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Marko Tsourkan

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Folks, I am a bit slow on getting these made and getting them out to the public. I was torn between getting a new piece of equipment - a camcorder (already have a digital SLR camera), or get a new smartphone with 4K video capacity. In the end, I went with the smartphone to keep things minimal, and now I am waiting for an attachment for my tripod to arrive so, so I could start producing these videos.

The goal of these videos is to demonstrate geometries that I offer, and also, on my blog I will talk about cons and pros of each. While I am at it, I will talk about my choices of steel, profiles, types of knifes, handle ergonomics, etc.

These are geometries that I use:

- Convex 1 (Carter)
- Convex 2 (Kato)
- Asymmetric Convex (Mizuno)
- S grind 1 (Shigefusa)
- S grind 2 (Koichi)
- Sword grind (Heiji)
- "Chisel" grind (single bevel with a hollow back)

I will post videos on my web site, but will link videos to this thread.
 
On my blog I will talk about cons and pros of each. While I am at it, I will talk about my choices of steel, profiles, types of knifes, handle ergonomics, etc.

Cannot tell you how excited I am for this! Always looking to learn more.

Also really curious what the "sword grind" is.
 
Cannot tell you how excited I am for this! Always looking to learn more.

Also really curious what the "sword grind" is.

Heijii knives is a perfect example of a "sword grind". It has two tall convex bevels under a shinogi line. There are some other makers who do that on thinner knives. I have done only a handful of knives in this geometry, but am familiar with it.

Marko
 
Is there a link to your blog somewhere? I absolutely want to follow this!
 
Great idea Marko. Looking forward to this.
 
Guys it's coming. I want to do a few types in the same geometry, say a gyuto, a suji, a nakiri, a petty, so one can get a sense of the performance. Catching up on some overdue projects, but I am planning and working toward these videos.
 
It would be great if you had some exaggerated drawings of the geometry to give people a visual of what you're describing. For example, I think I understand from your description that a sword grind is kind of like a pair of left handed and right handed single bevel knives placed back to back, but the blade road is convex (right)? But it's hard for many of us (me at least) to accurately describe shapes in words or correctly understand descriptions of shapes.

In any case, thanks for doing this!
 
It would be great if you had some exaggerated drawings of the geometry to give people a visual of what you're describing. For example, I think I understand from your description that a sword grind is kind of like a pair of left handed and right handed single bevel knives placed back to back, but the blade road is convex (right)? But it's hard for many of us (me at least) to accurately describe shapes in words or correctly understand descriptions of shapes.

In any case, thanks for doing this!

It is difficult, as in English we don't really have the words to properly describe it, or at least we don't have a term for it. The Japanese word is Niku ("meat") .

What you describe is one type of traditional sword grind, but there are others. I would clarify though that it's not a case of adding convexity to the flat blade road, but rather that the blade road is bulbous. On a sword, the niku serves the function of reinforcing the edge on an off angle cut.

If you'd like to read about it and see illustrations of the cross sections:

http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/niku.htm
 
It is difficult, as in English we don't really have the words to properly describe it, or at least we don't have a term for it. The Japanese word is Niku ("meat") .

What you describe is one type of traditional sword grind, but there are others. I would clarify though that it's not a case of adding convexity to the flat blade road, but rather that the blade road is bulbous. On a sword, the niku serves the function of reinforcing the edge on an off angle cut.

If you'd like to read about it and see illustrations of the cross sections:

http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/niku.htm

Thanks, the illustration was helpful.
 
It is difficult, as in English we don't really have the words to properly describe it, or at least we don't have a term for it. The Japanese word is Niku ("meat") .

What you describe is one type of traditional sword grind, but there are others. I would clarify though that it's not a case of adding convexity to the flat blade road, but rather that the blade road is bulbous. On a sword, the niku serves the function of reinforcing the edge on an off angle cut.

If you'd like to read about it and see illustrations of the cross sections:

http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/niku.htm

Awesome read! Thanks for sharing.
 
Great, Marco! I'm looking towards following it! I see some "subscribed" messages. Is this to the blog where you're be publising your results or to the "Niku" site?
 
I am finally almost ready to make videos. The first will be of the two style of convex blades that I use.

What should I cut in the video? I normally cut a sweet potato, a Russet potato, an onion, a carrot, a tomato. Anything else?
 
butternut squash

Any particular way to cut it?

I need to put handles on a couple of knives, so will probably do videos on Wednesday or Thursday. 240mm gyuto and 225mm gyuto in two convex grinds - one Mizuno style and one Carter style.
 
Any true hard squash is a good measure of wedging. I would cut it in 1/2 top to bottom then cut crescents from the halves.
 
If you can make a knife that blocks of seared tofu wont stick to I'd be blown away. Every knife I use, even when I angle the knife 20 degrees to the right, the tofu slices end up falling back over the top to the left. Its pretty funny.
 
My go to is carrot, parsnip and apples (big ones). Granny Smith seem to be the worst of the apples in terms of wedging and actually some sticking too due to the amount of "juice" that tends to have a suction effect on the sides of the blade.
 
OK, I will include apples in the mix.

I will start with convex, but will add other geometries later. Will also explain each geometry.
 
For a change, I am grinding an entire batch with Mizuno geometry, similar to how Japanese makers grind, but using tools I have in my possession. I will demonstrate all these in the video. I have 240mm gyuto, 210mm gyuto, 150mm sabaki, 135mm petty and 285mm suji. Might break my long standing tradition and be a little more creative with the handles.

PS: Now I understand why so few J. makers make small knives, like under 135mm petties and parers. The knives in the picture are made from 3.4mm stock (AEB-L)

IMG_0232.JPG
 
Hello there,
a bit late with the videos. Had a really rough week. Had to put down my dog this weekend.

This is a temporary video. The blade in the video has not been polished yet (and without a handle), but I don't expect the performance be any different, most likely smoother, as I will thin the blade in the process. I have used this blade for several days at home, and cut just about everything with it - vegetables, meet, cheese (hard and soft). It excels on regular potatoes and sweet potatoes, so I omitted them from thsi video. I will include potatoes and more vegetables when I do a final video (knife polished and with a handle)

The blade's dimensions

Thickness at the spine:
3.45mm at the handle
2.4mm half way
1.9mm 2" from the tip)
Estimated weight is 230g with a handle

Cut
Granny Smith apples
Carrot
Butternut Squash
Tomato
Cheddar

[video]https://youtu.be/HCrnXfiuP6Q[/video]
 
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