New Yorker magazine has article on Bob Kramer and ABS

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Grapevine

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Very respectful article on Bob's kitchen knives in the Nov 24, 2008 issue of The New Yorker. Touches on his process in getting his ABS Mastersmith, steel metallurgy, Japanese vs European kitchen knives, edge geometry, the Blade Show, Al Pendray, damascus, the cutting competition, and a bunch of other things that knife knuts care about and already know but would appreciate that such a left-leaning magazine would write about and get mostly correct. The author of the article, Todd Oppenheimer, was able to cover quite a range of things without butchering things, which is so rare these days with journalists, that I think he must have been a knife knut beforehand.
 
Excellent. I think that it goes without saying that ridiculously high quality kitchen cutlery is the best way to introduce the readers of said magazine and also the denizens of places like New York in general to the world of knife knuttery without offending their delicate sensibilities.;) Yes, he makes those big scary bowie assault knives for all of the rednecks, but he also makes the most FAHHHHBULOUS chefs knife that just goes PERFECTLY with my Viking range that I never use other than to put Thai takeaway boxes on.:D Good to see that the cutlery fifth column has further infiltrated the Big Apple.
 
Here's a link to read an abstact of the article in the New Yorker. If you want the entire article you either have to subscribe online or buy this issue:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/11/24/081124fa_fact_oppenheimer

I haven't read the entire article and don't know how accurate it is e.g. Al Pendray reinvented Damascus single handed, I thought that he reinvented Wootz but I guess that is Wootz was probably what they used in Damascus in the past. It is very favorable of Bob Kramer knives which is great

It is nice to see an article in a main stream magazine that is favorable to the knife community. I agree that the author might allready be a knifeknut or maybe he will become one, either way it's a great article.

Jim Treacy
 
I think that the ABS and its similarities to the craft of blacksmithing proves to be a better introduction to knifemaking to the modern big city folks than the tactical type knives. Blacksmithing is one of those "quaint" old world crafts that many urbanites find fascinating. They can more easily identify it and the tools made by it with other crafts and industrial design, which are appreciated and held in high regard. There's a heritage of an artform there that people can relate to, and from there it's easier for them then to see knives as beautiful tools, the way they might see their designer toasters or silverware. It's a good step towards getting knives accepted in areas that have never seen them as anything but weapons of criminals.
 
jjtjr said:
I haven't read the entire article and don't know how accurate it is e.g. Al Pendray reinvented Damascus single handed, I thought that he reinvented Wootz but I guess that is Wootz was probably what they used in Damascus in the past. It is very favorable of Bob Kramer knives which is great.
Click to expand...

Damascus was originally made of wootz.....we call pattern welded steel damascus...the author should have called it wootz steel, that is what Al calls it, but as long as he didn't screw the pooch on the key points, let's give the author a pass. We are some of the only people on the planet that know the difference, or even care....if it increases the knife profile in a positive manner(it does), we should embrace it.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
He did mention wootz and Pendray. I'll have to borrow the magazine again to get the direct quote, but from memory, he said that Pendray rediscovered the process of damascus. Then he went on to briefly say that modern damascus is made by combining different steels into many layers to get a shimmering effect, and that back during Persian days it was done with a single steel and the effect was achieved organically by that single steel. Then he went on to say that Persian version of steel is known as wootz and how the knowledge to make it was lost around so and so century.

It was all done within a few sentences, which captured well enough the convoluted history of the term "damascus."
 
Damascus was originally made of wootz.....we call pattern welded steel damascus...the author should have called it wootz steel, that is what Al calls it, but as long as he didn't screw the pooch on the key points, let's give the author a pass. We are some of the only people on the planet that know the difference, or even care....if it increases the knife profile in a positive manner(it does), we should embrace it.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
Click to expand...

STeven,

I agree 100% that this article is good for the custom knife community and especially forged knives.

I am aware of the differences between the terms Damascus, Wootz and Pattern Welded Steel. I realize that the general public has no clue about this.

I brought up the Damacus/ Wootz issue because I assume that most of the people who will read this thread also know the difference. I thought I was praising the article when I said:

It is nice to see an article in a main stream magazine that is favorable to the knife community. I agree that the author might allready be a knifeknut or maybe he will become one, either way it's a great article.
Click to expand...

Jim Treacy
 
jjtjr said:
STeven,
I am aware of the differences between the terms Damascus, Wootz and Pattern Welded Steel. I realize that the general public has no clue about this.

I brought up the Damacus/ Wootz issue because I assume that most of the people who will read this thread also know the difference. I thought I was praising the article when I said:

Jim Treacy
Click to expand...

Indeed you praised the article, Jim....this was sort of a pre-emptive kumbaya, rather than a jab at you.;)

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Kohai999 said:
Damascus was originally made of wootz.....we call pattern welded steel damascus...
Click to expand...


With all due respect, unless I'm badly mistaken this is not correct. Wootz evolved in India. Pattern-welded steel is a completely different process that has been created (independantly?) in China / Japan and among the vikings.
 
Grapevine said:
Very respectful article on Bob's kitchen knives in the Nov 24, 2008 issue of The New Yorker. Touches on his process in getting his ABS Mastersmith, steel metallurgy, Japanese vs European kitchen knives, edge geometry, the Blade Show, Al Pendray, damascus, the cutting competition, and a bunch of other things that knife knuts care about and already know but would appreciate that such a left-leaning magazine would write about and get mostly correct. The author of the article, Todd Oppenheimer, was able to cover quite a range of things without butchering things, which is so rare these days with journalists, that I think he must have been a knife knut beforehand.
Click to expand...

This means that it's going to be even harder for us to get one of Bob's knives. Great for him, and in the long run for all of us.
 
Great job and congrats Bob. There couldn't be a better representative for the knife world than Bob Kramer and I'm talking the person as much as the knives.

Awesome and congrats.
 
I really liked this article and it brings to the forefront what a custom knife is about, how it is made and is supposed to perform.
My favorite part was where they asked "is a custom knife worth the $400 price tag?" and then showed how much better it performed than the factory stuff.
I liked hearing about him telling the Japanese factory that they needed to crown the blades --- such a simple thing that makes all the difference.

In the article, they mentioned that he had found some steel in japan that had some tungsten in it… has anyone here used any of that steel and care to comment on it?

I want to handle some of mr Kramer's knives, I like the idea of a former chef making knives for chefs. I have seen many chef knives made with good intentions that just really don't make it with me. It really is a different genre of knife. I believe that Kramer's knives will handle well
 
Joss said:
With all due respect, unless I'm badly mistaken this is not correct. Wootz evolved in India. Pattern-welded steel is a completely different process that has been created (independantly?) in China / Japan and among the vikings.
Click to expand...

Anna Feuerbach has a page about this:

http://home.att.net/~moltenmuse/index.htm

I am not disagreeing with what you are saying Joss, but we CALL pattern welded steel "damascus" these days. It may be(and probably is) a misnomer, but we all do it.
That changes the vernacular in practice.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
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