Some B. Goode-ness in the house

theonew

theonew

Joined
May 16, 2006
Messages
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I've been seriously admiring knifemaker Brian Goode's work for quite some time but have never had the good fortune to actually own one of his blades. I was literally drooling when I saw his post and the pictures of the chef's knife he made for himself. After a few emails he agreed to try to squeeze in an order for me after the Blade show. Well much to my amazement a day after the show he sent me an email offering to sell me his very own knife, the one in the pictures on his post. I was stunned and had to read the email a few times to make sure I wasn't somehow misreading it. I received it today and what a perfect beauty. It just feels so good in the hand and the overall design is perfect, I mean there is literally nothing about it I would change. It was plenty sharp when I received it (even though it had been working for several months in his kitchen) but to get a feel for the steel I touched up the edge with some diamond and then ceramic hones. Brian's D2 seems to be just what I was hoping for, nice and hard and very abrasion resistant. I'm confident this atom-splitting edge will work tirelessly for quite a long time before needing to be touched up again. I enjoy cooking and have only been using crappy knives for years, some are so soft its impossible to get a super sharp edge on them and the slightly harder ones that get at least reasonably sharp require lots of maintenance. I've been holding out for that special kitchen knife and now I'm so glad I did.

Some pics of the knife in its new home.

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While we were making the arrangements I noticed Brian had a few blades for sale right here in the knifemaker's sub-forum. Now I know that perhaps the majority of knife knuts aren't big into recurves. Well I'm in the minority. I love them. Love the way they slice, love the curves, even love to sharpen them. So when I saw the post where Brian was selling two of his first recurves I had to jump and boy am I glad I did. This mid-sized recurve is a very cool blade. What a great uber-utility blade this is. Light in hand, balance point on the forefinger, 3/16 thick, seriously sturdy. It came shaving sharp but after a few minutes using an ultra-fine ceramic it split a hair into three slices. Yikes :eek: Brian's O-1 so easily takes a keen edge! Here it is with a Barkie Aurora.

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There are lots of really talented knifemakers on BF and I've admired and purchased their blades but there is just something about B. Goode's work that really does it for me. Perhaps it's his elegant but clean aesthetic, coupled with no-nonsense functionality. Whatever it is I'm really proud to own two very special blades of his, one of which was literally HIS.

Thank you Brian! :thumbup::D
 
i have been admiring his blades since I joined BF-very nice work.

I did not realize the handle slabs were so thin. I always thought that they looked thicker and more contoured from the photos that he posts....

very sweet blades, seems like a good guy.
 
I have a small B Goode called a Grimlin. It is an amazingly sharp little devil that now has a nice patina, is small enough to fit in my front pants pocket, yet tough enough to be a great PSK. Good score from a great maker and a heck of nice guy too!
 
siguy said:
I did not realize the handle slabs were so thin. I always thought that they looked thicker and more contoured from the photos that he posts....
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You really have to hold them in your hand to appreciate how nice the overall feel is. The thin slabs work very well coupled with the rest of the ergonomics.
 
Nice knives! I like the looks of his knives a lot, simple but elegant looking. Looks like they have great ergonomics also.
 
I am so glad that you are pleased!! You actually have 2 knives that were supposed to be mine :) Take a close look...that recurve is the small mate to my large blue handled chopper!!! Now I have to make more;)
The handles vary in thickness. Some knives are meant to be large and some need to be more delicate to aid in more controle and light gripping when needed. A fat handle fills the hand in more limited grips than a thinner handle. Keep in mind other handle elements must create a firm grip and aid in the controlability of the knife.I build each knife to suite the purpose of the knife as well as enjoy different styles to keep things interesting.

Let us know what you think of how the knives handlem the production manager of gerber knives actually said that the blue knife you bought was the most comfortable. Knife at the bladeshow. Keep in mind that's one persons opinion:)

Looking forward to more feedback and enjoy my friend.
 
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Brian, they both feel perfect to me and the balance on the recurve is exquisite.

I can send you a Mora and some SAKs if you don't have anything left to cut with :D
 
That chef knife looks amazing. I would entertain the thought of one if they were in production. How's the balance on it?
 
He He - I Still have this!!
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this has 1/4" scales so its meant to be fist gripped for tool making in the bush:thumbup:

oh.....giving this a run for its money today! Its replaced yours and I already miss the extra length you have!
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Stekman said:
That chef knife looks amazing. I would entertain the thought of one if they were in production. How's the balance on it?
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The balance point is right where the slabs end. I can't describe it really but it just has such a perfect blend of light in the hand and purposefully powerful.
 
the balance point is meant to be a choked up grip, center of the hand hiding the front of the slabs. I sent 2 more full size chefs knives off this week and one guys was very thrilled with it. The other is overseas so it will be a little while before he can give any feedback. I'll shut up and stop hogging the thread, I was just excited to get some stuff out since I havent really done anything but make blade show knives. Here is what the other guys who got one this week said...
___________________________________

And the problem is....
Its a perfect knife. Already feels like I've been using it for years.

Fit and finish is awesome. As are the details, careful epoxy under the
handle, to the nice
little touch of rounding the spine..I'm still blown away how many
knife makers just don't do
that..those edges hurt.

Of course the balance is beautiful and just forward of the handle.
Not sure of the geometry
yet, didn't have any big pieces of meat to cut or big round veggies.

The knife feels like a light saber in my hand, feels totally in
control and that I could work
really fast with it.

Can't wait to get it on a waterstone and get it really sharp.

The design is just beautiful simplicity. Everything else I have feels
clunky now
[except the japanese knives with chestnut handles]

of course it's not a knife I would use on fish heads, I have bigger
stuff for that
but for 90% of chores, it will sit on the cutting board most of the
time.

The hammon is beautiful with a cool texture as well

-Noel
 
Sounds like one sweet kitchen tool. Also looks like the kind of piece I would intentionally leave on the board.

That Santoku design looks like a really really nice piece.
 
didnt mean to hijack the thead;) I'll just be lurking now:D

All size of handles are great! Great thing is one handle will be great for 1 person and another person hate it. I just do the best I can with what has been working for me and other guys I make knives for and hope you guys keep making me a better maker. Thanks for the feedback from all sides:thumbup:
 
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