Laminated Kitchen Knife

B

Burt Foster

Joined
Jul 1, 2003
Messages
270
Hello everyone!

Like many makers, the knife that probably gets used most in my house every day is the one in the kitchen, and for whatever reason I've never made a kitchen knife.

Well, I finally made one. It is special to me for two reasons: first it's my first kitchen knife, but second, it's the first time I've successfully made a laminate of carbon steel damascus and 304 stainless. Forge welding stainless to anything is a whole other ball game, and this is the first time I got everything right at the same time.

http://www.burtfoster.com/hunters/kitchen_01.htm

The cutting edge is 150 layer damascus of O1 and L6 steels between two pieces of 304 stainless. The stainless is dead soft and the edge is rather hard and thin. The handle is water buffalo horn between box elder spacers and nickel silver caps.

Since this is the first kitchen knife, and I'm not a professional chef, this knife is not for sale. I like it, but I'd even change a few things. I've had it looked over by Murray Carter for his thoughts, and Daryl Meier told me what I'd done right on the stainless laminate (since I didn't really know :) ), so maybe it'll be easier in the future. It's been used here at the house for a couple weeks, and for the next few weeks, it'll be traveling to a couple restaurants where customers of mine who are professional chefs will use it and give me their thoughts.

Anyway, let me know what you think. I know there's not a huge market for $500 kitchen knives, but I thought I could learn something by making a few, and certainly it would give me some additions to my bag of tricks that could be used on other knives as well.
 
Burt - I really like the pattern on the blade you achieved with the contrast between the damascus and SS. The wavy border between the steels is eye pleasing. Nice job on the handle too.
 
Damn, is that a sweet blade! Just love how the stainless appears to be "dripping" down the blade. Nice handle as well.
 
Burt,

I like it. I actually like the look of the "reverse San-Mai" too. It's different & pretty.

There's a market for knives in that price point, but you compete with some of the highest quality Japanese made knives. One thing is that Japanese knives don't cover the needs of Occidental cooks that well. The edges are a bit thin and hard, which I guess reflects the fact that they don't have to cut big pieces of meat too often. So maybe an option is to produce knives that are *not* Japanese inspired. Or you can go head to head with them. You obviously have the craftsmanship for this.

Personally, I think I would like some noble but synthetic material for the handle - maybe carbon fiber. As much as possible, I would want a simple handle. The fewer the number of pieces, the less likely that some grime will get there over time.

Say, I'm not a professional cook, but I do cook quite a bit. If you want I will test any kitchen knife you'd care to loan me. I'll write up my comments and send it back to you.

Cheers,

JD
 
Like Joss said there are western styled Japanese gyutous and traditional yanagis or sushi knives that can reach 3 grand or more so from a price point you are well within range..Also as a collector of Forged blades who cooks a bit ;) but doesnt necessarily hunt this offers an opporunity to use an MS piece for its intended purpose daily! I'm sure there are many of us who fall into that category.

I tend to favor the western styled gyutous or debas in my kitchen they are more task specific and care is required as the edges though beautifully sharp are brittle..The ease with which they cut and slice far outweigh the care they demand.

I have yet to find the Perfect Chefs knife and the prospect of applying your Mastersmith training and knowledge combined with some eastern elements to such a tool is freakin exciting

p.s some good info here
 
very interesting....would love to know what tips Daryl had for making the stainless "stick".
 
Thanks for the compliments. It was a fun knife to make. I'll let you all know what the pro's think when the knife comes back with their recommendations. Future knives will likely have lots of changes, but I'll know more when I hear how this one performed in a couple of real restaurant kitchens.
 
You call this a knife?!?!?! Sheesh...

kitchen-001a.jpg


Very cool Burt... very cool :D

-Nick-
 
Joss said:
There's a market for knives in that price point, but you compete with some of the highest quality Japanese made knives. One thing is that Japanese knives don't cover the needs of Occidental cooks that well. The edges are a bit thin and hard, which I guess reflects the fact that they don't have to cut big pieces of meat too often.
Click to expand...

My Gyuto (Gyuteese plural ;)) cut large pieces of meat just fine. I don't cut frozen or boned meats with them though. My Honesuki and Garasuki do that very well.

I like the Wa-Gyuto but, find the Gyuto balance better in general.

Burt,

Does that knife sport some metal in the handle for better balance?

Stay Sharp,
Sid
 
No, no metal in the handle, other than the hidden tang and the little n.s. caps. The whole issue of balance in a kitchen knife is foriegn to me, and I admit my ignorance without shame. As the designs gel a little more, then balance will come into play as well as blade thickness, etc.

One thing I knew I could have done different was to make the blade thinner. I have a Murray Carter knife with a blade thickness of about 1/16" for most of the blade, and it works great. Not having any idea as to what this blade would do when I quenched it, I frankly didn't have the nerve to make it thinner than 1/8". Some people may like that better, and some may not. But at this point, I'm happy I ended up with a functional knife than can be properly tested by the chefs, who are really the last "professional" knife users. Their opinions will be worth listening to, and I'm sure major changes will follow for future knives.
 
Had the pleasure of working with this knife last weekend. Very keen thin edge, comfortable to hold and use. Anyone that has used Burt's knives knows he is dedicated to performance and this knife is no different. Thanks Burt.

Dean
 
rogats said:
Had the pleasure of working with this knife last weekend. Very keen thin edge, comfortable to hold and use. Anyone that has used Burt's knives knows he is dedicated to performance and this knife is no different. Thanks Burt.
Click to expand...

Huh... That's it? There's nothing, nothing you would recommend as an improvement? :confused:
 
Burt
One super nice knife. To bad it's not a hunter. I've got some mammoth that would match it to a tea. Veggie's never had it so good. Larry B.
 
Hey Burt, any idea where we could find a pig to butcher. That would tell the tale!!! :) :) :)
Let me know, Bill
BTW- great looking knife
 
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