The Western knife built for the chef who loves Japanese geometry.
Most cooks have to choose. The familiar profile and durability of a Western chef's knife or the thin, laser-like performance of a Japanese blade. This Mule was built for the cook who refused to choose.
The Mule is BCB's flagship 8" chef's knife — tough, reliable, balanced, and completely at home in a demanding kitchen. This specific build takes that foundation and pushes it somewhere different. The spine is ground to 0.066" — exceptionally thin for an 8" Western-profile knife and deliberately so. This is a blade that slices the way serious cooks who've spent time with Japanese knives expect a blade to slice. Effortless, clean, and fast through proteins, produce, and everything in between.
It took a few conversations with working chefs who kept coming back to the same frustration — they loved the profile and balance of a Western knife but couldn't give up the thin-ground performance of their Japanese blades. This knife is the answer to that conversation.
The blade is AEB-L stainless steel — BCB's house steel. Originally developed as a razor blade steel, AEB-L brings exceptional edge retention and a fine grain structure that responds beautifully to a thin grind. Heat treated to 60 HRC — hard enough to hold that thin edge through serious prep work, refined enough to come back sharp when it finally needs attention. At 6.00 oz it carries that thin grind in the weight too — lighter in hand than most 8" Western knives with none of the fragility you'd worry about with a Japanese blade.
Then there's the handle.
Burlap Micarta in orange and blue — warm, textured, and completely unpretentious. Micarta is one of the most reliable handle materials available to a custom maker — it doesn't move with humidity, doesn't care about moisture, and only gets better looking with use and age. The orange and blue color story is bold without being loud, the kind of handle that photographs well on a butcher block and feels even better in your hand after a long prep session. Carbon fiber pins finish it cleanly without competing with the material.
This is a working knife built for a working cook. Thin enough to perform like a Japanese blade. Tough enough to handle like an American one.
Every dimension, every grind angle, every edge bevel was done by hand in my 80 sq ft shop in Provo, Utah. No production line. No shortcuts. One knife at a time.
Steel: AEB-L Stainless Steel
Blade length: ~8"
Blade height: ~1-7/8"
Spine thickness: 0.066"
Overall length: ~13"
Weight: ~6.00 oz
Edge: Double bevel, thin flat grind
Pins: Carbon Fiber
Handle: Orange & Blue Burlap Micarta
Origin: Handcrafted in Provo, Utah, USA
What's included: The Mule, a BCB sticker, and one complimentary Spa Day sharpening service* — valid within 12 months of purchase.
*Shipping fees apply
The Spa Day is my way of making sure this knife is still performing the way it left my bench. I stand behind what I make.
Blue Collar Blades are made one at a time. This is the only one.
The Western knife built for the chef who loves Japanese geometry.
Most cooks have to choose. The familiar profile and durability of a Western chef's knife or the thin, laser-like performance of a Japanese blade. This Mule was built for the cook who refused to choose.
The Mule is BCB's flagship 8" chef's knife — tough, reliable, balanced, and completely at home in a demanding kitchen. This specific build takes that foundation and pushes it somewhere different. The spine is ground to 0.066" — exceptionally thin for an 8" Western-profile knife and deliberately so. This is a blade that slices the way serious cooks who've spent time with Japanese knives expect a blade to slice. Effortless, clean, and fast through proteins, produce, and everything in between.
It took a few conversations with working chefs who kept coming back to the same frustration — they loved the profile and balance of a Western knife but couldn't give up the thin-ground performance of their Japanese blades. This knife is the answer to that conversation.
The blade is AEB-L stainless steel — BCB's house steel. Originally developed as a razor blade steel, AEB-L brings exceptional edge retention and a fine grain structure that responds beautifully to a thin grind. Heat treated to 60 HRC — hard enough to hold that thin edge through serious prep work, refined enough to come back sharp when it finally needs attention. At 6.00 oz it carries that thin grind in the weight too — lighter in hand than most 8" Western knives with none of the fragility you'd worry about with a Japanese blade.
Then there's the handle.
Burlap Micarta in orange and blue — warm, textured, and completely unpretentious. Micarta is one of the most reliable handle materials available to a custom maker — it doesn't move with humidity, doesn't care about moisture, and only gets better looking with use and age. The orange and blue color story is bold without being loud, the kind of handle that photographs well on a butcher block and feels even better in your hand after a long prep session. Carbon fiber pins finish it cleanly without competing with the material.
This is a working knife built for a working cook. Thin enough to perform like a Japanese blade. Tough enough to handle like an American one.
Every dimension, every grind angle, every edge bevel was done by hand in my 80 sq ft shop in Provo, Utah. No production line. No shortcuts. One knife at a time.
Steel: AEB-L Stainless Steel
Blade length: ~8"
Blade height: ~1-7/8"
Spine thickness: 0.066"
Overall length: ~13"
Weight: ~6.00 oz
Edge: Double bevel, thin flat grind
Pins: Carbon Fiber
Handle: Orange & Blue Burlap Micarta
Origin: Handcrafted in Provo, Utah, USA
What's included: The Mule, a BCB sticker, and one complimentary Spa Day sharpening service* — valid within 12 months of purchase.
*Shipping fees apply
The Spa Day is my way of making sure this knife is still performing the way it left my bench. I stand behind what I make.
Blue Collar Blades are made one at a time. This is the only one.
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