Thoughts on design and craftsmanship

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Enso Forge

Enso Forge

KKF Supporting Craftsman
Joined
Apr 2, 2024
Messages
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Location
Pittsburgh, Pa
Aside from performance, how important is design and craftsmanship to you? Are there certain materials or finishes that catch your eye more than others? As a maker, to me everything is important from performance, heat treating, geometry, etc but the design is where I get to be creative. Let me know your thoughts on design and craftsmanship and feel free to share works that you feel have these qualities!
IMG_6267.jpeg
 
Speaking as a home cook, I prefer a mix of completely utilitarian (basic J-knife with stock handle) and knives with fancy handles/ top-notch finishing. i am not firmly in one camp vs the other.

Lots of beautiful handles over the years from the likes of Burke, Rader, HHH, etc. It's nice to have a few horn/ tooth handles, and some nicely carved wood handles. Spacer, etc. can add a lot to the look as well.

Knives like that are not my everyday knives, but they are a pleasure to take out and and use every now and then.
 
Design and craftsmanship may be the most important aspect for me at least when buying from a new maker where I don't know the performance yet. I would say things like rounded/polished spine and choil, handle fit up, tiny primary bevel etc are what I am looking for. Your work presents incredibly well to the eye test. Your handle work and transitions especially. Here are some examples of knives I ownIMG_20240316_153812_271.jpgIMG_20240316_153812_271.jpgPXL_20240126_010140064.jpgPXL_20240126_010134744.jpgPXL_20231223_200414291.jpgDSC00039.JPG
 
As I home cook, I like to look at the overall aesthetic of the blade as a balance.

Generally, I find if one part is fancy, I want the other plain. Fancy handle, plain blade. Fancy blade (damascus), plain handle. I want my eye to be "lost" in the details of only one half.

Fancy handle, fancy blade doesn't work for me because I find they can clash with each other.

A "plain" handle with a plain blade however can be exceptional. Simplicity is key. Like this combo I put together just recently from two makers work:
307942-20240428-163729.jpg
 
I'm just a mortal home cook , but I value fit and finish and design more so than performance. I don't want a terrible knife but I don't chase the perfect laser slicer or dream about a specific makers grinds. I just like a knife that cuts well and meets my needs. Fit and finish / design are the thing that tickles my funny bone. Sloppy ff is disappointing. It's attention to the details that really impresses me . I want my fancy knives to visually awesome.
 
As the knife gets more expensive, the design and craftsmanship are very important to me. At that point, I am buying a story from the maker. The craftsmanship tells me what kind of work went into the knife, what was emphasized and what was learned to reach that point. The design is an opportunity to stand out. I think even a monosteel blade can be unique if done right. A really cool addition to a knife I have from Jeremy Yelles is a twisted W pattern welded spacer. Not something you see everyday and adds a lot of character to the knife.
 
Also a home cook here, design and craftsmanship are definitely important at first glance, but performance is more important in the long run of whether I keep or use the knife. Poor fit and finish can also completely kill a knife for me, stuff like major bends/warps, holes in the edge that don't make board contact, etc. You wouldn't really see these things until you buy or handle the knife, and they can be a major disappointment.

I prefer designs where less is more. Simple wood + buffalo horn handles are beautiful in their simplicity, though sometimes I like a subtly patterned wood or marbled horn. I wish more western makers worked with buffalo horn ferrules, not sure why they don't. Same for the blade, I prefer something plain over damascus or other patterns.
 
I don’t care about Damascus and forge welding. I am a bit of a collector so design can be more about looks Vs performance. I tend to grab my TF Denka when I need to get things done. I like exotic steels like crucible wootz. I like interesting geometry and s grinds.

I sometimes go for the platonic ideal of a knife. Take away everything not needed and get the basics perfect. The Tadafusa HK series is good example of that.
 
Home cook. Ergonomics is just as important as performance for me, maybe more. I have a Spare with a short neck that cuts well but sits on the sidelines because it doesn’t feel right in a pinch. Need to fix that….
 
