Japanese chef knife

[Rashelle]

Realizing I can always improve and it's good to have further instruction. I took a class with Arnon Kartmazov weekend before last. I was not able to make the third day so Arnon made the handle and Nitzan Lillie did the stainless steel ferrule. I forged the 1095 blade and Arnon sand blasted it. Hardened in oil at 1450F, tempered in oil at 350F twice. Clayed spine before hardening. Handle is torch toasted hickory, then sanded and waxed.

[yahoo2]

Is that a 7 inch blade Rashelle? its a bit hard to tell the dimensions on a photo.

The angle of the spine to the blade looks perfect. My knuckles hit the cutting board with western style chef knives so I have to cut over the edge of the bench.

that bunka/santoku shape is so much better. I can almost squeeze a pencil between my fingers and the board.

it looks great, I could stare at that for hours.

[Rashelle]

From the heal of the bade to the tip in a straight line, disregarding the slight curve is 7 5/8". Thank you yahoo2. I grin when I look at it even at pictures of it. Prior to this my favorite kitchen knife was a french chef knife followed by a small craft knife I demo as a first knife for youth students. After the class I went and made a small Japanese hammer, the tongs for holding each end of the knife, and started one of those wooden blade straighteners for just in case.

[Charlotte]

Oh Yes!  That is a great Knife!  Great size.  Would be right at home in any woman's kitchen. 

[Steve Sells]

9 minutes ago, Charlotte said:

Oh Yes!  That is a great Knife!  Great size.  Would be right at home in any woman's kitchen. 

Womans kitchen?  how sexist....   Nice work Rachelle

[Charlotte]

Just now, Steve Sells said:

Womans kitchen?  how sexist....   Nice work Rachelle

LOL Steve, Forgot talking one woman to another.   Sorry!

[Rashelle]

Thank you Charlotte and Steve.

I learned a lot of new things during this class. For example I never realized that the Japanese chef knives were suppose to have the fullered grooves at the base of the blade for finger holds and that the bevel at the base is thicker for chopping where the bevel at the tip is longer and thinner for slicing.

[Steve Sells]

I knew about the different bevels, but missed the fullered groove, I can see it there! So cool you taught me some new stuff ty

[Daswulf]

Nice shape to that Rashelle, close to and better then my favorite kitchen knife, I'd say. If I ever get the knife bug I'd like to make one like that. 

[Rashelle]

Cool, Steve and you're welcome. We put the fullered groove in with the cross pein. Feels nice and lightens the blade. My assistant at work (who's on this site somewhere), wife's a chef and she liked the lightness and feel of the blade. I might of mentioned to her now he will need to get a good belt sander, for himself to make chef knives with. She agreed.  Heehee.

Thank you Daswulf. I plan on making more so I can remember and ingrain it into myself. Definitely a style I want to remember, same as for the forging order of it.

 

[yahoo2]

I gave my mother this style of knife with a 5 inch blade, she is not that keen about it, I think it is amazing. I can skin, debone and bias cut a chicken drumstick ready to stir fry in a few seconds or slice cherry tomatoes, all the fiddly stuff. It handles completely different to the longer blade.

I'm tempted to bribe her with something shiny and get it back.

[bigfootnampa]

So many women cut with the knife and the food in hand.  Takes a different blade for that!  Much safer and faster to chop on a board, but many have never worked that way.  I've caused numerous injuries by sharpening knives for such ladies!  I know now to warn them several times!  Could be why your mother never took to that knife yahoo2?  I do like my choppers to be at least 9" blades though.  I prefer 2" to 3" blades that are also narrow for cutting in hand!  So a short chopper wouldn't get much use in my kitchen either.  I have all sorts of filet knives and the ones that are not the best for cutting fish get plenty of work cutting up vegetables and fruits.  Wellll... I may have a few excess when it comes to filet knives.  It took me a few tries to find the best ones!  I may have to hold a yard sale... or two!

[Rashelle]

I'd be bribing her yahoo2.

BFN I won't bother sharpening friends knives if they put them through dishwashers or bottoms of sinks. I tell them it isn't worth my bother if they treat the knives like that. The rule in my kitchen is if you use a knife, you immediately wash and hang it back up. Or you don't use my knives.

Had some friends that I was almost certain they invited my over for dinners periodically so they could ask me to help them cook. They'd then give me a nice dull kitchen knife so I'd spend the rest of the food prep time sitting in their kitchen sharpening knives. I used to joke with them that that was why they invited my over.

[JHCC]

8 hours ago, bigfootnampa said:

So many women cut with the knife and the food in hand.  Takes a different blade for that!  Much safer and faster to chop on a board, but many have never worked that way.  I've caused numerous injuries by sharpening knives for such ladies!  

