CJA Edged Art / Scorpion Forge 200mm 'Extra Heavy' Gyuto

Hi everyone, I am the proud owner of this knife and cannot wait to use it when it arrives. I also want to show off my new purchase [emoji6].

The specs are :

W2 tool steel
200mm edge length
54 mm height at heel
4 mm spine at the heel
175 g weight
Handle material : stabilized spalted deep-compression koa, nickel silver and 165-year old wrought iron spacers
Handle type : multi-faceted dual taper design, for extra comfort, weight reduction and aids forward balance.

I would like to share my positive experience in building this knife together with Cris Anderson of Scorpion Forge. This felt more like a collaboration because he let me in every step of the way. Found him from social medias and liked his knife profiles.

This guy is a knife artist, he has this thing to get a feel of the blade from the hamon pattern, then to the handle materials and execution, and lastly to the leather saya. He was always thinking about making the knife better, even when everything had been decided. My knife had gone through 3 main handle material choices until we found this one, each change better than the last. Getting the new material to arrive was bad for business, which meant taking longer to send my knife out of the door and receiving payment but he exceeded all expectations.

Do not be tricked that Cris only prioritized the looks of the package, his knives are form follows function. He relentlessly tested each of his knives on produce and improve them every time.

I am no expert in different type of knife grinds and stuff but I have had quite a few knives, both off the shelf and customs. There are a few areas that I know I like but the truth is in the pudding. I will know it after the first few cuts, working as a pro chef in a commercial kitchen. My wishes to Cris were for the knife to have heft, no flex, laser tip and thin edge. I let him worked on his grinds for food separation and minimal wedging. The 2 wrought iron spacers placed close together was intentional, to balance the heft of the knife in use.

I will update when I get the knife.

Nice 54mm for a 200mm is a tall ass knife. I bet it will destroy veg but also looks pointed enough to do well with protein and protein prep. Im insainly jealous.

Godslayer said:

Nice 54mm for a 200mm is a tall ass knife. I bet it will destroy veg but also looks pointed enough to do well with protein and protein prep. Im insainly jealous.

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That was the whole point all along, an all-rounder knife. By the way, the 'extra heavy' in the title is comparing it to his other knives, which would be roughly 125g-130g for the same length.

Thats some dramatic taper, 4mm at spine over 200 blade. Beautiful tones in the wood, just has that "i want to hold" vibe. Nice score.

Mistaken post!

jimbob said:

Thats some dramatic taper, 4mm at spine over 200 blade. Beautiful tones in the wood, just has that "i want to hold" vibe. Nice score.

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This is how the block of wood looked like originally.

Wow!! Really beautiful.

Looks nice, can't wait for the review.

Perfect

Kinda jealous! :doublethumbsup: :cool2: :bliss:

Chris does awesome work. Had a chance to handle one of his Gyutohiki's at the 2015 ECG and out of over a hundred knives there, I still remember the feel and cutability of that one.

Mucho Bocho said:

Chris does awesome work. Had a chance to handle one of his Gyutohiki's at the 2015 ECG and out of over a hundred knives there, I still remember the feel and cutability of that one.

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Thanks for the compliments, guys. I should be more jealous of you guys in USA, quite a few knut gatherings there every year. The only way I can try a knife is to buy it [emoji12]

Hope the knife makes you happy. Cris wanted me to try it because he thought I'd be impressed, if that means anything.

Holy hell, that blade is a beaut for sure.

I've appreciated the slight tapers my knives have offered compared to the old boxy westerns I own. My question is, how do you like the duel taper's feel and function in hand compared to the standard octagonal? Such a radical departure it seems... at least in my newbie eyes. Please do check back in after you've put it through the ringer. :knife:

Robert, I think this one would be a different beast to yours, mostly in feel and forward balance, which were important to me.

MarDurr: As for the dual taper, I believe XooMG would be able to chime in because he has the first dual taper handle from Cris Anderson.

Here are the photos showing the tip and choil area.

Here is another one, top view of the handle, to show the dual taper.

Here is a quick update on this knife. A quote from Cris :

"And the replacement getup for Ferry's 200mm extra heavy gyuto. I was doing some work on it prior to shipping it out, and saw a gap at the ferrule. A bit of pressure separated the joint. Soooo, I took it apart and cleaned it, then glued it up. Ground it lightly to clean up any minute misalignment, and saw another gap...so I twisted, and it separated behind the metal. Pulled it apart, cleaned it up, and reglued it. I did this four times, with three different kinds of high heat epoxy, and it failed repeatedly. All I can figure was the initial joints were compromised by the initial 3yr old glue and the high heat generated by grinding the thick wrought iron spacers to shape ...and since the handle had already been mounted and was full of beeswax, the heat from the subsequent grindings made the wax wick further into the joints like flux...at which point it acted like a release agent for the epoxy/glue. I was pretty devastated...it was my first full failure on a handle, and the block of koa was...well, lets just say 'not cheap'. But I'm grateful it happened in my hands, rather than in Ferry's all the way in Australia."

I was promised an even better replacement handle and here are the sneak peeks [emoji6].

that is a beauty!

Oh no he lost that koa!?! I hate to hear this and I feel his pain.

EdipisReks said:

that is a beauty!

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Thanks, buddy!

Dave: Yes Dave, we were both heartbroken but **** happens and life goes on. Anyway, this one is gonna be even better, no harm done.

Yeah it sucks when something like that happens, sucks for everyone involved but like you said **** happens. Also like you said you'll end up with something even better, that's usually the way. Still sucks though...

I believe that it sucked more for Cris than for me, I get a nicer handle [emoji16].

Anyway, here is a video of the knife with the new handle (still a few more buffing process and wax to be applied).



[video=youtube_share;ByJPMjJNOUY]http://youtu.be/ByJPMjJNOUY[/video]

I really like Cris's work. I'm waiting for him to start dabbling in stainless.

I always forget why Cris calls it Scorpion Forge. That video is certainly a reminder, some great f'n knives coming out of that desert there.

steelcity said:

I really like Cris's work. I'm waiting for him to start dabbling in stainless.

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I am mostly a stainless guy as well but I decided to cross over to the dark side [emoji16]. I have planned to use the knife at home for a while, develop a stable patina then bring it to work.

Marc, I don't wanna see the reason it's called scorpion forge, lol.

I am seriously excited to hear how this sucker performs. In the passaround, the ONE thing I really wished for was some more meat on the bones, and this sounds freaking fantastic, and looks spectacular! Can't wait to hear more - you have good taste sir!

skiajl6297 said:

I am seriously excited to hear how this sucker performs. In the passaround, the ONE thing I really wished for was some more meat on the bones, and this sounds freaking fantastic, and looks spectacular! Can't wait to hear more - you have good taste sir!

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Yes, mine is the first 'extra thick' one from Cris. I believed that this would be an option now, if you order from him. Same as you, I would like more heft and authority when cutting. This was one of the main requirements when I placed the order, next to height at heel and thin tip. I let him work his magic on minimal wedging and food separation.

I've had one in the works with Cris for quite some time. These were also my specs as well. I think his knives are skinny little pieces of miracles, but I just desire some heft along the spine and I like my heel height. We've been bouncing ideas off one another for over a year. By this I mean my one or two ideas to his many. He's a great guy to talk with. Most of the time I feel stupid when we chat. Cris is a Wealth of knowledge, which is second only to his passion.

Marc, I agree with you on all accounts, he is a wealth of knowledge. Not only on knives but other things as well. Also, he would not send out any knife in less than perfect condition and I thought I had high standard.