Enso Forge said:
Aside from performance, how important is design and craftsmanship to you? Are there certain materials or finishes that catch your eye more than others? As a maker, to me everything is important from performance, heat treating, geometry, etc but the design is where I get to be creative. Let me know your thoughts on design and craftsmanship and feel free to share works that you feel have these qualities!View attachment 318536
Click to expand...
Beautiful knives, especially the middle one looks great to me. Almost too nice, I would be afraid to use something like that :p. A knife like that with a plain blade and a simpler handle of the same shape would look great to me and not scare me. Lately I find that blade shape matters to me, even though only the edge shape matters for cutting. For some reason I am moving away from more santoku like looking spines to the spines that are more symmetrical to the edge. So more like your middle knife vs the bottom one. Like the others I like rounded spines and choils, but these are not that important since I can fix these myself if needed. I also agree with only making one half complex, but in general prefer simpler designs in both blade and handle. I get lost when too much is going on and vastly prefer simple blades vs damascus or too much etching. Western handles also lately appeal more to me especially when they look ergonomic and like they would be comfortable to hold, why I don't know since I use pinch grip 98% of the time. Of course I would still pick a knife with the balance I like that is comfortable and cuts well over any of the above, but when deciding on which to get visual appeal definitely has some weight. Often a knife just looks right for whatever reason and I can't really tell why that specific knife looks better to me than another very similar looking knife, probably something about shapes and dimensions just strikes the right balance in my head.
 
Interesting topic, I'll play!

Lets first start with the absolutes; any knife has to be a good performer. Why do I care how a knife looks if I don't want to use it? If I am not going to use a knife and just keep it on display, why not just get a Katana/Nijato?

I will also operate under the assumption that I personally like all of the materials used(Mostly in response to @M1k3 's very valid view on the walnut ferrule). Since Steel Type, wood/material types, bling-factor, and color are all subjective we can leave this out.

I am a home cook. Even though I cook a sh!t ton at home, there are no comparisons to Pros. I am not referring to skill with a knife, but the requirements of my knives vs a Pro are vastly different. This needs to be reiterated. The needs of a home cook, are vastly different than that of a Pro. (Edge retention to Home cook just means you don't want to sharpen 3 times a year, and If you need to sharpen more than that, you need to work on your sharpening/deburring, not your "edge retention")

Items relating to Design and Craftsmanship that matter to me irrespective of price

Design
  • Handle
    • Wa
      • I prefer minimal taper from butt to Ferrule (~1-2mm)
      • Octagonal, D or Heart Shaped please
      • I dont like Heavy Handles
    • Yo
      • I slightly prefer 2 rivet designs to the classic 3.
      • Slight taper of handle from first rivet towards bolster
      • Downward curve? No thank you
      • Weird Bulgy handles? 🤮
      • Simple Coke Bottle is the way to go on contoured handles
  • Emoto
    • I like the neck to be be smaller in width than the Handle where the blade meets the ferrule.
    • I like knives with/without Machi but neck still has to be smaller than the handle.
  • Spine to Handle
    • I like the spine to be at least a few mm lower than the top of the handle
  • Choil to Edge
    • Similar to the spine and emoto references above, I like the neck to be slimmer than the handle.
  • Heel Sweep - Personally I HATE when a knife's heel sweeps back past the Choil. Finger notches are ok.
  • Aesthetics
    • As far as Textured blade faces, I like Nashiji, KU, Nashiji KU, Some Tsuchime, Some Damascus, Some Honyaki
    • Simple clean polished blade faces, whether wide bevel or convex are classic
    • I dislike cladding that dips towards edge. ESPECIALLY AT THE TIP
    • I dont like K tips
    • I dont like Pot bellies (I.e. Kobayashi)
  • Balance
    • I like my Gyutos forward balanced.
    • Ergonomics - When knife is sitting on its flat spot (Not furthest back on the heel) the handle should not be too high off the cutting surface
Craftsmanship
  • Fit & Finish
    • Machi gaps are fine, as long as the corners don't catch my fingies
    • Makers Mark/Stamp - I have found i really like the Takada stamp, Takamura Symbol and the like. Deep stamps are nice.
    • Rounding of Spine/Choil
      • Definitely a plus, but honestly as long as the corners are broken it doesnt bother me that much. (Home cook)
      • Capable to do this myself as well.
 
