Skip to content
The Atelier · Giagu Pattada The Atelier · Pattada · Since 1985

The atelier where
knives are born.

A townhouse in Pattada's old quarter. Five people from one family. Forty years at the forge. Everything begins here — no second site, nothing made elsewhere.

La forgia accesa
Address

Via Vittorio Emanuele 52A
07016 Pattada (SS)

The atelier is open Monday to Saturday, 8:30–19:00, and Sunday 11:00–18:00.

You will find the whole family at work: one of them will walk you through the models we are making, to guide you toward your own knife.

The same building holds, alongside the workshop and showroom, the Museo Culter — the first international knife museum in Italy. You can visit on your own, or book a guided tour.

Book a visit
The stages of the work

The key stages.

Making each knife is a long and intricate process: we still do everything entirely by hand, without sophisticated machinery. For that very reason, even the simplest piece takes at least three days' work — each knife a one-off, attended to in every last detail.
01

Cutting the horn

After years of seasoning, the horn is drawn out for its outer part, the thickest. It is then cut into sections, warmed over the fire and pressed flat.

02

Roughing the blade

The blade is prepared from the steel bar: forged if it is carbon steel, worked by stock removal if stainless. It is shaped to perfection, the edge thinned to the right thickness for the tempering to come.

03

Riveting

The two chosen horn sections — drilled and shaped to the model — are assembled around a steel core with rivets that are hammered home. Once riveted, the handle is shaped with an array of files. On models with a "ring", the seat is filed freehand into the handle: the metal plate is then hammered and folded directly onto it.

04

Tempering

Drilled and stamped, the blade is ready for heat treatment at the forge: brought to red heat and plunged into the oil bath, which gives it the right hardness. This is the most important stage for any steel. That done, the blade is satin-finished with a range of abrasive cloths.

05

Finishing and assembly

The handle is sanded with abrasive cloths of varying grit and polished, while the blade is sharpened on the water wheel. The knife is ready to be assembled: a steel pin, hammered home, joins handle and blade and also governs the opening and closing. On ringed models, the final stage is the "piccadura" — the characteristic decoration worked with a graver.