Custom Chef's Knives?

K

KnifeFan

Joined
Jun 17, 2007
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15
Anyone aware of any custom makers currently producing quality chef's knives, and how I can locate the makers on the web?
 
KnifeFan,There are many custom knifemakers crafting kitchen cutlery these days.
The "Makers For Sale " forum here on BladeForums has a few makers ,one "Butcher Block",Butch,he lists some real nice stuff
I personally have a few custom kitchen knives,Tom Krein,Luc Burnley,Bob Dozier,to name a few.
 
Another Maker,Dan Koster,has his own forum in the Makers Forum,here on BladeForums,sharp Santoku style choppers and more.
-Vince
 
Of makers whose kitchen pieces I have owned, Mike Mooney, Murray Carter, Phil Wilson, Ray Rogers, JL Williams, and Charles Marlowe all make some amazing custom chef knives. I know Williams isn't taking any orders at all right now, and Marlowe might not be taking any for kitchen knives at this point in time, but last I checked, Mooney, Carter, Wilson, and Rogers definitely still are.

Another great kitchen knifemaker who I've owned a piece from in the past is Daniel Koster. He does great work, and I think his prices will most likely be the most affordable out of everyone that I mentioned.

J.P. Holmes is another great one to check out. Although I've never owned his work, I have had the chance to examine it quite closely at multiple shows, and I would put his kitchen knife quality up there with anyone's.

Tom Krein and Lucas Burnley are two other great guys who make amazing custom fixed blades, but I've never owned nor had the opportunity to check out their kitchen knives firsthand.
 
Here's the contact info for each of the makers I recommended:

Mike Mooney - http://moonblades.com/
Murray Carter - I don't have current contact info for him
Phil Wilson - http://www.seamountknifeworks.com/index.htm
Ray Rogers - http://www.rayrogers.com/
JL Williams - http://leewilliamsknives.com/
Charles Marlowe - http://marloweknives.com/
Daniel Koster - http://www.kosterknives.com/
J.P. Holmes - http://www.jphknives.com/default.asp
Tom Krein - http://kreinknives.net/
Lucas Burnley - http://burnleyknives.blademakers.com/
 
Shosui Takeda hammers a mean kitchen knife:

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That bad bubba has an ebony handle, buffalo ferrule, blue super steel edge, wrought iron cladding, and has a dainty 9.4" x 2.5" blade that's 0.006" thick at the shoulders of the edge. $185 shipped from Niimi, Okayama Prefecture to New England.

Other folks to check out, along with the guys mentioned up in earlier posts, are Shinichi Watanabe and Tsunetake Moritaka.
 
butcher_block,

Thanks for your response, and great looking work! I don't have a steel preference per se as my metalurgy knowledge goes little beyond stainless steel and carbon blades. However, as a user I know I want a knife that has a strong balance between edge retention, ease of sharpening, and not being too brittle that the edge or tip would easily chip or break doing "real" kitchen work like going up against bones and joints. My preference would be a Chef or Santuko-style knife with 6" - 7" blade and some sort of wood handle. I love the stablized burl maple you used on the 8.5" chefs knife!
 
- Murray Carter
- Lloyd R Harner (aka Butcher Block - never handled his knives but i'm currently talking with him on a light cleaver. His work is highly respected in the industry.)
- Shousui Takada
- Ray Rogers
- Moritaka
- Thomas Haslinger
- Watanabe
- Daniel Koster seems to have a nice santoku as well.

I gotta be honest but I feel a lot of knife makers out there just don't make a kitchen knife that belongs in a professional setting. I've tried a few from makers I will not mention. The feel, weight, geometry and function on a couple was all wrong. I think a lot of these makers have a niche for making a good home use kitchen knife out of great steel and materials. Maybe that's all you need.

But when it comes to knowing what characterisitcs belong in a professional working kitchen knife, the makers I've mentioned make some of the best. I use some at work.
 
KnifeFan said:
butcher_block,

Thanks for your response, and great looking work! I don't have a steel preference per se as my metalurgy knowledge goes little beyond stainless steel and carbon blades. However, as a user I know I want a knife that has a strong balance between edge retention, ease of sharpening, and not being too brittle that the edge or tip would easily chip or break doing "real" kitchen work like going up against bones and joints. My preference would be a Chef or Santuko-style knife with 6" - 7" blade and some sort of wood handle. I love the stablized burl maple you used on the 8.5" chefs knife!
Click to expand...
sounds like your sorta looking for a western santuko then (difference is i would not thin the edge as far as i would normaly).
cpm154 workd great in the kitchen knives ive done thus far good edge and stainless. so far as hard to sharpen i dont think so nor do most people that have used my knives. so you know the handle shaapes i use can be swaped out if your not a fan of one or the other (i can try something all new also if you have a drawing)
butch
 
sierra11b said:
- Thomas Haslinger
- Watanabe
Click to expand...

I forgot to mention these two. I've owned custom chef knives from them as well, and they were great, too.

Another one I failed to mention is Tokifusa Iizuka; the custom chef knife that I got from him might be the best of all that I've ever tried.
 
butcher_block,

Would you mind explaining briefly the difference between Western vs. Eastern Santuko edge shapes in reference to one being thinner than the other? I prefer a knife with a thin blade rather than some of the production knifes I see on the market with thick stock ground down to what can almost be described as a chisel point.

Also, I am working on designing a simple, all-around utility knife based upon a blade style that I enjoy using. It's nothing complex, just something I have a fondness of. Are you interested in these types of order as well?
 
KnifeFan said:
butcher_block,

Would you mind explaining briefly the difference between Western vs. Eastern Santuko edge shapes in reference to one being thinner than the other? I prefer a knife with a thin blade rather than some of the production knifes I see on the market with thick stock ground down to what can almost be described as a chisel point.

Also, I am working on designing a simple, all-around utility knife based upon a blade style that I enjoy using. It's nothing complex, just something I have a fondness of. Are you interested in these types of order as well?
Click to expand...

the east /west think is more so i know how thin to make the edge before sharpening some people like the edge a little bit thicker because they plan on moer choping and what not on heaver foods think suv stronger more apt to be beat on
the east is more veggies cuts super thin edge is loved and they dont mind having a heaver knife for heavy work
its more about how much pounding you will be doing with the blade
 
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