Matus Knives - finished projects

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I apologize for the delay :)

The latest knife is actually already finished, but I was in such a hurry, that I did not manage to snap a few photos of it. Now it is being tested by a friend of mine who will hopefully take some photos over the weekend. Even the blog entry is already finished and waiting to be published. It is a 180mm Niolox WA gyuto.

Few more projects are in the making, most notably a workbench (65 cm tall) for a 2x72" grinder (which should be finished sometimes next month, or so I hope). I was not too motivated to build one myself, just did not find any other way - and it is taking a lot of my time as I never did anything like that before.
 
That Matus, a real renaissance man. The workbench will turn out great.
 
I built a Paul Sellers style workbench with hand tools last year as well as a stand for my drill press. Good luck on the workbench project.
[video=youtube;ru2ZiNs_Wek]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru2ZiNs_Wek&index=1&list=PLD39949332C7FB168[/video]:cool2:
 
That is a great video, thanks. I should have watched it before I got started. I will post my 'bench project' should it turn to be at least acceptable.

Anyhow - I have finally managed to finished my third knife - a 180 mm Niolox guyto with WA handle made. It went mostly rather well, though I am not sure about the blade finish (although it looks a bit better in person, but it still needs improvements). You can read about the details on my BLOG, here are a few photos.









 
Niiice... Looks quite thin at the choil already, how much of a distal taper do you do? Love the handle because I totally dig bocote, way underused IMHO. Not sure if it's the photography angle, but looks like the people had two long sweet spots, one at the heel the other at the front? Sweet looking knife!
 
Nice work Matus. Is that a mirror finish in Niolox? Supposed to be super hard to do. Was it difficult to sand? How's the steel perform?
 
Handle is well executed, grind looks great, and like the finishing touches, the work you did rounding/polishing the spine and choil. But for me, the stand-out on this knife is the profile. I will be honest--it is not the prettiest profile i've seen. I've definitely seen some that have a more aggressive beauty. But what this knife has--and what I appreciate so much about it--is how obviously well-thought out the profile is. Seems to me you designed this to combine elements from several different types of profiles, to arrive at something that a true knyfe knut could appreciate. You have a very functional belly breaking late toward the tip, allowing the knife to rock gently forward into a bit of a delayed push cut, or to rock chop from the near the tip, allowing for maximum contact with the board when coming down from the rock chop. That is backed up with a really substantial flat spot, allowing for really effective straight-up push cutting, as well as chopping. Then you've got a relatively pointy tip, allowing for detail work like peeling citrus or de-ribbing peppers. And finally there is good height, creating easy knuckle clearance, and so, stress free cutting from a variety of angles and orientations.

Dunno man--just really impressed with the amount of thought you put into this knife. Clearly the result of a lot of accumulated experience actually using the damn things. Really fun to see. Good work :)
 
Thank you all :)

To answer some of your questions and comments:
- This particular blade does not have a too pronounced distal taper (though it of course tapers considerably towards the tip), because it was made from a rather thin stock - 2.2mm
- Yes - the profile is up to certain extent a two flat-ish spot connected. I have seen this kind of profile before (e.g. on the recent knives from Andy Billipp) and I was curios how it will work.
- No, the blade is not mirror finished. It would appear that mirror finish could be achieved more easily than with e.g. O1 or D2. In person the finish is ... particular. A rather shiny background (in the photos you can see a partiall reflection - after grit #400 (!) ). I will experiment more - I would love to get to a nice satin finish for the future (I am not a 'mirror' guy, but I will surely give that a try too)
- The grinding and sanding of the steel felt easier than D2. While handsanding hardened steel I felt that sanding paper would get dull faster than on O1, but I did not compare side-by-side
- The judgement on the performance and edge holding is still out - a friend of mine (a pro chef) should be getting his hands on the knife this weekend and I will let him to keep the knife folr longer time so that he can asess it.
 
A little more information: The knife weights 122g and the balance is neutral with pinch grip.
 