Here's the scar from when I learned that particular lesson:

[Charlotte]

Cutting foods in the hand was done by my mother  and that is the way I learned.  We wanted our knives sharp and sharpened them often.   When I started watching Julia Child when she came on  Public Broadcasting with her first shows I learned that there was a better way.  Not because it was safer  but because it was so much faster;

[yahoo2]

16 hours ago, bigfootnampa said:

So many women cut with the knife and the food in hand.  Takes a different blade for that!  Much safer and faster to chop on a board, but many have never worked that way.  I've caused numerous injuries by sharpening knives for such ladies!  I know now to warn them several times!  Could be why your mother never took to that knife yahoo2?

No, my mum was taught in the German tradition so she is right at home with a knife of the size that Conan or Rambo would have hauled around and she is tall so she is not restricted by the bench height. I am making her sound like some warrior princess now, aren't I.  

She doesn't peel with a knife, she rarely cuts over the pan and we have always preserved a lot of fruit so she has a knife for that "in hand" work. You are right about her other knives being blunt, my dad could round the edge off a laser beam. I sharpen three of their knives and leave the rest. He uses an old Sheffield steel butter knife.

I was thinking about it this morning, it is probably me. I grew up with a skinning knife in my hand. Earned a few bucks selling fox and rabbit skins as a child, probably 100 skins a week through winter, plus we butchered our own meat for 5 or 6 families. The shape and size of the smaller knife is very close to what I used then. I slice with the tip a lot, because it is sharp on my knives.

It's gratifying to hear that I am not the only one who thinks about this stuff. The why would someone buy this particular knife question?

I still like my bargain bin stainless steel cheapie, just not all the time.

[Caleb]

On 4/5/2016 at 11:38 AM, Rashelle said:

My assistant at work (who's on this site somewhere), wife's a chef and she liked the lightness and feel of the blade. I might of mentioned to her now he will need to get a good belt sander, for himself to make chef knives with. She agreed.  Heehee.

Yes, my wife was definitely very interested in the chef knife, and I think it's a beauty as well!  Luckily Rashelle wants to keep getting some practice making them so I get to make one along side her.  We completed the tongs and hammers needed today and can't wait to start on the blade.

Thanks for laying the ground work with my wife for letting her know the need for a fancy grinder!  I think if I keep making her knives I'll be able to get one sooner rather then later. ;-)

[Rashelle]

Heehee you are welcome Caleb.

[bigfootnampa]

Rashelle; I also wash my knives immediately after use and return them to the block.  That way my full array of knives is always available to use!  I also will use a diamond steel and follow with a regular steel if I have used the knife enough to dull the edge even slightly.  Thus I always have a selection of clean and sharp knives at the ready!  I do not like seeing knives in the dishwasher and they are just way too dangerous in the bottom of a sink full of cloudy dishwater!  I have yet to convert my whole household though... some dishwashing does occur when I am less than fully alert!  Since my acquisition of a Pheer belt grinder, sharpening dull knives (even chipped or very dull ones) has become quite a pleasure!  I can make a 10" blade shaving sharp in under two minutes most of the time!  It is a lovely thing!!!!  

yahoo2; I think you are probably right!  Tools with which we are familiar seem to work more naturally!  Probably why I will often use a filet knife when some other type might be more likely!  I have fished all my life!  When I was about twelve I assigned myself the tasks of keeping the family freezer stocked with fish and game (the sort of task that I RELISHED) and I mostly did that until I was in my mid 30's!  Six siblings in my family and my Dad mostly working all the time... we ate a lot of wild food... and it was GOOD!  I had a little help but shouldered the bulk of such work myself... enjoyed it IMMENSELY!  I still fish a LOT and eat plenty though lots of good fish are returned to the waters these days!  

[bigfootnampa]

One thing about knife safety that occurs to me is that I never really mastered it until I became a wood carver.  As a woodcarver I studied various grips and strokes and learned to anticipate the full length of my knife cut... so that I always know where the cut will start and where it will end!  This can be challenging when carving hardwoods, which are my favorite carving woods!  Knowledge of how to limit the length of a cut and control it's direction is central to the art of woodcarving! The principles are pretty applicable to other types of cutting as well.  Plus the discipline of thinking your cuts all the way through, all the time... makes careless knife work unlikely!  I would encourage people to learn the basics of woodcarving techniques as basic knife handling skills!  Wrist twist cuts, using the body to clamp against with your arms, making small slices with a very small blade that has a large handle... these kinds of basic principles erase the dangerous overpowered and uncontrolled types of cuts that get people HURT!

[Rashelle]

I agree BFN. I use knives daily, but am more aware of the blade now then when I was younger. My work makes sure I don't burn out so today instead of blacksmithing I'm heading out into the woods. Where we'll forage for lunch and cook what we find. I'm reasonably sure we'll have the kids cutting and preparing the foods as well as doing the cooking.