What's on my Bench Today?

Yikes! Pretty freaky how they glow like that.
All this effort will pay off big time! It's moving right along

 

Frickin' AWESOME!!! Shop is looking really good, Cris, you should be proud.

Al

 

Thanks guys!

I actually got back into the shop today to do some actual knife work, on an actual knife (rather than wood), lol. I'm going to make it a thread all its own...but here's a little teaser:


That's my 'pre sharpening' edge thickness, btw .

 

maybe that "something about your blades" is scorpion mojo

 

Let the heat treating begin!

 

:k I'm just happy we're getting some beefcake shots on this forum!

 

Lol, you guys crack me up .

Tonight's work!


Larry's 260 gyuto, a 115 utility, and an 85mm parer .

 

Nice!

 

GREAT selfie!

 

I have a thing for hedge trimmers

 

100mm mizu honyaki utility.


85mm mizu honyaki parer.

All hardened up !

 

profile on the 85mm looks a little rough. I think you should go with something more like a sabatier razor style shape for a paring knife. its the best tried and true'd shape IMO!!!!!

 

i dont use paring knives but if i needed one for peeling potatoes or whatever in a hot kitchen i would seek that sabatier for about 30 bucks over any custom paring knife anyone makes. its just my two cents but I think you could make more useful blades than parers. your gyutos are insanely sexy.

 

Thanks for the advice Brad. Thankfully someone saw enough value in my work to have ordered this parer as a custom.

Hopefully they don't regret not buying a $30 Sabatier when its all done.

2

 

Well said Cris, those knives represent your style very well and I am sure they will perform as well as their looks . For the sake of cost I would recommend my cooks Victorinox paring knives for les than $10 but until last month I used a paring knife well worth over entry level gyutos , but just like all the custom knives out there if someone can afford a quality piece I don't see a reason to tell them buy something else because it's just cheaper . I enjoyed this thread because of seeing what you are working on rather than what you should be making your knives like

 

A matter of taste.

While being in France I tried lots of Sabatier knives and this particular parer was available there for ~9€ if I'm not mistaken. The only thing I liked about that parer was it feather weight. So it's all about personal preference.

Btw, Brad what you meant when said "razor style shape" about that Sabatier profile? What razor you meant?

 

Thanks Mert! I agree completely. I don't think Brad was deliberately trying to devalue my work...he and I have been friends for quite awhile. He probably just didn't realize how it came across lol.

Just out of curiosity Brad, what is it about the profile you don't like? The upswept edge? I'm sure it's not the heel, because the only thing the heel impacts is where you grab the knife from...functionality is still precisely the same.

Anton, I'm thinking he means the straight cutting edge? Out of curiosity, what didn't you like about that Sab? I'm guessing the straight edge and angle of the edge to the handle?

This is what mine looks like in hand:




The heel showing there has no impact on the product...and even if it did, choking up a tiny bit solves the problem (if it even is a problem). This thing would comfortably pare apples or potatoes with a stick tang and no handle. The slim wa handle I'm planning for it should fill out a hand nicely.

Speaking of the handle, is there any reason for such a huge handle on that Sabatier?

 

That parer looks great in hand Cris. I think the down side of the Sabatier paring knife has to be how soft it is. I have a sneezing suspicion that the one Brad posted has a custom handle. The round metal bolster thingy makes it look vintage. Those bolster thingies are really pretty small. The newer sabatier parers look slimmer.



But back to the matter at hand. I cannot wait to see the handle you put on your paring knife. I love your handles!

 

Thanks Chuckles!!

The handle on this one is probably going to be claro walnut and bog oak, with a nickel silver spacer. It was ordered with a nakiri (to be finished at a later date), that will have a similar handle. Proportionally...the handle will actually be a lot like the handle on the Sabatier you posted, if you cut off the butt right before the third rivet. Slim at the neck, flaring out in all dimensions at the butt. Wa style of course.

I'm hoping to have this one finished, or close...tomorrow.