OK, here a few quick videos that a friend of mine (a chef in Prague) took. He is testing the knife and his feedback is so far very positive. His words are "The knife has managed 2 full shifts and had not needed a sharpening yet. The steel is easier to sharpen than D2 (HRC 63), but has comparable bite. The profile works well for this size of knife (otherwise he would prefer more belly towards the tip), the handle fits the size and weight of the knife well. The only weakness so far is the rather thin neck of the knife where the knife may flex"

Well, I am curios how long will the edge last - as you can see in the videos he has a rather 'energetic' cutting style :) About the flex - he is spot on. The reason is a very thin stock of the steel (2.2 mm with scale). I will use 3mm next time and use a different design of the neck.

So, while not perfect, but it looks pretty usable :)

So, the videos:

[video=youtube;B_78lt1cUus]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_78lt1cUus[/video]

[video=youtube;69kqg9jhYCg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69kqg9jhYCg[/video]
 
Thank you guys. Yes, I am happy with the knife. Last update - after 3 full days of heavy duty cutting the knife needed sharpening. My friend estimated that the edge would last about 1 month of home use. That should be ok I think, or? I will test that later myself :)

I have just finished one non-knife project that I will publish in a few days and keep working diligently on several more knives
I alsi feel it is time to start to test the 1.2442 I got some time ago :)

I really hope that the 2x72" will finally arrive this month.
 
I was not checking this part of the forum lately. In this time you managed to make a bunch of great knives and handles in your small workshop, with basic tools, great resourcefulness and will.

I must congratulate you Matus, amazing work and amazing knives! I just love the profile on your gyutos!
 
I was the other guy who had the opportunity to test the knife for some time and I have to confirm the words of my other friend, the pro chef - the only weakness is the too thin neck (and the resulting occasional flex), due to the equally thin template, I am really loking forward to an eventual somewhat thicker, 3 mm option, I am sure that would be even better! But otherwise - a really good cutter which was very comfortable to use, nice aggresive, finely toothy edge (Matus has finished on his Gesshin Synthetic Natural before he gave it to me, I took it then to my Maruo shiro suita), even my wife, who normally does almost never use my J-knives, liked it:)...And I still tend to reach for it to the place on the holder where it was located...although its already gone:)..
 
I am trying to be, otherwise how would I keep improving? Comparing myself with pro makers and the quality they produce (Dave, Robin, Ian and many others) is a great way to keep my knifemaking ego in check :)

When I manage to make a nice handle or a well cutting blade I am happy, but not proud. Happy is good enough for me :)
 
A project #17 is finished. This time not a knife, but a wooden base for a lovely Shiro-Suita for a friend of mine. This is yeat another one note-that-perfect project, but this is also my first 'bigger' woodworking project.

You can find all the details on my BLOG, here just a few photos:

The raw material:




Design of the holder:




Bottom side of the stone evened-out with epoxy:




Taking Proxxon to get the depression milled:




Finished holder with the stone:




Splashing some water on the stone to reveal the real beauty of it :)

 
the base looks pretty good, your blog is a very nice resource for people trying to DIY like me. It helped for me making my first wooden base for a Red Aoto and I'm following your handle making projects since I haven't gathered myself to start one (I lack a ton of tools and the $$ to buy them). It's great for someone like me that uses the head to work 12-14 h a day to be able to use my hands from time to time, I think that's why I enjoy cooking so much. Keep up the good work.
 
Is there long term risk of cracking the stone when glued to a wood base exposed to wetting? Glue all corners or just the centre to allow for expansion?
 
Good question. I thing (hope) the stone does not expand much with the little water it absorbs. I naively thing that should it tend to expand too much than it would break by itself. I think we need input from a more experienced person on this topic.
 
I would be more concerned with the wood expanding. Depending on how effective the epoxy is at securing the stone to the base. If expansion does occur something will give, either the base the glue or the stone. Just some thoughts of course. I do see stones secured to plastic which tells me the stone expansion is likely not an issue.
 
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