Chefs knife, new for me.

Looks like one of those that quietly screams....
"use me"....

Just leave the others put up.....
 
jdm61 said:
Just as an aside, my brother suggested that I try to make some cool chef's knives and get an "advertorial" write up in the local yuppie scum lifestyle magazine. He figures if these lunatics spend the kind of money they do on baby clothes and Botox, then they would probably jump at paying way too much for the "ultimate kitchen knife set" that would sit on their Viking range gathering dust. They don't cook, but they must have a commercial grade kitchen in their McMansion...lol
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I like your style, brotha!:D

Bill- nice work:thumbup: I have a custom made kitchen knife, and there's no way I'd go back to a production unit, unless one just fell into my lap. Uh, scratch that, if a kitchen knife fell into my lap the last thing on my mind would be cooking. But, you know what I mean:o

Love your knives, Bill.
 
HTMD said:
Cutting surface seems to make a difference too. We currently use a large bamboo cutting board that is hell on a good edge. Looking for a better solution if anyone has ideas.
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Bamboo is a really hard wood, which is great for its durability as a cutting board but also the reason why it has been rough on your knife edges.

I use an end-grain maple Boos block as a cutting board. It is softer than the bamboo, so your knife edges will last longer on it, but it is still hard enough to have great durability as long as you take care of it. I oil mine with mineral oil after every time I wash it, and it has remained in near-new condition for over 6 years now after almost-daily use.
 
B . Buxton said:
Thank you everyone for the comments.
I'm no chef but I do some cooking. well,mostly beer dranking when I BBQ,:D
Anyway I've used the one I made my wife last year and its a cutt'in son of a gun, so I ground this one the same, a flat grind with a slight convex. I will call the chef, probably tomorrow and see how his worked out this weekend, it was a busy time here with tons of people so I'm sure it was worked pretty hard.
Blade length from tip to handle scales is 8 3/8" with an 8" cutting edge. Blade thickness is just under an 1/8", I checked it just before I finish sanded it and it was approx .115, the taper only runs back about 2 inches, but with the thin blade it appears to be enough, but then again I'm no chef so I can only go by what he's told me. The handle is thin and feels great in the hand, he suggested a thin handle so it would be easy to cradle and not feel arkward, plus his wife is a chef also and he wanted something that wouldn't feel to big to her either. Any suggestions from you chef's out there would be welcome, I plan on making another one of these after I get this next project I'm working on finished.

Bill
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Bill, I'm not a chef, but I do cook a lot, and I do have a couple of suggestions on your next chef knife. First, I would recommend a synthetic handle material such as carbon fiber or green canvas micarta on the next chef knife, even though the natural materials may be prettier. Especially in the kitchen, I have had big problems with natural handle materials shrinking away from tangs, bolsters, etc., but synthetics have been great to me as handle materials.

I would also suggest that you do a slightly longer blade, in the 10" range. Many cooks, myself included, don't want anything shorter than a 240 mm cutting edge (about 9 1/2"). When you cut relatively large quantities of food, it is much easier to stay in control of what you are cutting with a longer blade.
 
on the 10' front
many home users find 8 inch ok as they are not cutting up cases of produce
tho all the chefs that i have sold to that take blades to work love the bigger 10+ size (when i make a stock knife safe bet is in the 9 inch range )

makes it real hard to make "stock" blades for sale also depending on the style of use one might want a edge a hair thicker or thinner
also the belly of the edge east vs west cooking manners depending on the way they learned cutting

handles scales
i have this if you can care for a carbon steel blade then a wood handle should be fine so long as its stabilized or good care is taken for it

again great looking knife
 
Russ Andrews said:
Looks like one of those that quietly screams....
"use me"....

Just leave the others put up.....
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You've got that right. It makes me want to go in the kitchen and slice up some tomatoes, garlic, jalapenos, etc... and make some salsa. :D:thumbup:
 
Bill, looks as though you may have found an additional niche for your knifemaking business. :thumbup:
 
Kevin Jones said:
Bill, looks as though you may have found an additional niche for your knifemaking business. :thumbup:
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I agree, this would be a great niche market! I have so many customs that do not get any use and a chef knife could get daily use.:thumbup: I would love to get a custom chef knife for my better half! :D PM sent. Cheers, Dan
 
Thanks again everyone, I sure appreciate the kind words and suggestions.

Dan, e-mail sent.

I tried contacting Mike ( chef I made the knife for) this afternoon, but his wife ( a chef also) told me he'll be gone until Thursday. I asked her if she got to use it and she said no, she wanted to, but every time she'd reach for it Mike would growl and pick it up real fast like a 2 year old and his toys. She laughed, and said he really liked it and would have him call me when he returned on Thursday.

commodorewheeler- Thank you for the suggestions, I will make one a bit larger next time and maybe use G-10.

Thank you,

Bill
 
B . Buxton said:
Thanks again everyone, I sure appreciate the kind words and suggestions.

Dan, e-mail sent.

I tried contacting Mike ( chef I made the knife for) this afternoon, but his wife ( a chef also) told me he'll be gone until Thursday. I asked her if she got to use it and she said no, she wanted to, but every time she'd reach for it Mike would growl and pick it up real fast like a 2 year old and his toys. She laughed, and said he really liked it and would have him call me when he returned on Thursday.

commodorewheeler- Thank you for the suggestions, I will make one a bit larger next time and maybe use G-10.

Thank you,

Bill
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BLAH ON THE G-10!!!! Just tell your customers what every company that makes higher priced kitchen cutlery tells their customers. After you use the knife, wash it, dry it and NEVER under any circumstances let the thing even get near a dishwasher!!!:D
 
butcher_block said:
on the 10' front
many home users find 8 inch ok as they are not cutting up cases of produce
tho all the chefs that i have sold to that take blades to work love the bigger 10+ size (when i make a stock knife safe bet is in the 9 inch range )
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Yeah, I know what you mean. I have company over a lot, so I tend to prepare food in fairly large quantities. Large enough, at least, so that I definitely notice an improvement in performance with the 10" blade over the 8" blade.

butcher_block said:
handles scales
i have this if you can care for a carbon steel blade then a wood handle should be fine so long as its stabilized or good care is taken for it

again great looking knife
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jdm61 said:
BLAH ON THE G-10!!!! Just tell your customers what every company that makes higher priced kitchen cutlery tells their customers. After you use the knife, wash it, dry it and NEVER under any circumstances let the thing even get near a dishwasher!!!:D
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I actually take really good care of my kitchen knives. I always wash them by hand and dry them immediately after I use them, and I never even get the handle wet if it's wood or bone, but where I live, natural handle materials always shrink for me no matter what I do. The only thing that seems to slow down the shrinkage is if I oil the handle after every use, but that doesn't stop the shrinkage altogether, plus it's a safety concern because the handle becomes slippery with the oil in it.
 
B . Buxton said:
Thanks again everyone, I sure appreciate the kind words and suggestions.

Dan, e-mail sent.

I tried contacting Mike ( chef I made the knife for) this afternoon, but his wife ( a chef also) told me he'll be gone until Thursday. I asked her if she got to use it and she said no, she wanted to, but every time she'd reach for it Mike would growl and pick it up real fast like a 2 year old and his toys. She laughed, and said he really liked it and would have him call me when he returned on Thursday.

commodorewheeler- Thank you for the suggestions, I will make one a bit larger next time and maybe use G-10.

Thank you,

Bill
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Bill, PM sent.
 
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