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3 treasures for sale

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Dave Martell

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I'm listing for sale 3 of my personal treasures. Why? Because I need the $$ and absolutely can't justify keeping these knives no matter what they mean to me. :sad0:

These three knives were given to me by the members of KF back around 2006 (I think). Fish 'n Poi (the original handle maker king) was the person who organized the buy and personally rehandled two of these knives. As you can imagine I have a lot of personal feelings for these knives but like I said I have to sell them even if it kills me to do so. I will be happy if they find a good home though, someone which can appreciate them for what they are, especially the Fish handled ones.

So with that I give you my treasures....

*Note - The pictures shown are not from today, they're from way back when the knives were new. They are in the same condition except the cleaver and gyuto are strongly patina'd. I'll take pictures tomorrow if the light is right, I would've done so but I haven't had the free time.


Suien VC 220mm Vegetable Cleaver
Blade has been thinned on the bottom half all by hand on stones (I'll never do that again) until the cleaver fell through thick Chinese style carrots. Even in my inexperienced hands this thing is a machine for veg prep. I've been begged to thin Suien cleavers for years because the stock versions are somewhat thick above the edge and here the work is done already for you. This is the reason why the cleaver has a wonky appearance to the blade finish. The finish was something that I settled on back when I did the work and once the patina started I didn't feel the need to improve it so there it stands.

The handle on this is a custom one of a kind Fish original full tang western. Fish shaped the tang into a more ergonomic finger rest which I feel suits this cleaver perfectly. The wood is (I believe) wenge with a synthetic (Corian?) bolster and reconstituted turquoise spacer. & brass pins.

Price - $325

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Watanabe 270mm Pro Gyuto
Back when Fish was getting ready to order this knife he gave me the option of getting it in either White #2 or Blue #2 steel and I chose White because I wanted something different. I believe that Watanabe only made a few gyutos ever out of this steel and today only sells the Blue steel version although I have heard of a carved dragon or two as being White steel. Anyway, if I got what I asked for then this is supposed to be White #2 but I could never be sure so please understand that who knows what it really is.

This knife is a brute, somewhat heavy and thick, however I gave this a thinning above the edge with stones back when I first got it. I tweaked the knife until I had it falling through everything and with the added weight this knife seems to work for you. It's a joy to use although not an easy one to sharpen for a beginner.

The custom Fish handle is made from fantastic buckeye burl with a buffalo horn ferrule and nickel silver end cap. Fish made the handle a tad bit on the thin side as compared to what we do today but he preferred this (even told me so) and he loved how this one turned out. I found that the thickness never was an issue for me when used in the pinch grip (as a knife like this should be used).

This knife is without a doubt awesome. My #1 favorite.

Price - $625

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Takeda 180mm western deba
There's not anything special about this knife besides it being part of the gift from the guys back then. It's a stock western deba, Aogami Super steel, octagonal rosewood handle, with buffalo ferrule.

I had sharpened this back when I first got it and (no lie) only used the knife once - ever. It has an edge on it now that shows how much better I sharpen today.
If the knife sells at this price then I'll sharpen this before it heads out the door. If I discount this later then the new owner can sharpen it him(or her)self. :)

This knife looks pretty much exactly as it does in the pictures shown that were taken back when the knife was new and freshly sharpened by me.

Price - $260

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Shipping is included in the above prices for CONUS. International buyers would need to pay actual shipping costs.


If you're interested in one of these knives please shoot me a PM.



**To those of you who read this and had taken part in contributing to this gift to me I want to offer my sincerest apologies for selling these knives now. My intent had always been to keep these forever. :(

Dave


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Damn I wish I had the $$$! I'd buy them all!!!
 
Dam I love that Gyuto...why is xmas so close and making me broke
 
I'm gonna pretend I never saw this thread. I'm also gonna pretend I don't want that cleaver. This will keep me sane...
 
I will give you all fair warning. If the cleaver is not gone by the time I wake up(4am), its mine.

Beautiful knives!

Please someone buy that fantastic veggie cutting machine.
 
I have 3 people lined up on the cleaver so I'm pretty sure that's sold. I'll post once that's 100% sure though.
 
Best wishes on the remainder of your sale Dave.
 
Of course to late for the Fish handled cleaver. Congratulations to whoever got that!
 
Thank goodness someone bought that cleaver before I saw this one...
 
Dave, I'll trade you my Bud-K santoku with shoelace holes(even-Steven/fair&square) for that gyuto!
 
Price Drop on the gyuto - $595

I'm going outside to take some pictures of the gyuto right now so within the hour I'll have them posted.
 
The CA buckeye burl came from Fish's personal stash that he'd be saving for years. I'm not sure if it comes through in the pictures or not but the handle has a sort of matte soft finish to it even though the buffalo parts are shiny, looks hand finished to me. I think Fish put a little extra into this one.

The blade is convexed right down to the cutting edge as much as I could do by hand at the time. As you can see it's been worked high above the cutting edge on the stones particularly where it was the thickest which was at the back end. Combine the weight and geometry of this blade and you've got a nice cutting machine. I'm always impressed over again when I use this knife.

Something to note is that this is an asymmetric right handed blade at least 70/30 ground and you should be able to see this in the height of the bevel grinds. I'm not sure how much enjoyment a lefty would get from using this knife.

I realize that I sound like a salesman here (and yeah I'm trying to sell this knife - true) but I also love it and want to show off it's attributes a bit. :)
 
That gyuto is something special indeed. I've never been that excited when I saw the shape and profile of other Watanabe gyuto: they always looked rounder and blunter at the nose. This one looks like it might even have a bit of a flat spot out near the tip. Did you tweak the profile at all? The way that you describe it being robust yet lasery makes me think Shigefuesa (but the profile on yours looks better). A well-done partial convex on a thick blade is a thing of magic. Anyone that has experienced one knows what I'm talking about, and anyone who doesn't should by this while I still have will-power and find out!
 
SAVED!!!

I was worried about the Takeda, but gladly saw it sold :)
 
Congrats to the new owners, very nice knives. Too bad you had to let them go, Dave. But then again, you can make your own now...

Stefan
 
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