The very first thing that I'd ask of any potential custom kitchen knife maker is the thickness of their stock and as-built knives.
IMO, there's simply no reason that a full sized wide blade 10" bladed Chef's knife should *ever* be made of anything thicker than 3/32" stock. And of course, everything smaller should be of thinner stock. There are applications like cleavers where thicker stock might be desirable, but the first and foremost q I'd ask of any kitchen knife maker is: "Can you tell me the thickness of your 10" Chef's knife (or Santoku) as measured 1/2" up from the edge on the end closest to the handle?" If she said anything over 1/32", I'd look for another maker. But, that's just me.
Clearly, I must be in the minority on this opinion because companies like Henckels and others sell mere 6" forged blades that are a whopping 3/32" as measured 1/2" up from the rearmost portion of the edge and a monstrous 5/32" thick at the spine-handle junction everyday. It amuses me greatly that the first thing many knowledgeable cooks do with these is have them professionally reground to compensate for this "feature", (defect).
If you find a maker that will make you what you think you desire out of 1/16" and 3/32" stocks and will guarantee the handles and the blades against reasonable use then you've done your homework.
As for knives with holes in them: I demoed a cheap stamped Korean "vegetable" knife that had holes in the blade ostensibly to break the 'suction' of slicing veggies like wet onions etc. The only two things that I saw the holes do were to trap bits of food making cleaning harder and to give storefront eye appeal causing knuckleheads like me to think that risking $16 was worthwhile. (It wasn't, although it was good testimony to the idea that onions and tomatoes don't much care if your knife is a $200 custom job or a cheaply stamped import.)
mps
