~ Michael Moses Lishinsky ~
Wildfire Cutlery
Hand made Carbon Steel Kitchen Knives
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Thai
Cleaver and Yasai Bocho
Wait time as of 2/19 is 3 weeks.
*note - 3" wide cleaver has a short wait time, as the steel has to be ordered, about 5 days.
The finely Thai Cleaver was brought to me to
be copied 1986. It was originally custom made in
Bangkok in the mid-fifties, and was worn out. I was
commissioned to replace it, keeping in mind that it
was used mainly as an Asian style chef's knife and
secondarily , as a chopping cleaver. The final results
were so good that we decided to keep on with it, and
offer it to our customers. Since then, it has become
one of our best sellers. The blades is either 2.5 or 3 inches
wide. They are 8 inches long.
The Yasai Bocho below is an ideal knife for board prep
for vegetables.
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click to enlarge
Above: 3"
wide Thai Cleaver with fancy style Asian handle with Rose Wood and black/white spacers. 1/16th"
. One can order an Asian or Western style handle for the same cost. Western style is below. High Carbon tool steel
with Brass bolsters and company 1/4" chop in the handle 'butt'.
Note- there is a short wait time for me to 'order in' the 3" wide steel. usually 4 - 6 days. There are times when I have the steel in stock, so please ask if this wait time is a concern.
Above: Close up of my custom 1/4" rivet that is placed in
the butt of my handles. Square brass inside round brass, filled with
brass and steel rods and red-dyed epoxy. It goes through the handle.
This wood is no longer available.
Above: 2.5" Thai Cleaver with a standard Asian style Myrtle Wood handle. Carbon steel.
Above: Yasai Bocho with Asian style handle . 6.5" x 2".
Carbon steel with Rose Wood Asian style handle. The one
above has a white spacer. Can be made longer.
Above : Fancy western style handle with stabilized Box Elder Burl wood, with two 1/8" black and white spacers ~ brass , white/black. E-mail me of your interest in me putting a handle like this on your cleaver, when ordering.
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Below : An example of all adds on's. Double Brass Bolsters with red liners, on a 8 x 2.5 inch Chef's Knife that I did a high French polish on . Cost for double brass is $35 extra per knife .
Above: Extra fancy handle - with Myrtle Wood and . I use strictly high carbon tool steel that is 1/6th inch thick. Notice my company chop in the butt of the handle. It is composed of 1/4" tube filled with 4 - 1/16th" brass rods inside a square tube of brass, all is filled with red dyed epoxy that is injected. At the center in the middle of those roads at the center is a slice of lions hair piano wire. It is made in 12" sections and sliced. The other rivets are 1/8" brass road glued right through the full - tanged handle. Wood is Myrtle Wood then brass sheet, then is Black Dyed eco-harvested stabilized Red Wood burl, a white/black spacer and lastly the brass bolster. The knife back and heel are softened, edge is razor sharp and of course the steel, is as good a tool steel as there is on the market today. Each unit is personally hardened in shop and drawn to a straw yellow, in an electric oven. I use Macadamia Nut oil to harden. Handle is finished with a combo of Orange/Olive Oil.
Above: Madrone wood handles
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The carbon steel I use is 1/16th or .062 inch thick ( except for knives longer than 12”) . The steel is 1075 cold rolled high carbon tool steel, which is heat treated one knife at a time, by me in my shop. I machine my knives, thereby saving the expense of forging a thick piece of steel out to the thickness of the steel I use. Properly heat treated carbon steel, allows for a knife that will keep a keen edge, yet is noticeably easy to re-hone for a new keen edge. All the sweeps of the edges of my knives have the classic French curve, for that nice rocking motion. For ease of use and re-sharpening.
I use various woods for the handles, depending on your preferences.
The first choice is called Myrtle Wood or Bay Laurel. It is generally light colored (lighter than the Rose Wood ) although some pieces can be tawny. Many pieces have tremendous chatoyance. It was locally harvested over 25 years ago along with the Madrone wood I am now using. Madrone is very hard and grows wild all over the west coast. It exhibits swirls and waves at it's best. I call it the Northwest's answer to Pink Ivory, because of it's pink overtones. It is much like Eucalyptus in that the skin of the tree sheds it's bark and some leaves in summer. It is ideal for kitchen knives.
I also use Santos Rosewood, which is heavier and more oily than Myrtle, because of climatic conditions. It is harvested from a finca in southern Mexico one tree at a time, and is an abundant excellent substitute for Cocobolo ( which is rare and super expensive ) . It still has the brown base and can exhibit swirls and dark longitudinal lines. It is perfect for a kitchen knife handle.
Madrone, Myrtle and Rosewood are the same price in the drop down menus. If I have Myrtle and you want it, great. If I am out, I may need to replace it with Madrone. Any questions about this, write me.
The last choice of wood I offer, is stabilized burl wood. All species and handles can usually
be highly figured with swirls and eyes. If you go to my F.A.Q. page ( & scroll down ) , there you will find two links to my suppliers. Simply cruise around their sites seeing if you can find the wood you want on your handle, then e-mail me.
If your busy and you want me to look, let me know. Each wood choice is unique, with no two exactly alike. I charge $20 over the cost, plus shipping/handling to work with this wood. Part of the $20 is the cost to ship it to me.
The stabilized wood, absorbs very little moisture and the color will not fade. The finish on my blades is finished to 600 grit . Over time the surface of carbon steel kitchen knives, will take on a patina.
Below are those two sources of stabilized wood. Cruise around their sites, and see if something hits your fancy. If it does, simply e-mail me along with size of knife you want, and I will invoice you. Any problems with size match and I will get back to you promptly. Each side of the knife has a SCALE and each knife has a set of scales. Minimum size of each scale of wood should be : 4 3/4" long, 1.5" wide and 5/16th" to 3/8th" thick.
1- Burl Source - they are two valleys over from me.
2- Alpha Knife Supply - numerous choices. I prefer not to work with spalted wood.
All handles come finished to 400 grit, with a coat of vegetable oil. Presently I use Orange/Olive Oil.
The brass bolster is riveted and glued onto the full tang, and is in between the handle and the blade. It serves to protect the end grain of the handle wood and adds the perfect weight to the handle. Handles generally measure out to about 5 ¼ inches – ¼” leeway from the back of the blade to the bolster, 3/4" of brass and then 4 1/4" of wood. All blade lengths are close but not exact. The
handle is secured with 4 rivets, which are glued and pressed into place. There are three 1/8” brass pins, and a company chop in the handle ‘butt’.
My chop goes through the handle and is functional. It is made in 12” lengths and is comprised of 4 - 1/16 ” brass pins, with a steel center, inside a 5/32nd square brass tube, which is inside a round brass tube. Red dyed epoxy is injected into the 12” tube, to hold all a-tanto. I then cut them down to about an inch and install.
Thai Cleaver and Yasai Bocho
Shipping is always through USPS Priority. Each box, packing and knife weighs 2#. Add 1# for every extra knife.
My zip code is 97520→Here is a word .doc that has USPS zones and cost to ship priority←
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