think outside the square (or should we say, kitchen drawer…)

Based on feedback (and our frustration with what was in the marketplace), we set ourselves a goal – to make a high quality, Japanese-style knife which would stay sharp, resist corrosion and hold its edge longer at an affordable price.

As part of our research and development, we consulted with dozens of home cooks just like us and asked them how we might rethink the common knife to make mealtime preparation easier.

We spent nearly 18 months collating feedback, formulating designs, trying out different materials and testing various prototypes.

Until finally we succeeded in combining the Gyuto-style blade with the Wa-handle to create Shāpu – the ultimate everyday knife you can use to chop, slice and dice on every meal.

So why waste money on an overpriced knife set (half of which you’ll never use) or on mass-produced depot knives which won’t hold their sharpness over time?

Our Shāpu knives are ready for production and we are looking to kickstart our production in the new year.

Join us on Kickstarter today and help us bring Shāpu into your kitchen and take your cooking to the next level.