MercenaryChef Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 behold! this dear people is a 240mm watanabe gyuto! it was handforged by mr. watanabe-san himself in japan. the handle is a custom octogonal made from a american craftsman using burl wood and buffalo horn for the ferrule.this is an amazing knife!join with me in the joy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ixodes Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 behold! this dear people is a 240mm watanabe gyuto! it was handforged by mr. watanabe-san himself in japan. the handle is a custom octogonal made from a american craftsman using burl wood and buffalo horn for the ferrule.this is an amazing knife!join with me in the joy!That handle is a work of art. Could stare at it all day.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edda van Heefmstra Ruston Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 behold! this dear people is a 240mm watanabe gyuto! it was handforged by mr. watanabe-san himself in japan. the handle is a custom octogonal made from a american craftsman using burl wood and buffalo horn for the ferrule.this is an amazing knife!join with me in the joy!That is stunning.I'm kind of turned on, I can't lie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seli Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 It's as much a work of art as a tool. I assume it handles even better than it looks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 behold! this dear people is a 240mm watanabe gyuto! it was handforged by mr. watanabe-san himself in japan. the handle is a custom octogonal made from a american craftsman using burl wood and buffalo horn for the ferrule.this is an amazing knife!join with me in the joy!that is ever so pretty, i just got a little bit of a chubby on!when i win the lottery i'm scouring the world for the most beautiful knives and getting them framed, hanging them instead of boring art. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ixodes Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 when i win the lottery i'm scouring the world for the most beautiful knives and getting them framed, hanging them instead of boring art.Nay! A knife that wonderful demands to be used! I have two custom hunting knives and it drives my wife crazy when I take them in the field. She thinks I'm going to lose them. A good friend of mine has an incredible custom knife collection but he keeps them hidden, locked in a chest in a safe. I think in his case, though, it's more to hide them from his wife since she really doesn't know how much money he spends on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deedles Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Beautiful. Its just beautiful. I hope you use it to make wonderful things. I'm with Ixodes in that many things derive their own beauty from utility.Blaine, I hope your wife loves her Xmas present as much as I do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salome the Persian Witch Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 clearly you missed this one this is the one you should send to your friends at the fbi!I do hope you will be including those recipes in your cook book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercenaryChef Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 that is ever so pretty, i just got a little bit of a chubby on!when i win the lottery i'm scouring the world for the most beautiful knives and getting them framed, hanging them instead of boring art.that is a sinful act you speak of. funny thing actually. i am on a knife forum. and of the members the minority are actually chefs. the majority are homecooks, people who collect knives, and people who just have a lot of fucking money. some of these people have thousands of dollars in knives and truly have no clue how to use them propery. luckily, they often will sell these knives to folks like me!Nay! A knife that wonderful demands to be used! I have two custom hunting knives and it drives my wife crazy when I take them in the field. She thinks I'm going to lose them. A good friend of mine has an incredible custom knife collection but he keeps them hidden, locked in a chest in a safe. I think in his case, though, it's more to hide them from his wife since she really doesn't know how much money he spends on them.tell me about your custom hunting knives. i am intrigued. hattori makes some very lovely hunting knives as well as knives for cooks. i used to carry a folding knife at all times and oft thought of getting something custom and sexy. but, since moving to the east coast and riding the train each day into dc i have stopped carrying a knife.I do hope you will be including those recipes in your cook book.i would, but i would need to test the recipes and techniques before i could feel good about putting them in my book. i would not want people writing me emails and poor reviews because my recipes did not turn out quite right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ixodes Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 tell me about your custom hunting knives. i am intrigued. hattori makes some very lovely hunting knives as well as knives for cooks. i used to carry a folding knife at all times and oft thought of getting something custom and sexy. but, since moving to the east coast and riding the train each day into dc i have stopped carrying a knife.I have two. The first is a skinning knife made by PJ Tomes. It is a very plain knife with a plain white bone handle. Very simple but it feels good in my hand and is frightfully sharp. The bevel is a functional dream and is the main reason I bought it. It is a lovely tool for elk and deer. I ran across Mr Tomes at a convention years ago, prior to his retirement, and bought it from his booth. The second is a damascus drop point with a very interesting stone handle. It is too heavy (stone handle, go figure!) but it balances well due to the insanely thick blade. The cold stone feels good in my hands. The blade is very thick and was a bitch to take an edge. Once I got a good edge the knife maintains very well. It was made by a jack-pine savage who lives in northern Minnesota, using his time to create knives and make soap out of bear fat. I am not kidding -- dude is like the Tyler Durden of bear fat soap. I ran across him at a local art show in town. My wife saw me looking at it and bought it behind my back for a birthday gift.I would love to get a nice pocket knife as well but I haven't run across the right one. Right now I have a benchmade pocket folder that is almost always with me but it is a little big. When I am opening packages or cutting stuff at work I usually get a raised eyebrow when I pull it out but it's easier to carry than a leatherman.Kitchen knives are going to be a bit later in my timeline but someday I'll get some unique blades, when finances allow. I'll try to snap some pics when I get home and post them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voland Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 This should teach me to not only visit the lit-section! Been reading way too much about