In the last 20 years, I
have gotten some Japanese/Asian inspired designs from working chef's, and feel it is time I put a page together showing those designs. I do not work with forged Japanese style blue steel, but with high carbon tool steel. It is the kind that is used in the blue steel ‘sandwich’ in some classic Japanese style food knives. It is used in the middle for the cutting
edge. Please specify when you order, if you want an Asian style handle or a western style handle. Default handles are Asian with all Asian designs. All knives have 5-1/4" handles. Brass is 3/4"
wide x 3/8" thick.
Above :
Top photo: 4 piece Korean style large kitchen knife
that was custom made as a Xmas gift . Length is 8 inch
and width is 3 inch. These are 1/16th thick, which is
my standard thickness. I can also work with 3/32"
inch, for an additional cost. These also come with
singles bolsters, and the cost quoted is for singles
bolsters. If you want to see this style of kitchen
knife in action, see the fantastic Korean TV series
called "Dae Jang Geum".
Above: 5" x 1.5" Korean Kitchen Knife w/ Canary
Wood handle with black/red spacers.
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.
Above : Just
made as of August, 2010. 3/32" thick 9 x 2.5 Korean
style kitchen knife, with standard Western style rose wood handle.
click to enlarge Above: 9" Korean Kitchen Knife with stabilized Maple Burl handle.
Below : An example of all adds
on's. Double Brass Bolsters
with a high French polish on . If you want your knives
to have double brass, just order them as a normal order , and
e-mail me of your wish. Cost for double brass is $35
extra per knife .
Fancy
western style Handle, above,
with stabilized Box Elder Burl
wood with two 1/8" black and white spacers ~ brass/white/black/handle
wood.
Above: Extra fancy handle - 7" x 2.5"
high carbon tool steel kitchen knife. The blonde
handle wood is called Myrtle. Above the Myrtle
is steel sheet , 1/2" stabilized Redwood burl insert,
white and black spacers and then the brass bolster.
Handle has brass 1/8" rivets as well as a company chop
in the butt. The chop is a 1/4" tube filled with red
dyed epoxy and brass rods and tubes. While the
wood insert will vary from piece to piece, one can
order this style of handle. Other wood inserts I
use are Ebony and various dyed stabilized woods. (Back to the top)
Above: Asian inspired standard handles. I use this handle in Asian knives, or if you ask me for it. Wood is stabilized curly Amboyna
on left and Myrtle on the right.
Above: Madrone wood handles
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. Stabilized wood, absorbs very little moisture and the color will not fade. Below are 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. Any questions about this process, please let me know. They carry many different woods (both local and exotic) and most are quite nice. Just noodle around and let me know, or tell me and I can send a few choices if you like. e-mail here
1- Burl Source - they are two valleys over from me.
2- Alpha Knife Supply - numerous choices. I prefer not to work with spalted wood.
The finish on my blades is finished to 600 grit . Over time the surface of carbon steel kitchen knives, will take on a patina. 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.
