Lol I say a term and you run with it, I've defiantly seen a big jump in overall looks of your blades as of late, I remember your old kkf days, I wouldn't of touched you with a 10 foot pole.. I've only handled your new knives minus my mom's hunter and that seemed fine +/- 60 seconds use. As far as my blades go they were all excellent(I own three and kept the pass around for a month lol) the Hunter is stunning, excellent grind, very sturdy in hand, beautiful Burl wood(this is part of what makes it a gentlemans Hunter) and loaded witih detail work that I love, the hammered guard is a subtle and very much appreciated touch, the single pin adds some modest flair and doubles to keep the handle mechanically secured. The sheath needs some work though, mine broke on its first mission; maybe theres a better way to attach the belt loop. The blade is thin and mighty, easily splitting lumber for kindling and still capable of doing in hand work like slicing apples. The pettysuki is again very functional, stupidly reactive(it's no longer shiny lol) the design is amazing, capable of protein prep, butchery and excels at general petty work, lemons nightmare. As far as production goes the ura(backside) man I hope I used that right felt under finished(being a prototype that's fine) 10-15 minutes on the grinder and that would be polished out. I would love to see some san mai single bevels pumped out with a wave pattern on the back(0 idea how they do that, ask around) that blade with stainless san mai damascus would be God tier. The kiridashi is just that a **** dashi that does work(used it twice for pastry lol) as far as improvements go, your defiantly making strides, your handles have become amazing, showing subtle detail work not seen until recently. Engravings, exotic materials, better more inspired combinations and use of damascus. It's really amazing to watch. All the time the blades feel Dalmanesque, never losing focus of your roots, sticking to local materials and pushing boundaries, a few of your handles could pass as bill burkes or randies work. Basically now I think you just need to dial in the fit and finish to that next level(which your doing) and maybe look into teaming up with a master Smith to bang out some more advanced forging teqniques(come on Robin Dalman meets Ed Fowler) that would be a sick combination. Basically you just need to push forward and keep doing what your doing, your obviously a great smith, you have a 6+ month wait and can constantly increase your prices. I look forward to seeing where you are in 2-3 years. P.S. get your js from abs I want that ms stamp on more of my blades lol.
