Kitchen Knives?

Thanks to everyone for the compliments!!

<~~ is still waiting for her custom kitchen knife from OP :sad:

:flowerforyou:

Right? Those are amazing!

He promised me one over a year ago! How many effing trips does a girl have to make to the desert before she gets her damn knife?!

You girls are too sweet as well! Although, Heather's sort of cheating lol...she'd never come out here to visit just me!! If Jason wasn't here (good thing he is!), I'd never see the girl!

By the way, your knife is actually on my upcoming list now...so it's getting closer!

Nice job on the knives. I am an amateur bladesmith myself. I have made very little in the way of kitchen knives. As a Texas boy with a military background, I tend to make blades for rigorous use by people whose lives depend on them. And I have a deep and abiding love for a good Bowie. That said, I just got a Japanese knife that I can't even pronounce so that I can use it for making sushi. As far as regular kitchen knives go, I am a fan of Cutco. Their knives have always worked well for me and they have a free lifetime resharpening commitment to their customers.

Thanks! I make all sorts of knives, but kitchen knives are incredibly challenging...and so have become my favorite. Most people feel a kitchen knife is simply a thin piece of metal with an edge. This couldn't be farther from the truth. A properly designed kitchen knife must be thin enough and sharp enough to pass through food...while still being strong enough to take abuse. It must also be made in such a way that food would prefer not to stick to it. Most of the 'good' knives mentioned here are flat ground, and very thick behind the edge. They were designed to be abused, while still cutting better than the average 'Good Cook' brand from Wal Mart. Your Japanese sushi knife (is it a sujihiki?) is much more along the lines of my philosophy when it comes to kitchen knives. If you look at the picture I posted of my knife on the heel, you'll see how very thin it is, but you'll also see that the sides aren't flat. That isn't an accident, and it takes hours and hours of work to make sure that it works properly in a cut.

I also thought, since you're a bladesmith yourself...I'd share my own sujihiki with you, along with my EDC .


Sujihiki, used for slicing proteins...most often fish.


My EDC .

Wow, your knives are beautiful! I would love to own a set of those..

I have a 6-piece Wustof block set, but find I only really use 2 of them regularly. The kitchen scissors that was included is very nice too. They were expensive, but I enjoy cooking much more with them.

Thank you!! You actually touched on a point I wanted to make. Most people use one, or two knives in a home kitchen. They'll buy an entire block of knives, and never touch half of them until their favorites are so dull as to be useless. Even most full time professional chefs will do the same. They may own dozens of knives, but most are in the same couple of styles that they prefer (barring a couple specialty knives). A chef's knife, petty knife, and possibly a paring knife are more than most people will ever use. When I make a 'set' of knives, this is most often what is in it. From my experience...they are usually a 250mm (10") gyuto, a 150mm (6") petty, and a 100mm (4") paring knife. Lately some chefs have been ordering knives like the first ones I pictured...which is a 185mm (7.25") 'ko-gyuto' or literally, 'little gyuto'. A gyuto is basically the Japanese equivalent to a chef's knife. They seem to like the ko-gyuto for line work...because it's short and agile, but still has the tall heel area for scooping etc.

Also, someone above mentioned weight in a knife, and for a thick behind the edge (for an explanation of 'thickness behind the edge, look below) knife which requires some effort to push through the product (food), weight is mandatory. For a knife that is thin behind the edge, weight is a detriment. A lighter knife means less fatigue in a production environment, and less overall effort in a home environment. For professionals it definitely takes a bit of getting used to...although I've never heard of one saying they'd rather go back to heavy knives after spending enough time with a lighter one .


If you look at the knife on the left...you will see the secondary bevel (the 'edge'), and the primary bevel...or what a bladesmith calls the 'blade road'. These two bevels have a HUGE impact on how a knife cuts. The narrower the steel is 'behind' the secondary bevel, the easier it is for that edge to pierce the food. This is partially due to the simple physics involved in cutting. The material being cut has to be displaced, and the thinner the 'wedge' (bevel), the less material there is that needs displacing. The reason ALL inexpensive knives, and even more expensive production knives like Shun, Henckels, Wusthof, etc are so thick behind the edge is because the steel is kept very soft....anywhere between 54 and 58HRC (HRC is the Rockwell scale of hardness). A 58HRC Wusthof for example is not very common. Since the steel is soft, it needs the support of the thicker primary/secondary bevel junction. Most Japanese knives are substantially thinner, and are rarely below 61HRC. My knives are never below 65HRC.

This is an example of 'thin' behind the edge. Note that you can't even visibly see the secondary bevel.



The above knife can be extremely light, while still cutting food with less physical effort than a heavier knife with a much thicker edge.

Anyone else up for sharing their knives? I'm really surprised more of you don't use custom knives! Many of my friends are custom knifemakers and they generally have enough back orders to keep them in business for a year or more.

Anyone else up for sharing their knives? I'm really surprised more of you don't use custom knives! Many of my friends are custom knifemakers and they generally have enough back orders to keep them in business for a year or more.

^^^ Ha! I think you answered your own question. Custom knives are on back order.

Plus, personally I can't imagine what the cost is on a custom knife. Nor (outside of this thread) do I even "know a guy" to even get started. Besides that, if I'm a novice-to-intermediate home cook, is a specialized knife even warranted?

Like Mantis said, the really good artisans are backordered. And in my neck of the woods, I don't have any that i am aware of. I may stop over in Santa Fe to see a bladesmith that does some amazing work to see about commissioning one...

http://www.kitchenknifefora.com/

Take a look there. I happen to have a section there also (CJA Edged Art / Scorpion Forge)...but there's some AMAZING knives being made by many of the craftsmen there. It's also a place for people who appreciate cooking, and kitchen knives to talk and share their love of the hobby/profession.

