CAS Knives #3
INQUIRIES ONLY
A striking apparition, this san mai by CAS Knives brings to the fore the mastery each one of the Sobral brothers brings to a particular facet of the knife and the process of making it. The signature double fullers and pronounced Hamon take the traditional Japanese blade construction, with its hollow-ground stainless-steel flanks around the high carbon steel core, into a new realm. Where the choice of stag horn for the handle connects the whole to the origins of the project, the choice to bring out the white, misty core and use curves in the transition to the blade gives the knife an almost sacral quality. An effect reinforced, here as well, by hot-bluing the one-piece guard, frame and pommel, creating a connective tissue as it were to balance the dualism of blade and handle.

Serial Number

CK-F-L-S

Construction

Frame

Blade

Stainless steel flancs with high carbon steel core

Damascus

San-mai

Grinds

Hollow with double fullers

Guard & Fittings

Hot blued integral guard, frame and buttcap

Handle

Stag horn

Build time

240 hours

Engraving

Gold inlays

Sheath

Serial number JG-C-P-C-CK
Exterior Calf with python insert
Lining Calf
Concho Sterling silver
Stud Samuel Lurquin’s damascus, milled by Nicolas Verschuere
Build time 11 hours

Knifemaker

CAS Knives

From Argentina.

At first, CAS stood for Claudio Alejandro Sobral who in 2004 had turned his pastime into a vocation. When his brother Ariel joined a short while later, there was no need to change the letter head; the initials worked out. No need either when the youngest, Marcelo, came into the fold in 2013: Cuchilleria Artesanal Sobral – Sobral Custom Knives – said it all, as if it had always been meant to be. The seed had been planted with Claudio’s apprenticeship begun at 16 years of age in a gun factory in Buenos Aires, where he learnt forging, machining, milling, polishing, bluing and other skills required in the shop. But blades had always been his passion. Together with Ariel, that passion grew into a business; and with Marcelo on board, CAS could cover every aspect of knife-making, from blade to sheath. The three brothers uphold the finest forging traditions while embracing state-of-the-art technologies that enhance their craft; it is an incessant quest for perfection that drives them. It is also why knives bearing these initials have earned a planetary reputation for next-level artistry and workmanship.