Last edited:
MowgFace said:
Interesting topic, I'll play!

Lets first start with the absolutes; any knife has to be a good performer. Why do I care how a knife looks if I don't want to use it? If I am not going to use a knife and just keep it on display, why not just get a Katana/Nijato?

I will also operate under the assumption that I personally like all of the materials used(Mostly in response to @M1k3 's very valid view on the walnut ferrule). Since Steel Type, wood/material types, bling-factor, and color are all subjective we can leave this out.

I am a home cook. Even though I cook a sh!t ton at home, there are no comparisons to Pros. I am not referring to skill with a knife, but the requirements of my knives vs a Pro are vastly different. This needs to be reiterated. The needs of a home cook, are vastly different than that of a Pro. (Edge retention to Home cook just means you don't want to sharpen 3 times a year, and If you need to sharpen more than that, you need to work on your sharpening/deburring, not your "edge retention")

Items relating to Design and Craftsmanship that matter to me irrespective of price

Design
  • Handle
    • Wa
      • I prefer minimal taper from butt to Ferrule (~1-2mm)
      • Octagonal, D or Heart Shaped please
      • I dont like Heavy Handles
    • Yo
      • I slightly prefer 2 rivet designs to the classic 3.
      • Slight taper of handle from first rivet towards bolster
      • Downward curve? No thank you
      • Weird Bulgy handles? 🤮
      • Simple Coke Bottle is the way to go on contoured handles
  • Emoto
    • I like the neck to be be smaller in width than the Handle where the blade meets the ferrule.
    • I like knives with/without Machi but neck still has to be smaller than the handle.
  • Spine to Handle
    • I like the spine to be at least a few mm lower than the top of the handle
  • Choil to Edge
    • Similar to the spine and emoto references above, I like the neck to be slimmer than the handle.
  • Heel Sweep - Personally I HATE when a knife's heel sweeps back past the Choil. Finger notches are ok.
  • Aesthetics
    • As far as Textured blade faces, I like Nashiji, KU, Nashiji KU, Some Tsuchime, Some Damascus, Some Honyaki
    • Simple clean polished blade faces, whether wide bevel or convex are classic
    • I dislike cladding that dips towards edge. ESPECIALLY AT THE TIP
    • I dont like K tips
    • I dont like Pot bellies (I.e. Kobayashi)
  • Balance
    • I like my Gyutos forward balanced.
    • Ergonomics - When knife is sitting on its flat spot (Not furthest back on the heel) the handle should not be too high off the cutting surface
Craftsmanship
  • Fit & Finish
    • Machi gaps are fine, as long as the corners don't catch my fingies
    • Makers Mark/Stamp - I have found i really like the Takada stamp, Takamura Symbol and the like. Deep stamps are nice.
    • Rounding of Spine/Choil
      • Definitely a plus, but honestly as long as the corners are broken it doesnt bother me that much. (Home cook)
      • Capable to do this myself as well.
Click to expand...
Very detailed. Thanks!
 
I’ve always liked knives that have an elegant and rustic look to them, so for me forged textures and antiqued looks hit the spot. For fit and finish I like to heirloom fit all the parts ( not only for expansion and contraction but because I feel it adds another level of craftsmanship to the finished piece.) In the beginning when I started making, I really liked the complex faceted and carved handles, but now I’m leaning towards simplicity executed at a high level. Excellent fit and finish, premium materials, and more classic shapes.
 
The worst trend in knife colors is called "Dessert Warrior." I think it started as a joke by one company, a play on "Desert Warrior." Then it spread for some unfathomable reason. Haven't seen it in a kitchen knife, and I never want to.
1714523885257.png
 
no ornaments please.
i enjoy the aesthetic limitation of making the most of what is functional.

single piece wa handle, no to very small taper
migaki finish

game over

(kurouchi and nashiji is sometimes acceptable.)

.
 
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