200mm Gyuto in CPM-Magnacut

Matthew Gregory

Matthew Gregory

Chief Executive in charge of Entertainment
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This is a (rare for me) chef knife which I recently finished up, to test a new stainless steel alloy from the mind of Larrin Larrin aka Dr. Larrin Thomas, of KnifeSteelNerds and many other nifty outlets of metallurgical tidbits.

The as-of-yet-unnamed steel is of Larrin's design, made by Crucible Industries, and rolled by nsm nsm aka Niagara Specialty Metals, and promises to be a significant leap forward.

The 200mm gyuto features an extremely shallow hollow grind, ground on a platen simulating an eight foot diameter wheel, which fades into a slight convex at the edge. Full distal taper. Ground to a zero edge, which I was reminded of repeatedly by being bitten by it during hand sanding.

Height at the heel is 46mm, and point of balance is immediately in front of the bolster for good control in a pinch grip. The steel is 3.5mm thick at the spine just above the heel.

The spine, choil, and all other 'flats' have been gently rounded and polished to offer a comfortable grip.

The wa handle consists of a Richlite paper micarta bolster, a thin stainless steel spacer, and a gorgeous block of stabilized curly koa.


2021012709072070-4317767559346801451-DSC_5502-X2.jpg




This one shall receive its final edge later today and will be my new daily driver in the kitchen. I've got a chopper blade in the same material profiled out which will be a test mule that shall be strapped to my fat bike, left in a leather sheath, and treated poorly and mercilessly to put it through its paces. Stay tuned!
 
Matthew Gregory said:
This is a (rare for me) chef knife which I recently finished up, to test a new stainless steel alloy from the mind of Larrin Larrin aka Dr. Larrin Thomas, of KnifeSteelNerds and many other nifty outlets of metallurgical tidbits.

The as-of-yet-unnamed steel is of Larrin's design, made by Crucible Industries, and rolled by nsm nsm aka Niagara Specialty Metals, and promises to be a significant leap forward.

The 200mm gyuto features an extremely shallow hollow grind, ground on a platen simulating an eight foot diameter wheel, which fades into a slight convex at the edge. Full distal taper. Ground to a zero edge, which I was reminded of repeatedly by being bitten by it during hand sanding.

Height at the heel is 46mm, and point of balance is immediately in front of the bolster for good control in a pinch grip. The steel is 3.5mm thick at the spine just above the heel.

The spine, choil, and all other 'flats' have been gently rounded and polished to offer a comfortable grip.

The wa handle consists of a Richlite paper micarta bolster, a thin stainless steel spacer, and a gorgeous block of stabilized curly koa.


2021012709072070-4317767559346801451-DSC_5502-X2.jpg




This one shall receive its final edge later today and will be my new daily driver in the kitchen. I've got a chopper blade in the same material profiled out which will be a test mule that shall be strapped to my fat bike, left in a leather sheath, and treated poorly and mercilessly to put it through its paces. Stay tuned!
Click to expand...

you have a fat bike? Do tell
 
Awesome job Matt. Glad to hear it's working well so far.

I'll let Larrin respond to the benefits of this alloy. All I can report is that it rolled very nicely and the hardness after heat treating has come in close to what Larrin predicted. We still need to prove out the final results in the lab and field before we get ahead of ourselves.
 
Lorien said:
you have a fat bike? Do tell
Click to expand...

Yup. Really makes more sense for my arena than a regular mountain bike, when you think about how long we have snow on the ground. Certainly every bit of four months, and sometimes five.

2021012815572300--5365674962501800900-IMG_9313_heic-X3.jpg


It's no exaggeration to say that this thing has entirely changed my life.





billf said:
Very nice job!

without giving anything away, what are the theoretical benefits of the new steel? edge stability, edge holding?

Bill
Click to expand...


Lots of beating around the bush by everyone connected to this, and for good reason. Cautious optimism is probably for the best - but, I'll step out and say that, if this works as intended, and it appears to be so far, this will be a game-changer.





R APPLEBY said:
Very cool Matt love seeing you introduce new cutlery steels
Click to expand...

Thanks, Bob - Larrin's Dad beat me to the punch on this one, though, and I'm REALLY glad that he did. What could possibly be better than the father creating the first knife from the son's first alloy??? Maybe Larrin Larrin will post a shot of the knife by @DevinT - it's gorgeous!
 
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I had a smith lined up to work with it but backed out on me.

I posted in the custom knife forums and would really like to fund a folder and matching fixed blade in MagnaCut, but only with someone who is going to heat treat it with calibrated equipment and be able to add something to the body of knowledge we are accumulating about Larrin's steel.
If anyone has suggestions for a smith that fits this description, please post and/or PM me.

The chef knife is beautiful.
 
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