kitchen set

koyote

koyote

Joined
Mar 29, 2007
Messages
5,846
I do some kitchen knives once in a while.

Due to projects, probably won't be getting to more until March, but this order has shipped (I'm just slow on photos)

Photos were just before the last coat of tung oil and stropping.

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The larger blade is a 9.75 inch santoku with a good long handle. The handle helps with variable grips and balance. This one is wicked in the hand and on the cutting board. Just for fun, I did some deboning with it for testing with my hand about halfway up the blade and it's great. It also makes cantaloupe quiver :D

The belly gives you a tone of dicing footprint on a cutting board, the grind can shave apple and salami slices like a machine, and that funky rear part of the blade is excellent for notching and scoring. I've got a few knives with the sharpening back there coming to another point, and the slight finger well makes it a bit safer, while keeping that little detail of utility in good shape.


The chef's pattern LOOKS small next to that beast, but is 7.75 inches long on the blade. The pattern is based loosely on the household favorite production chef's knife, an old Arcos. It's a bit slimmer than some chef's knives but works very well and rolls good on a cutting board. The handle is a bit less broad, but thick and less pure oval than my handles usually are. It works out very well for this type of knife. The rather extreme upsweep at the end of the belly near the tip is something that's very useful in a kitchen sometimes and hard to find in any knife on the rack, so here's the one :)

The utility knife is a new pattern. I was originally working on a petty knife, but while messing around with thanksgiving was having some great kitchen feel from one of the seax models, and decided to go with the long humped clip and slight thumb riser on this one. It's a seriously comfortable knife, especially for meat processing in the kitchen.
 
my mom would absolutely love to use that santoku in her kitchen.....how much for a piece like that???

thanks.....by the way, i looked at your website and i love the rustic finish you put on your knives.....
 
It depends a bit on handle materials. My preferences for the kitchen for woods are ipe, jatoba, and lignum vitae (american or argentinian varieties both work fine). In ipe or jatoba for an 8 to 10 inch one like that, probably $175 including shipping. I can get a bit fancier, of course.
 
That santoku looks really nice. The finger notch at the base of the blade is a great idea. Also like the chef knife, bottom one of the first picture!
 
Richard J does that finger notch a lot- almost a signature thing for him. I only put them on on something like this where you want that sharp rear edge and need the safety feature. Pretty cool trick!
 
wow.. those look awesome christof...:eek: as much as i love to cook, i still don't have any good kitchen knives...:o one of these days i'll get some...:)
 
Awesome set Christof, :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

…that utility knife looks like a scaled down version of your Sierra Machete. :cool:




"If you're not living on the edge, …you're taking up too much space."

Big Mike
 
Wow, Christof, they look great. I'll be flying back to FL tomorrow and the set should be sitting on my desk at work.

Thanks again,

ck
 
Christof,

I just received the kitchen set. I'm thoroughly impressed. They feel good in the hand, and the santoku is massive.:) I can't wait to use them.
 
Awesome! I tried hard to get a good balance and work the 'close grip' ability for the santoku. And the utility is a completely new design, should be very handy. The grip on the chef is unique, too :)
 
The santoku looks like it would be a good camp knife. It has some good weight to it.

I believe I'll make a salad tonight and put it to use.
 
Thats a great looking set. I may need to get my wife something like that in the future.

Nice work Christof!!
 
I find that one of my "go to" knives in the kitchen is a Santuko with a 7" blade. Something about this knife makes it very versatile, maybe even more than my big chef's knife. I have to laugh at myself for constantly drifting back to the Wharncliffe/sheep's foot/santuko type shape, but it's a useful design!

My santuko has 3 problems: 1) the 7" blade can be a little small in the kitchen. I shred lots of cabbage, lettuce, chard, and big onions; cut up melons, fruit, and squash. A big knife has no rival for cutting up these items. 2) the handle on my santuko was made for a diminutive cook with square hands. 3) It's a Henckels. Good and sharp, but it has all the personality of a rubber doorstop.

Christof - can you help??!!

(I saw with your first post that you might not be doing kitchen knives until March--that's good for me since I probably won't have any money until march. :D)
 
Oh, I'll be able to help with that. :D It's my favorite kitchen knife shape, in just about any size from 4.5 to 10 inches. under 4.5 inches I like the petty knife. (and you always need a boner)
 
I'm thinking about 8", maybe 8.5". I really like the finger notch you put in the one pictured in the first post. Looks like you can get right up on the blade with that notch. And the generous handle seems ideal, especially with the good drop edge--lots of room for fingers.

What steel do you like for these? I my inclination is not to use stainless. I like the L-6's, O-1's, and 1095's. I can see why stainless makes sense, but still... :D
 
I like the 15N20 okay, though that's as much a matter of having the thin stock on hand as anything else. this is a case where just about anything will work and the only real benefit you are going to see is in the REALLY long term something more abrasion resistant will last longer. But I really feel that it's less of an issue ythan nailing the heat treat. Even 1060 with a good edge quench or differentiual temper would work fine.

My opinion on stainless is that it's a specialty thing- I have some AEB-L I'm using for river rafting knives later this year (I have some orders) and that's great, it's a good job for stainless. And I'll do stainless for a kitchen knife if asked, but it's going to be a bit more expensive since I'll special order the material and send it out for HT.

15N20 is going to be easiest for me to keep straight in a 3/32 blade, just because I've gotten a fair amount of experience with interrupted quenching on this particular steel in thin cross sections. And it takes a differential temper that's insane :)

I like the finger notch on the santoku, it's a good fit with the blade style. And I like a bit longer handle, not just for versatility, but for balance on a longer bladed santoku without having to add seams b making a weighted butt. More seams between materials means more chance for food borne illness, over time.
 
koyote said:
15N20 is going to be easiest for me to keep straight in a 3/32 blade.
Click to expand...

That's the trick, isn't it? I was once a bit disappointed to get a knife from a custom maker and find the the edge had a discernible wave in it. Needless to say I don't use the knife and won't likely get another from that particular maker. If the edge ain't straight, what's the point? Pun not intentional.

15N20 it is.

What about wood? Have you ever used olive wood? Smells fantastic when you cut it. Obviously a kitchen knife will be cleaned frequently, so a water resistant wood seems ideal. Wood can always be refinished, but might as well start with something that can take some exposure to water. Bacote, maybe teak, what about bamboo? Just tossin' ideas out there. I have a "Green River" butcher knife I put maple slabs on about 20 years ago. The slabs are still in good shape, but show a bit of wear. I made it as a fun project, but it doesn't really get used much--not a great blade shape for the kitchen. :)

Edit: just looked back at your post and saw you liked ipe, jatoba, and lignum vitae. Nice.
 
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