For our final Fingal Ferguson blade of 2024, a chef knife that checks all the boxes. Crafted at his studio in south-west Ireland for daily meal prep in home and professional kitchens alike, Fingal shapes a 230mm / 9.1″ blade from damascus-clad ApexUltra steel. This high-performance tungsten-carbon alloy was developed from the ground up specifically for use in knife blades by Eatingtools partner and metallurgist Tobias Hangler of Austria, and Tobias is also Fingal’s partner in this build, having created the damascus steel and resulting san-mai blade formula which Fingal used for this finished piece. Superb convex bevel geometry above a thin, hard, and sharp edge defines the versatile blade destined for cutting greatness, its long, flat stretch in the rear positioned perfectly for big chopping tasks, with the upswept front portion and slim, needle-like tip ideal for slices and detail work of all variety. Deeply etched and polished to a beautiful sheen, both the nickel-rich 15n20 in the damascus cladding, and the vein of pure nickel between it and the core which inhibits carbon diffusion from the edge, shine brightly, while the ApexUltra becomes a handsome, matte black. As the blade’s tang enters the handle, hammer marks showing the material’s hand-forged origins are visible. The tang disappears first into a collar of carbon fiber, rounded and comfortable beneath the fingers. Then, between polished rings of stainless steel, the knife’s namesake is revealed: dating to Earth’s Cretaceous period, over 93-million years ago, is a ring of a Spinosaurus’ fossilized spine bone. The colors and markings within it are unlike those of other materials we know. Completing the build in Fingal’s ergonomic and recognizable form that offers both comfort and control is a piece of sculpted Arizona Dessert Ironwood capped with a mosaic pin of steel, copper, and brass.