kitchen knives the last couple of days, and being severely tired of my crap knives. Currently leaning toward a gyuto or a santoku from hattori from this place:http://japanesechefsknife.com/products.htmlThey seem relatively cheap, and they ship to Sweden, and most everywhere else, for only $7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercenaryChef Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 hattori are really nice. or at least the kd and hd lines are. the standard fh is hardly worth writing home about. a dude i work with has the gyuto and it is just not a great knife for the price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voland Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 hattori are really nice. or at least the kd and hd lines are. the standard fh is hardly worth writing home about. a dude i work with has the gyuto and it is just not a great knife for the price.Thanks for the input! If I would go Hattori, I would probably go with the HD-series. Thanks for the advice regarding the FH! Any other brand on that site to consider, or do you, off-hand, know of any other good sites that would ship to Europe relatively cheap? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voland Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Hmm, I'll probably end up getting a gyuto for around $100 now, and then get a santoku and/or petty later on an splurge a bit. Just have to get out of my MSc and get a new job. After reading a thread on chowhound, the below, specifically the KC-5, seems to get good reviews. What do you think? It's their own brand, which always make me skeptical, but looks good for the price. http://japanesechefsknife.com/KAGAYAKICarboNextSeries.htmlFor a sharpening rod, what is better, ceramic or diamond? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercenaryChef Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 first the 'steel' is not for sharpening. stones are for sharpening. the 'steel' or 'rod' is for honing. honing consists of taking the micro serrations that make up the knife's edge and realign them. never use a diamond. some will tell you it is fine. i will tell you that they are wrong. it is a very aggressive and will wear away too much of the material of your knife. they work, but are not good for quality knives. butchers and the like will use a diamond steel with cheap knives that they will use for several weeks and discard.if you are buying a quality japanese knife please use a ceramic steel on it.focusing on knives, you seem to like the japanese knives website as they ship to your country. looking at what they have to offer i would look into misono, glestain or masamoto. having used all of those brands i am comfortable suggesting them to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voland Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Ah, poor choice of words on my part. I actually knew that, having read a lengthy post on eGullet about sharpening and steeling. For those interested: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?/topic/26036-knife-maintenance-and-sharpening/Yeah, I've been recommended various other US sites such as Korin.com, but I believe that shipping will be more expensive.It's too bad stuff is so expensive here. That MAC you linked to earlier, the one you bought for the missus, that is $109 is about $250 in stores here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voland Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 I ended up getting what I linked above. The brands you listed was a bit above my budget, and from reading reviews this seems like an excellent buy. I complement that later on with some better knives, but for now this should be more than fine. I'll have to pick up a ceramic rod as well in the next couple of days. 'Would one from, say IKEA, suffice or do I need to spend more? Thanks for the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 I'll have to pick up a ceramic rod as well in the next couple of days. 'Would one from, say IKEA, suffice or do I need to spend more?I bought one recently it was cheap and after only using it once or twice I can say it was big upgrade from the metallic one I was using before. I'm not experienced with these things so I would like to know the same thing.After reading this thread before Christmas I ended up putting gift certificates at a store that sells knives locally and a wooden board on my wish list. I got a nice wooden board so I ended up buying a santuko knife that was a little more on the budget side that I would have liked. The knife was a 17 centimeter so a little small but sharp and very easy to work with. I got a little bigger global lookalike from a more local brand that was pretty dull but thanks to the ceramic rod from Ikea I mentioned above I managed to get a edge that is almost s good as the santuko blade. Now that my bigger knife got a revival I got a nice pair of knives one smaller lighter one and a longer heavier knife. Cooking is more fun and even my skeptic girlfriend who makes fun of my all my nerdy interests is admitting that it is more fun to work in the kitchen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voland Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Here's a pic of the knife just after chopping some chilis for a Chili. Happy so far, it's miles better than what I had previous. It could probably be sharper if I had it sharpened or learnt to do it myself (which seems in line with other people's experiences).Still have to get a ceramic rod tho, ASAP.http://i.imgur.com/yXzZ3.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercenaryChef Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 Here's a pic of the knife just after chopping some chilis for a Chili. Happy so far, it's miles better than what I had previous. It could probably be sharper if I had it sharpened or learnt to do it myself (which seems in line with other people's experiences).Still have to get a ceramic rod tho, ASAP.http://i.imgur.com/yXzZ3.jpggreat looking knife!new to my cutlery family is matilde.matilde is a 10 inch sabatier that was likely forged in the 1960s. she was found a few years ago buried in muck and rusted beyond belief in a barn in new hampshire. i have long had a fondness for the sleek, sexy and classic appearance of a old school french chef's knife. a chef i work with knew of this and without my knowing brokered a deal with a knife guy he knows. the payment: bacon. it is such a beautiful trade, knife for bacon.matilde is a knife that will need a lot of time and love. i gave her a solid 45 minutes on the stones saturday. she needed first a long phase on a 700 grit stone to file down her bolster. the problem with the old sabatiers is that the bolster often makes it hard to sharpen the heel of the blade. she has a bit of a bow in the back third. after the 700, i went to a 1000, a 6000, and finally a 10,000. the old french carbon steel takes a very sharp edge. the 10,000 grit stone started to work out a lot of the tarnish and patina. she almost shines now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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