Van Zanten 220 damascus chef's knife november

V

Van Zanten

Joined
Sep 20, 2011
Messages
104
Hi all,

I would like to take the opportunity to introduce myself, I'm Johan van Zanten from the Netherlands. I love to make damascus and specialize in kitchen cutlery. Here is my latest knife.

O2 and 75Ni8 damascus @ 61HRc
Stabilized afzelia burl
Brass bolsters and pins
Brass and nickle-silver mozaic pin
Convex grind
Weight: 230 grams
Thickness at the back, 2.4mm, tapers down to the point; 0,4mm. Thickness right behind the edge is 0,3mm.

I will post some extra photo's tommorow. There is some more on my website <link removed>

koksmes_vanzanten_a.jpg


koksmes_vanzanten_b.jpg


Kind regards,

Johan
 
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I have seen your knives before and am really impressed, this one looks well done. Beautiful knife!
 
Thanks! Here is it in action :-)

[video=youtube;sS-8PU9UOsM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sS-8PU9UOsM[/video]
 
First post here, and I thought this was a good place to start (everyone likely knows me from a few other knife forums).

This is a gorgeous blade, and it sure seems to perform! Very nice work. It looks like you're a Bob Kramer fan, and I mean that in the best possible way. :D
 
Wow, you seriously know what makes a good knife. It cuts ridiculously well without any sticking at all.
 
Wow! What a beauty. Your attention to details is impressive. Seeing it in action leads me to believe that in addition to being a top bladesmith you are also a chef.

Really like your knife sharpening tool you showed on the britishbaldes forum.

So, can we look forward to a Damascus kaasschaaf ? (sorry, with a Dutch wife I just had to go there). What part of The Netherlands?
 
Great looking chef's knife !! Do you work with straight carbon steel or just damascus ?
 
Thank you Don Nguyen :-)

Hahaha a kaasschaaf, kurketrekker and a dunschiller perhaps. I'm not a chef, I do eat a lot of potato ;-) Yesterday I went to a professional chef together with a photographer. We made a lot of pictures of different cutting tecniques in the kitchen. Today I will write some articles about it and post it on my website. The chef was very happy with the way the knife cuts and holds.

The sharpening tools works really well, but it takes a lot of time to sharpen a knife. I holds a very precise angle during the process, which is the most important thing when sharpening. I live the middle of The Netherlands, in Eemnes.

I have been making making kitchen knives in monosteel O2, they were nice, but not good enough to post on this forum. I have made 14 knives before I was convinced of a good quality to sell. Now my heattreat is good, I test all my blades and the are in the 60's. First I had some problems with the fit and finish, but that is good now as well.

I am going to work with AEB-L as well.

[video=youtube;1pvOEhAmMe8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pvOEhAmMe8&hd=1[/video]
 
Of course you eat a lot of potatoes - you're Dutch! Maybe the dunschiller isn't such a bad idea.

All very, very impressive. Look forward to seeing more nice work. Seriously, a Damascus kassschaaf would be rather original, and very Dutch.

Wife is from the south - area of Breada and Tilburg.
 
Yes a damascus kaasschaaf would be very original and cool! I will post more work later on. First I got to move the whole smithy to a different location. That's gonna take a lot of time. When it's done I want to start making AEB-L gyuto's, and I want to do some new damascus patterns. And in the meanwhile I got my study... I like Breda! Greetings to your wife from Holland! Got one really nice photo of this week's photoshoot:

46480410200309116916235.jpg
 
Oh that is a way cool shot - love it!

Looking forward to seeing more. Good luck with moving everything - that will be bull-work.

I'll pass along the greetings. I'm headed out this morning for a week of cooking at the CIA in San Antonio. When I get back her mother will be with us for two weeks over Christmas. She always brings a suitcase full of Dutch goodies including the Sinterklaas chocolate letters (plus lots of roomboter stroopwafels and a huge bag of Chokotaffs for me).
 
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