Integral Santoku and Experimental Funayuki in W2

DesRosiers

DesRosiers

Joined
May 5, 2010
Messages
622
170mm Santoku
Handforged W2 integral
Stabilized California Buckeye Burl
Bronze/G10 Spacers
Flat ground to .04 with a slight convex on the top third to minimize food stickage.
1 11/16" Heel height







A note about a 'funayuki'. When I made the lower knife I decided to put more of a tip on it than a santoku. It just seemed more useful that way. When Adam saw it he went and got an old Blackcod heading knife my Dad had brought back from japan and laid it next to it. Sure enough same profile. I looked it up and turns out it's called a Funayuki, usually single bevel (like Dad's) and originally intended for fisherman. How innovative of me to come up with something that's been used for centuries!




On the other hand I loved using this blade in my kitchen, plenty of edge even at 6" and with the pointy tip I could core fruits and veggies without reaching for a paring knife. It happened to be in the testing process when some venison was ready to be packaged. I boned the entire deer, even cutting apart the joints and slicing up plenty into small pieces for the grinder and it was still shaving hair at the end with no touch-ups. I can't say that I've ever had that experience with a kitchen knife before.




This is kinda exciting to me that a whisper thin edge will hold up that well without chipping at a much higher hardness than you can swing with hunting knife geometry. Apparently it can flex much easier at that thickness. As you might have noticed I'm still finding chef knife creation thrilling.
 
I loooove the curves on that santoku. Most santoku just don't look right, but yours looks just right. Both are beautiful. I'm excited to see more kitchen knives in this community :)
 
Great looking knives Mrs. D!
They both look really good.
I really like that they are both integrals.
While the funayuki might have been intended as a meat cutter I could see using it a lot with veggies like a gyuto.
I like the pointy tip and tall profile.
 
Burl Source said:
While the funayuki might have been intended as a meat cutter I could see using it a lot with veggies like a gyuto.
I like the pointy tip and tall profile.
Click to expand...


They look great, Haley.

Gyuto, literally means "meat blade", a veggie dedicated knife is a "Nakiri bōchō" (菜切り包丁, translation: knife for cutting greens)....they are very much different in style and function. I JUST started getting into nakiri after Daniel O'Malley's show in Seattle(well, more accurately, Kirkland) and now have two, a Shun Premier and a Tojiro DP....they are both light sabers to the veggies, BUT so thinly ground that taking them to any kind of bone may not be "right"....that is not what they are designed for.

While a Gyuto may be used by Westerners as a general chef's knife, they were designed to cut meat, from inception.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Burl Source said:
While the funayuki might have been intended as a meat cutter I could see using it a lot with veggies like a gyuto.
I like the pointy tip and tall profile.
Click to expand...

Thanks Mark, it was actually intended for more of a veggie cutter but since the opportunity arose to test edge holding I used it on the meat. The edge is thin enough that you can see the shape of my round ceramic sharpening rod run down the edge each stroke. I honestly thought it wouldn't stand dissecting joints at the higher hardness, interesting stuff. I'm sure you'd want something longer if you planned to cut up hindquarters all day. It seems men tend to like a longer chef knife for most things, I've decided that it's a counter height issue. If I move over to the kitchen table to slice things I get way less wrist fatigue and find longer knives more controllable. While in the shop Adam and I have quite different bench heights, kitchens seem to be a one size fits all (or doesn't) 36".

Thanks for the info Steven! I'm smitten by Nakiris myself...I haven't made or used one yet but the mini cleaver seems like such a fun tool. Especially laser ground. What are your thoughts on dead flat profile or slight raising at the tip?

I posted this in the Kitchen Knife part of the forums too. I'm just discovering it, so if you're interested in chef knives go check out that corner of bladeforums. Bill Burke has some sick stuff up over there.
 
Those are really beautiful.

My first attempt at a kitchen blade (beyond paring knives) had a similar profile to your funayuki. If you bear down with your non-handle-hand on the spine near the tip you can risk sliding off the end and cutting yourself on the tip while trying to push through something sticky like a block of wax-covered cheese. This doesn't seem to be an issue with the usual santoku or European chef profiles.
 
Those are really beautiful.

My first attempt at a kitchen blade (beyond paring knives) had a similar profile to your funayuki. If you bear down with your non-handle-hand on the spine near the tip you can risk sliding off the end and cutting yourself on the tip while trying to push through something sticky like a block of wax-covered cheese. This doesn't seem to be an issue with the usual santoku or European chef profiles.
 
DesRosiers said:
Thanks for the info Steven! I'm smitten by Nakiris myself...I haven't made or used one yet but the mini cleaver seems like such a fun tool. Especially laser ground. What are your thoughts on dead flat profile or slight raising at the tip?

I posted this in the Kitchen Knife part of the forums too. I'm just discovering it, so if you're interested in chef knives go check out that corner of bladeforums. Bill Burke has some sick stuff up over there.
Click to expand...

Hi Haley,

Both models I own have the raised tip, probably to promote blade rocking. It works, and also looks like it is not easy to nail the angles.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Nice knife Haley! I really like how close it came to the Japanese original.

DesRosiers said:

How innovative of me to come up with something that's been used for centuries!
Click to expand...


I took this to be tongue in cheek but that you got so close tells me that you're innately discovering the proper geometries and profiles that others have discovered over time. When things are right, they're right.
 
After describing the old Japanese knife to Bill Burke (thick heavy spine hollow ground on the left flat with drastic secondary bevel on the right) he is sure it is a deba as opposed to a funayuki. I'm still a little bewildered by the Japanese terms since online resources are about as helpful as trying to define what is or isn't a bowie knife. Since my creation is thin and double ground I'm not entirely sure what to call it. The pointy santoku? :) This is a fun learning curve however you slice it!
 
DesRosiers said:
After describing the old Japanese knife to Bill Burke (thick heavy spine hollow ground on the left flat with drastic secondary bevel on the right) he is sure it is a deba as opposed to a funayuki. I'm still a little bewildered by the Japanese terms since online resources are about as helpful as trying to define what is or isn't a bowie knife. Since my creation is thin and double ground I'm not entirely sure what to call it. The pointy santoku? :) This is a fun learning curve however you slice it!
Click to expand...

Haley, It is very close to dead on to being a Funayuki
 
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