Tsourkan Knives - Gallery

Kitchen Knife Forums

Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Marko Tsourkan

Founding Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2011
Messages
5,005
Reaction score
34
I am going to post pictures of finished work here and link them to Custom Order Progress Update page. This way it would be easier to manage.

So, I will start with pictures of my last practice knife - 270mm suji. I didn't etch a maker's mark on it as it is a practice knife. All knives after this one will have my logo.

DSC_0166.jpg

DSC_0167.jpg

DSC_0168.jpg

DSC_0169.jpg

DSC_0171.jpg

DSC_0172.jpg

DSC_0177.jpg
 
Wow, Your practice knives look as good or better then many respected makers knives for sale. I mean they are only pictures so who knows but boy do they look good. Maybe you should practice making cleavers after your current run and send a one of them my way.
 
Marko, you make Ritz Carlton of knives. Pure class!

Maybe we should brand you the Shigefusa of the West...
 
That is a truly impressive piece of work. Well done, Marko!
 
Those look great:thumbsup:.......What ever happen to the pass around blades???
 
Thanks people. I think you are giving me more credit I deserve, but it is flattering nonetheless.

Mario, it's still in plans, but I have to make time for it. I have a few orders I need to deliver before Christmas and I still have some old custom orders for handles and sayas and those take a good chunk of time to complete. So it's a matter of finding time to do it it.

M
 
Just god awful....I can see how you would not want to claim that piece with your maker's mark! :D

I might have to get an order in, since I have always been impressed with your handle and saya work, and it seems like that is the only way we can get one out of you anymore. I am sold on what I have seen and the ravid support you have out there on attention to detail.
 
I must say that is very beautiful work !! :doublethumbsup:

Let me know when you are ready to send me one :spiteful:
 
Marko, that is a very awesome knife! Classy and elegant. I really like it! Two thumbs up!
 
Strong work. And I like that you are putting out 52100 knives now as that is what mine will be made out of. It is like seeing the 52100 light at the end of the tunnel.

k.
 
M,
I am really impressed with your grind. You have taken alot from Shigefusa's page in your grind, because that's what the choi shots really remind me of. Nice distal taper, slight convex from what I can see.
 
I took some things from Shigefusa, but not the grind. Shigefusa grind is difficult to replicate, but not impossible (you need a huge diameter radius platen) as Shigefusa double-beveled knives are hollow-ground from below spine to about 3/8 from the edge.
I have done it on a couple of practice knives, but I didn't think it had that much of an advantage over a convex grind for the extra trouble in grinding and finishing. I do a shallow convex grind similar to Carter knives instead.


M
 
Shigefusa is different because the spine is so thick, then it really goes down, like a concave, flattens out, and a little convex at the end. Your edge at the end and shoulders are thin like his. It's more pronounced on the small one.
 
Shigefusa is different because the spine is so thick, then it really goes down, like a concave, flattens out, and a little convex at the end. ...
Your description of Shigefusa geometry is exact.
 
Bravo chazmtb. With that answer, you have won a showroom full of cash and prizes.

Joking aside. Your description and Marko's confirmation has probably imprinted in my mind more about Shige geo than anything else. I don't own one, but at least I understand them a bit better now. Thank you for this mini discussion.

k.
 
It is a very unique geometry, though I have seen it on razors (come to think Iizuka-san studied under Iwasaki) and some variation of it on swords. Hollow-grinding (concave) reduced weight and thickness in the mid-section while leaving thickness on the spine intact, but it doesn't go all the way to the edge - it stops about 10mm from it, and then there is a transition into convex.

It's pretty impressive if you think that Shigefusa folks do final shaping and polishing by hand. They have their methods and I am sure they are pretty efficient (soft cladding helps if you use sen or metal scrapers of sorts), but still.

Their hollow-grind translates into 7-8' radius, so it won't be done on a typical whet wheel (~3' radius).

M
 
Yes that one is very difficult to replicate.
I think its thats why he only stik to clad knifes, it will be almost impossibile to do on mono steel knifes.
I think he use "San" to do that. But still very impressive how he do that by hand, i think the only thing he use his weel for is for ura on single bevel.

It is a very unique geometry, though I have seen it on razors (come to think Iizuka-san studied under Iwasaki) and some variation of it on swords. Hollow-grinding (concave) reduced weight and thickness in the mid-section while leaving thickness on the spine intact, but it doesn't go all the way to the edge - it stops about 10mm from it, and then there is a transition into convex.

It's pretty impressive if you think that Shigefusa folks do final shaping and polishing by hand. They have their methods and I am sure they are pretty efficient (soft cladding helps if you use sen or metal scrapers of sorts), but still.

Their hollow-grind translates into 7-8' radius, so it won't be done on a typical whet wheel (~3' radius).
 
Their hollow-grind translates into 7-8' radius, so it won't be done on a typical whet wheel (~3' radius).

M

I meant diameter, on a typical water wheel(2-4'). However the radius on a sen to get a hollow on Shigefusa would be equivalent of 7-8' radius.

M
 
D style handle inspired by Fish and Kramer.

W2 steel with hamon (not very visible in the pictures, but visible up close - wavy pattern comparable to Japanese).

Handle is VERY comfortable.

Western handle coming in a near future. Oval handle - immediately.

DSC_0270.jpg

DSC_0266.jpg

DSC_0267.jpg

DSC_0274.jpg

DSC_0271.jpg

DSC_0275.jpg

DSC_0264.jpg

DSC_0272.jpg

DSC_0268.jpg

DSC_0265.jpg

DSC_0273.jpg
 

Latest posts

Back
Top