Kitchen knife set - coming soon

Daniel Koster

Daniel Koster

www.kosterknives.com
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Oct 18, 2001
Messages
20,978
I have been sitting on this idea for about 5 years. My first handmade knives were kitchen knives. I have solicited a tremendous amount of feedback regarding custom kitchen knives over the years - from customers, other knifemakers, material suppliers and so on.

There is no "best knife".....no "best steel" for the kitchen....no "best grind"....and so on. Forget the hype.

I gave up on that pursuit long ago.

However, I think what I have come up with will certainly be the best I can offer and quite possibly one of the more well-thought-out, well-tested, simple, easy-to-use-and-maintain handmade kitchen knife sets out there.

I will, of course, be looking for volunteers to participate in a passaround. ;)

If you are interested, just post here and when the set is done, I'll gather a half-dozen names or so and send the full set with block included (also handmade) down the list and back around to me.

I'll be looking for comments on strengths/weaknesses - as these are still prototypes and can change if needed. I'll be more focused on function and utility and price than on aesthetics - though I think you'll see that there are no ugly ducklings in the box. ;)

No pics yet

No drawings yet

All I can tell you right now is that there will only be 3 knives: a Paring knife, a Santoku and a longer Chef/Santoku hybrid.

Sorry - gotta keep a lid on it until I have made the prototypes - which (unlike past prototypes) will be made from the same steel as the final product - 12C27. I have done a bunch of testing on this steel - and it is the best compromise (for me) on price, machinability, thickness available, ease of sharpening, and stain resistance. Those that have other custom/handmade/high-end-production kitchen knives in other steels are sure to swear by their materials (*insert chest thumping*)....fine for them...that's not what I'm looking for. I want a set that is for the average joe knife-nut who wants to *upgrade* his Wusthof set to something handmade, that has been well-thought-out and is original yet not *freakish*.

These knives will be able to be run through a dishwashers (accidentally, of course) as this tends to always happen with guests. They will be self-contained in a handmade block of moderate-small size.

I don't want to go into more detail just yet. Just let it be said I have been using handmade knives of various makes in my kitchen for about 5 years and have plenty of opportunities to think about the pluses and minuses of handmade kitchen knives. I've been putting this off for too long. The time has now come.

Are you ready?

;)

Dan
 
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Sign me up for a week of using these. I love to cook and a good knife is a must. It took me a long time to convince my wife of the benefits of a good sharp knife in the kitchen. I even have a Koster Santoku from years ago
 
Sign Me up Dan, It took me three years to get two of your knives , my own fault but they are great all around users kitchen and outside . A full set of your knives to use would be a dream plus it would scare the hell out of my wife while she wondered how much they cost us .
 
Sure thing, guys.

I have the wood on order for the block - and the steel on its way too. It's still a month or 2 away from being done - but I would really love to have it back from the passaround before the end of the year.

All kitchen duties welcome, of course. Cleaving, chopping, mincing, dicing, paring...and so on. As long as it takes place in the kitchen (and not out on the wood stump in your backyard....LOL) then these will work great.

Dan
 
I'm in...I figure a week could have a possibility of 80-120 hours of use between myself, the sous chef and and executive chef at the restaurant I am working at. Can't wait to see them!
 
Sounds very interesting! I just got one of your right handed Koster Mater in 13C26 from workingknives.com and my wife loves it!
 
Please sign me up. This is just what I am looking for and I would love to test them. I am left handed so it would be great if the handles are ambidextrous Thanks.
 
Yes - the handles (and grinds) will be ambidextrous.

:thumbup:

Dan
 
Dan, love to pass around.

I did red handled and wood handled proto's for the EDC pass around.
 
Dan if there's room, I'd love to be in on the passaround. My wife and I spend tons of time cooking together and I would really enjoy a crack at doing some slicing and chopping with these:thumbup: I'm sure I'd be up for a set when you settle on final details. I've been after some handmade kitchen knives for a while but didn't want to put together a set of random blades. This is a great idea. Let me know.

Jonny
 
I have also been looking for a set of quality, handmade knives. I plan to give them as gifts to my nieces when they graduate from college. I didn't own a decent set of knives until my late 30's. I'd like to see my nieces start adult life with a nice set that will last. Your choice of which knives to make is perfect, as is your steel choice. I can't wait to see them!
 
Thanks for the great response so far, guys. I"ll keep you posted on the progress. Right now I am only going to offer G10 handles because I have personally put my own knives through the dishwasher (on purpose) to try to get the handles to pop apart and G10 is by far the best performing material.

Dan
 
Hey, Dan. I missed this thread, as I was out of town last week, but I would love to be considered for the pass-around list. My wife and I love kitchen knives. I think the G10 is a great idea, but we never put kitchen knives in the dishwasher.
 
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