- Joined
- May 16, 2006
- Messages
- 227
Why Just Own A Knife When You Can Own A Piece Of Art?
My name is Richard Von Hagen Palmer, functional artist and the maker of Von Hagen Knives. I love to make knives and almost every knife I make is for sale. Each original, one of a kind Von Hagen Knife is handmade by me. For me, part of the thrill of being a functional artist is sketching out my ideas on paper and then watching them come to life by my hands and in front of my eyes. Thank you for taking the time to look at my work. I hope you like what you see.
Recently I made these six kitchen knives. Two of them were for birthday presents, one for a mother's day present and the other three sold. The handle materials, in the order they are shown - from left to right, are 1)Buckeye, 2) Spalted Sycamore, 3) Maple Burl, 4) Curly Walnut, 5) Cedar Burl and 6) Spalted Oak. The close-up pictures are the Curly Walnut.
This knife is of my own design. The ergonomic handle is rounded at the top for better gripping but is flat on the sides. The flat sides let you KNOW that you are holding the knife correctly. They also keeps the knife in place when you lay it down so it doesn't roll around the counter top. The rounded top allows for a better hold. A better hold allows for more control of the blade. Even the bolster adds to your holding power. It gives you a little extra holding spot that is close to the blade without actually gripping the blade. The bolster also adds a barrier between the blade and the handle. This is important, especially in a kitchen knife. You don't want the foods (especially raw meats) to contaminate the wood handle.
This handle design lets your wrist turn easily while you are slicing. The pistol grip-like style of the handle assures that you will not pick up the knife by the blade, if you are reaching without looking. I have never seen this particular design before.
The larger, rounder handle makes it easier to twist your wrist and direct the blade. It allows for a better grip when you are using it with slick foods, such as meats with a lot of juices. A great deal of thought went into the design of this knife. Every bit of this knife was thought out strictly for culinary use. The blade design was achieved after many trips to the local butcher where I saw what knives he grabbed most often. My prototype of this knife is used daily in my own kitchen.
This kitchen knife has a thin blade. A thin blade equals a thin relief. A thin relief equals a razor blade edge. This blade could peel a grape. However, this is NOT A FILLET KNIFE. It is made of 01 Tool Steel, not Spring Steel. Because this is a thin blade, it has some flexibility but not the same flexibility as a fillet knife. You cannot bend this knife at a 90° angle and expect it to spring back.
Because this knife is ground from thinner BAR STOCK, it is easy to keep sharp. All you need is a few swipes on a ceramic sharpening rod to get back your original razor sharp edge.
This was designed, by me, to be a kitchen knife. It is not a knife that you would carry around with you in your every day life. It IS a working knife that should be put to work everyday.
Thanks for looking,
Rick
