Buckeye Gyuto

watercrawl · Aug 24, 2011

Here are some pictures of a gyuto I finished this evening.

Specs:

Blade Length - 254mm
Blade steel - AEB-L HT'd and cryo to 61 HRC
Spine Over Heel - 0.091"
Spine 1/2 Way - 0.079"
Spine 1/2" From Tip - 0.030"
Shoulder at heel - 0.011"
Shoulder at 1/2 way - 0.010"
Shoulder 1/2" from tip - 0.08"
Handle material is stabilized Buckeye Burl
Bolster is peened stainless steel
Weight - Well, I'm on the couch and not getting up right now so I'll edit this later.

Pictures:

eyeeatingfish · Aug 25, 2011

Very nice. Can I ask about your experience with stabilized wood on kitchen knife handles that get very wet? I ask because I did a spoon kit with some dyed stabilized birdseye maple and over the course of a year it seemed that the wood peeled away from the metal. In part I probably didn't prep the surface well but it also seemed like the wood was swelling, getting waterlogged perhaps? I should also note that there were some gaps in the birdseye. I am wondering if even stabilized wood is not fully waterproof or I got a low quality stabilized wood or what, so just wanted to know your experiences, as you obviously know what you are doing

Pete84 · Aug 25, 2011

That is a beautiful piece! Love the buckeye and the grind looks absolutely perfect! I'm just beginning, and I know how badly I would screw something like this up. Very very skillfully executed, esp on such a thin blade.

watercrawl · Aug 25, 2011

Thanks guys!

I've never had any trouble with properly stabilized woods on kitchen knives. However, they don't get submerged in water for long periods of time. I did have one handle where a guy left the handle soaked and the wood swelled a little bit. My handles are all corby bolted on too, for added strength. So they should come loose even if the epoxy bond breaks.

thegeek574 · Aug 25, 2011

that is beautiful. i think that that is the only thing that will cover it. the execution is excellent, the grind is perfect, and it is THIN. beautiful.

eyeeatingfish · Aug 26, 2011

Can I ask what type of epoxy you use and what chemical you clean the handle with first?
I want to try and make a kithcen knife for my brother when he gets married and after reading the glue wars threat I kind of wanted to ee a few more viewpoints.

tjswarbrick · Aug 26, 2011

Gorgeous. Amazing work. I like the palm swell. Is the handle kind of small, or is the blade just that large?

watercrawl · Aug 26, 2011

@ tjswarbrick - The handle is certainly not small....probably more on the larger size than on the small size. I don't have it in front of me right now, but I'd guess the handle is 5" long from front of bolster to back of the handle as that's typical. It is nicely thin at the bolster, with the palm swell.

@ eyeeatingfish - The epoxy is West Systems epoxy and cleaned with acetone. The corby bolts use JB Weld so I don't have to be as concerned about getting them warm when grinding on them.

Burl Source · Aug 26, 2011

Beautiful Knife!
Someone will be proud to have this one in their kitchen.

watercrawl · Aug 29, 2011

Thanks Mark!

eyeeatingfish · Sep 8, 2011

Do you have a website? I am thinking about buying a higher end kitchen knife. Got some shuns I don't use and I could sell some of them and get an even better one.

Nevermind, found the website. I like that Kukui wood. Never knew that wood looked that nice even though I live in Hawaii and am getting into various types of woodwork.