"Legacy" Chef and an Integral Gyuto

[BloodrootBlades]

Hey all, thought I'd share some pictures of what's been exciting in the shop lately. We've been quite a few knives incorporating customers' heirlooms in various ways, which is always a challenge but extremely rewarding. One of my favorites is this western chef because it incorporated (as a surprise too) part of the favorite jacket of the customer's father-in-law who recently passed away (the knife is a gift for her husband). The jacket was a Woolrich buffalo plaid wool, which is one of my favorite styles personally. I have a buffalo plaid workshirt very much like it that I often wear that was my grandfather's, then my father's, and now mine. It may seem corny, but I really enjoy wearing it. The blade is 1095 from an old sawblade (had it spec'd at a metallurgical lab) from the 1930's-60's (when the mill was in operation) in SC. It's thinly ground and HT'd to HRC 61.

The other knife I wanted to share some pictures of is a full-tang 235mm integral from O1 at HRC 62. This one was fun as it's a challenging build to get everything straight and even and had a slightly asymmetric convex grind. It has a nice long "flat" and a dicing "flat" out near the tip, a nice distal taper, and was zero-ground before sharpening.

Thanks for looking!

~LS

 

[bear1889]

I really admire your work. Beautiful knives.

 

[Don Carlos Andrade]

Beautiful Work! The Gyuto Is Magnificent!

I just love making integrals and have not really made and integral chef knives....yet! Thanks for the inspiration.

-DON

p.s. that first knife is very sweet! Wonderful shapes and proportions on that one.

 

[BloodrootBlades]

Thanks guys! Integrals are addicting, watch out Don!

 

[KSV02]

Both knives look awesome !

 

[Michael W]

Very nice!

 

[Devilki]

Chef knife , very nice.

 

[Morrow]

Really great pieces. I'd be proud to own either of them.

 

[Benuser]

Very beautiful work, indeed. Would you mind explaining what is the benefit of the inclined handle with the 1095, I mean the handle not being in line with the spine? I would prefer the handle to be straight in line, or even going slightly upward.

 

[BloodrootBlades]

Very beautiful work, indeed. Would you mind explaining what is the benefit of the inclined handle with the 1095, I mean the handle not being in line with the spine? I would prefer the handle to be straight in line, or even going slightly upward.

I think it's really a preference and habit thing for how you use your knives and perhaps an aesthetic tool. A straight handle like most Wa handles are much better at chopping for most users, but for rock-chopping and push-slicing an inclined handle is not a liability and can actually increase the comfort of the hold in my opinion, depending on your height. The angle on this knife is very very slight and as much as anything simply promotes the visual continuation of the spine curve and is as much aesthetic as strictly functional. It looks strong in relation to the spine, but the only angle that matters is the angle of the nearly "flat" portion of the blade edge to the top of the handle, and these are nearly perfectly straight in relation to each other, though it may not look it in some of these pictures. I very rarely do any sort of downward kick with a gyuto, but sometimes do with strongly Western profiles that are predominately used for rock-chopping. When we talk through designing a custom knife with a customer we ask for their height and glove size and often ask some about their preferred hold (for balance reasons) and even how they tend to cut (we ask this less for our professional customers, but definitely do for home cooks). The glove (hand) size may seem obvious for length and finger clearance reasons, but the height is to get an idea of the cutting edge to handle angle like we are discussing. Counters are a pretty standard height. Stand at yours with a knife where the handle is straight in relation to the edge and if you're about 5'9" or taller out to about 6' or so rock chopping or chopping with a pinch grip should feel very comfortable to your wrist. If you're taller than that, having the handle kicked up a bit will feel more comfortable as you won't torque your wrist in the bottom of the cut to get full board contact. If you're pretty short, having an up-kicked handle is awkward, especially for rock chopping, and fatigues your wrist quickly. Having a down-kicked handle (slightly) is much more comfortable for that same stroke if you're shorter as you avoid the extreme angle on your wrist.

Ha ha! This is why we call having people come by the shop to design a knife with us a "fitting". The nice thing though is that we don't get (I have not heard) complaints that people don't like our handles, though I have heard them from people that we didn't design the knife for when they were using their friend's knife and hear them all the time about other makers. Kramer's in particular (talk about down-kick!) I hear about from my customers are quite polarizing, you love them or you hate them. Though obviously there are plenty that love them!

 

[Benuser]

Thanks a lot for the clarification! I happen to be rather short myself, but don't rock-chop, so I was wondering.

 

[Fishinbo]

Both knives are awesome, very well crafted with the finest materials. Outstanding work!

 

[Rhinoknives1]

Both knives are very well executed and handsome as well!

I also call my sizing of the handle for a customer a fitting. I have them put there hand on a piece of paper and trace it along with noting their height and wrist size.

 

[Rhinoknives1]

Both knives are very well executed and handsome as well!

I also call my sizing of the handle for a customer a fitting. I have them put there hand on a piece of paper and trace it along with noting their height and wrist size.