Also...there being a back order isn't generally a problem. Using myself as an example, I will usually work two to four knives at a time, between one and three are custom, and one or two are what I call 'stock' knives...or knives that will be put up for sale immediately after completion. This is whether I have one custom on back order, or one hundred customs on back order. It's the 'stock' knives that feed my family, as they generate the main revenue. The customs take longer and are more specialized, and so...while the pricing is pretty close to the same, they're a less efficient way to make money.

Just as much care goes into a 'stock' knife...as a custom. The only difference is that whoever buys it gets my choice of edge geometry, handle configuration (sometimes I will make a new handle for someone who buys it...making it a semi-custom), etc. One of initial two knives I posted is a 'stock' knife...the other was a custom order.

Mantis, the pricing from a custom from a known quality maker is substantial...but honestly, worth it. Instead of buying 6-8 knives in a block for $1500, buy two or three special...high quality knives that will do what you need. For example my pricing is $3/mm to $3.50/mm. So, for say...the initial knives I posted (I'll repost a few pictures below), at 185mm (7.25"), the pricing would be $550-$650...mostly depending on handle material, etc. Part of that cost is materials...the rest labor. The wood blocks I use cost as much as $50-$100 each (for one handle)...and the materials for the blade sometimes that much also. Add in the substantial time involved in the making...and even at those prices I may only make $10/hr on a knife like that.

To answer your other question...about 50% of my customers are hobbyist home chefs...the other half are professionals. As for whether its warranted...you'd have to decide that for yourself lol. The benefits are many..they stay sharp substantially longer, and sharpening them is easier due to the thinner edge (this is going to depend on who you buy from). Add to that that again...depending on your bladesmith...that thinner edge makes cutting through food a really, really different experience. One of my favorite things when letting someone cut with one of my knives the first time, is watching them slam it into the board through the food (due to the effort they're 'used' to putting into cutting) on their first cut, then watching their eyes just light up when they realize how little effort is involved in actually making a clean second cut, lol.

Teresa, who's the bladesmith in Santa Fe? I may know him.

Oh, and the knife I meant from above:

I use Wusthof, for the money I find that they're hard to beat.

I like the look of the ones you pictured, the Damascus look is cool, I'm not sure about how the handle would feel but it looks very nice.

Thank you! It's actually not Damascus, though I understand why you might think that. This steel is what's called 'differentially hardened' (like a katana) to produce an edge that is very, very hard and stiff...and a spine that is soft and flexible. If the entire blade were hardened to the edge hardness, you could snap the blade in your hands like a piece of glass. Easier than glass actually. But because the spine is kept soft...it acts like a shock absorber...making the knife quite durable.

On the handles...most people who buy my knives don't hold it much...they pinch the blade between their thumb and index fingers...gripping the handle with their middle, ring, and pinky fingers. The handle is actually quite comfortable in a 'hammer' grip however. It's just not as common.

I want one of your knives, the one pictured is beautiful!! How do I get one? It would make life a bit more ceremonial I am sure and I would love that.

Thank you!!

I didn't post this to conduct business in any way...just to share my enjoyment of cooking and the tools we use for it! But if you're really interested in talking about the specifics of my knives, I'm more than happy to share .

i had to find the business card...Santa Fe Stoneworks...They came out to a city wide art fair last October and their knives were just gorgeous. I bought a Spyderco for my husband and the quality is excellent. I may have them make me a santoku.

http://www.santafestoneworks.com/shop/hammered-damascus-jewelry-collection-santoku-5-knife

Ahh, yes. They do beautiful handle work! They don't make their blades though...they buy them mass produced from a factory in Japan. That's not always a bad thing, as it helps keep costs down, but due to the mass produced nature, the edge hardness is kept on the lower side of the spectrum from 56HRC to 60HRC (most often 56-58). I actually have a friend who is married into the family that supplies those blades from Sakai-City . I mentioned him previously in regards to sharpening...his name is Jon Brioda at Japanese Knife Imports.

Dude - beautiful burl grip! I have a farm with a lot of trees and also with several nice burls growing and noted. I am keeping an eye on the hard-maple burl that is now the size of a bread-box.

I actually make muzzleloaders (rifles and pistols) from scratch (no kits for me - thank-you)...a guy at work makes knives.

I used to provide white-tail buck racks to a gent who would pay me with the occasional home-made knife. The last knife I received in payment was a nice little buck-horn patch knife that is used for trimming the pillow ticking after seating the round-ball in the end of the barrel. This replaced my old putty-knife re-purposed into a patch knife...which I still use (of course).

I totally agree with you about the steel too, if it does not change colors when slicing an onion (lol), I do not want it in my house.

Thanks a ton man! I have a really big soft spot (ok...addiction lol), when it comes to burl woods. Most of the blocks in my collection are under 6" long, and the biggest of those are 2" square. Generally they cost anywhere from $40-$100 each. All will eventually be knife handles .

Good man on the carbon thing by the way! Stainless knives (properly heat treated!) have their place for sure...but in my opinion nothing beats a good carbon steel knife for sharpness, durability, and beauty!

I have a few of these, but this is my go to for most applications.

Very nice! I've heard good things about the Kikuichi knives. It's also nice that they keep their edge steel (VG10 if I recall...the same as the Santa Fe Stoneworks knives from above) a bit harder than some of the other companies using it in kitchen cutlery.

Thanks for all the info and detail, Cris (can I call you Cris?). Agree with Mizzou, the burls are gorgeous. Knives too, of course.
Very impressive.

Please do call me Cris...and it's no problem! Thank you also!