Type 01 · Core

Core

Blade
5.0 mm stock, full flat grind to a 0.4 mm edge. Laser-cut, then machined to shape.
Steel
Böhler N690 from Austria. Cobalt-alloyed stainless, hardened to 58 HRC.
Handle
Forprene grip over a full steel tang. Holds when wet, cold or gloved.
Detail
Lightened from inside. APEX NEWTON engraved 1.0 mm deep on spine and tang.

A 255 mm full-tang fixed blade. Austrian Böhler N690 steel, a Forprene grip and every surface drawn by us down to the tenth of a millimetre.

Reserve one · €249 Full specifications

01 · Blade

Cut, machined, ground.
Beautiful even where you will never look.

The profile is laser-cut from 5.0 mm N690 plate, then machined to its final shape. A full flat grind runs from 11.2 mm below the spine all the way down to a 0.4 mm edge: thin behind the edge so it slices clean, full thickness at the spine so it takes a beating.

CAD side view of Core: assembled knife above, blade and tang without handle below — Assembled, and stripped to the steel. The tang is the same piece as the blade.

Profile: Drop point
Cutting length: 126.9 mm
Stock: 5.0 mm
Grind: Full flat, from 11.2 mm below spine
Edge thickness: 0.4 mm
Blade height: 32.5 mm
Spine: Flat, radiused edges, jimped
Process: Laser-cut, machined, ground

CAD isometric view showing APEX NEWTON engraved along the spine and the grind faces — Here: APEX NEWTON engraved along the spine.

Core tang with two lightening windows and APEX NEWTON engraving — And here: the tang, lightened from the inside and engraved where only the owner will ever see it.

Cross sections: handle stack of scales, liners and tang; blade section with flat grind to a 0.4 mm edge — Sections. Handle: 9.0 + 0.9 + 5.0 + 0.9 + 9.0 mm. Blade: flat grind to 0.4 mm.

02 · Steel

Böhler N690.
Austrian steel, chosen for one job.

N690 is poured by Böhler Edelstahl in Kapfenberg, Austria. It is a martensitic stainless chromium steel with high carbon, alloyed with cobalt, molybdenum and vanadium. Böhler rates it for knives and for food contact. We chose it because it does three things at once: holds an edge, shrugs off moisture, and survives hard use.

Composition, weight %

C	Cr	Mo	Co	V	Si	Mn
1.08	17.3	1.1	1.5	0.1	0.4	0.4

Böhler N690 datasheet. 17.3 % chromium makes it stainless; 1.08 % carbon makes it hard; cobalt strengthens the matrix.

Böhler property ratings

Wear resistanceVery high
Corrosion resistanceHigh
Toughness & ductilityGood
PolishabilityGood

Our heat treatment

Target hardness: 58 HRC
Steel's range: up to 59–61 HRC
Hardening: 1030–1080 °C
Tempering: 100–200 °C

Bending and impact

Hardness and toughness pull against each other. N690 can be pushed past 60 HRC; we stop at 58. That one point buys toughness: under side load the edge is more likely to roll than chip, and the 5.0 mm spine takes batoning without drama. A rolled edge is straightened in a few strokes. A chipped one is gone.

Edge holding and sharpening

Carbon and chromium form hard carbides that resist wear, which is why Böhler rates wear resistance very high. At 58 HRC the steel still takes a fine edge and comes back on diamond or ceramic stones. You get an edge that lasts, without a steel you need a workshop to sharpen.

Corrosion

Above roughly 13 % chromium a steel is stainless; N690 carries 17.3 %. Blood, sap, sweat and rain do not turn into rust overnight. Molybdenum adds resistance to pitting. Rinse, dry, done.

03 · Handle

Forprene.
Rubber grip, engineering-plastic precision.

Forprene is a thermoplastic vulcanizate: cured EPDM rubber locked inside a polypropylene matrix. It feels like rubber in the hand and is moulded with the accuracy of a technical plastic. We chose it over G10 and micarta because those are hard laminates. Forprene gives a little under the fingers and keeps its grip when wet, cold or gloved.

Close-up of the Core handle: diamond-lattice relief, contour grooves, recessed hex screws and lanyard hole

Material class

Type: TPV (EPDM + PP)
Hardness scale: Shore A, firm grade
UV, ozone, weather: Excellent
Acids, bases, alcohols: Resistant
Detergents, solvents: Resistant
Fatigue, abrasion: Resistant
Thermal: Insulating

Material ratings from the Forprene supplier.

Geometry

Handle length: 126.7 mm
Height: 36.8 mm
Thickness: 24.8 mm max
Scales: 9.0 mm each
Surface: Diamond lattice + contour grooves
Front: Slanted stop for the index finger

Soft where it touches, hard where it counts

The steel tang runs through the full handle, so strength comes from the metal and grip comes from the Forprene. The slanted front gives your index finger the same stop every time. The lattice gives traction without the sandpaper feel of aggressive texturing. And because it insulates, it does not suck the heat out of a bare hand in winter the way metal does.

04 · Exploded view

Eight parts. Nothing hidden.

Two screws hold Core together. Every part is drawn and specified by us.

Exploded view of Core with numbered parts 1 to 8

1
Blade and full tang
One piece of Böhler N690, 5.0 mm thick, running the full length of the handle. Two lightening windows inside the tang, APEX NEWTON engraved 1.0 mm deep.
2 · 3
Handle scales
Forprene, 9.0 mm each. Diamond-lattice relief, contour grooves along the edges, counterbored so the screw heads sit below the surface.
4 · 5
Liners
0.9 mm plates between steel and grip. They separate steel from grip and draw a thin line around the handle.
6 · 7
Screws
Hex-socket, Ø8.4 mm heads on Ø4.9 mm shanks. Two screws hold the whole knife together, so it comes apart for deep cleaning.
8
Lanyard tube
Ø6.0 mm outside, Ø5.0 mm bore. Lined, so a cord never rubs on raw steel.

Dimension drawing: handle 126.7 mm, blade 126.9 mm, overall 255.5 mm, lanyard and screw hole positions — Overall 255.5 mm · weight ≈270 g (CAD estimate)

First production run

Reserve a Core

The first run is small, and its size is set by reservations. Reserve now and you are first in line when Core goes on sale at €249. Nothing is charged today.

Journal

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12 Oct 2026