I’m very pleased to be adding this review of some wonderful knives by KKF craftsman Michael (@Knot Handcrafted ). Many of you are familiar with Michael’s impressive work from his various sales listings on the forum and member postings. His knives are very cleanly designed and executed, handsomely finished, and made with a lot of attention to high performance grinds. A lot of this is apparent from the many photos of his work available on the forum and on his website. In this review, I also want to highlight something that you wouldn’t know from a sales listing, which is Michael’s exemplary business practices.
I have been a KKF member since 2015 and have owned many off-the-shelf knives over the years, but it wasn’t until this year that I decided to make my first foray into commissioning a custom knife. It was in the lead up to ARM 2024 and I decided to commission a cleaver. Michael is well known for cleavers around these parts, and I wrote to him to request a design based on a couple of previous examples that I found on his website. Acute laser grind, to spec, in 52100 with textured spine and an olivewood/blackwood handle combo. Michael was responsive and quite pleasant to work with, and gracefully handled my many emails about various details.
In particular, while perusing examples of Michael’s work, I had become quite smitten with a unique textured pattern that he has created. This hammered pattern has a light, almost feathered quality, as depicted in the below picture of a 52100 gyuto that I also purchased from Michael:
The cleaver arrived only 2.5 months after ordering, which is a great turnaround time for a custom knife. When I unboxed the knife, I was very impressed with the quality of Michael’s hand-finished workmanship. The grind was exactly as requested and I could tell that the knife was going to be an excellent performer.
Unfortunately, there was one issue: as later explained to me, the height of the blade prevented Michael from using his normal technique for adding the textured finish that he applies to his gyutos, forcing Michael to attempt to recreate the finish using a different technique. As you can see in the below comparison photo, the textured finish on the cleaver has some similarities to the gyuto, but lacked that beautiful feathered quality that attracted me to the finish in the first place:
I want to be clear that Michael did not just spring the different finish on me. To his credit, he sent me pictures of the completed knives before shipping, and I accepted their appearance over email. At the time, I wasn’t sure if the different looking finish was a trick of the light or something more substantial, and besides, I had become aware that Michael had just suffered a family medical emergency and I didn’t want to unduly burden him during a difficult time.
When I received the knife, though, it was clear to me that the finish was quite different, as exhibited here:
Because it was my first custom commission, and wanting to be 100% satisfied, I sheepishly wrote Michael to inquire about the difference in finish, and to apologize for not speaking up sooner when I saw the photographs. Michael promptly verified that the finish was made using a different technique because the dimensions of the blade required it, and he candidly explained that he did not think about this detail while we were in the commissioning process.
Meanwhile, thanks to ARM, my collection of rectangles had exploded in size, and I had acquired a number of carbon cleavers. I asked Michael if he would be willing to make a second cleaver for me in SF100 (a UK version of AEB-L) with a clean brushed finish instead of the textured finish, and if he would be able to offer a bit of a discount for the new cleaver so that I could sell the original cleaver on the secondary market without taking too much of a hit. In other words, I was hoping to break even. Michael came back with a very generous offer, which was simply to pay for my return shipping so that I could return the 52100 cleaver back to him, and he would send me the new stainless cleaver without any additional charge.
Thereafter, Michael spent a fair amount of time researching return shipping options to the UK, but we eventually realized that it would be prohibitively expensive. I was floored when Michael then offered something I never expected or dared ask for: he would send me the replacement stainless cleaver in exchange for retaining my original purchase price, and asked me to keep the 52100 cleaver as a free gift! Yes, you read that correctly: he sent me the replacement knife and allowed me to keep the original knife for free. In a word, AMAZING.
The replacement cleaver shipped about 30 days after our discussion, which is another really great turnaround time. It arrived just as discussed, with another beautiful olivewood handle and a clean brushed finish. Here it is pictured alongside the original cleaver:
As for use, both cleavers feel great in hand and have very high performance laser grinds. I forget if this picture is the 52100 or SF100 specimen, but they are very similar so this is a good representation of both knives:
I promised Michael that I would provide candid feedback on use, so the only note I want to include is that the profile on both cleavers, although possessing a nice gentle curve toward the tip, has a “hard stop” flat section toward the back. This can require some adjustments in cutting motion, especially if you are used to the slight rock that you can incorporate with a standard gyuto. However, this is not that unusual with cleavers. You will see some makers like Moritaka employ an extremely flat profile on their cleavers, and Michael’s has more of a curve than that. However, Michael mentioned to me that he is considering redesigning his cleaver profile to remove the hard stop, so that is something to think about if you order a cleaver from him. It really is a matter of personal taste and cutting style, and the various adjustments that you have to make when using different types of blades.
Some months removed from the process, I must say that the finish on the 52100 cleaver has actually grown on me, aided in part by the gorgeous blue patina that the 52100 steel readily takes when cutting warm protein:
The ultimate result is that I am extremely grateful to Michael for his amazing business practices, and I feel like I have made out as an absolute bandit in this transaction. I wanted to make sure to post this review to help spread the word about Michael’s knives, and, in particular, his generosity and integrity. Thanks, Michael, for the wonderful experience – I look forward to more purchases in the future!
I have been a KKF member since 2015 and have owned many off-the-shelf knives over the years, but it wasn’t until this year that I decided to make my first foray into commissioning a custom knife. It was in the lead up to ARM 2024 and I decided to commission a cleaver. Michael is well known for cleavers around these parts, and I wrote to him to request a design based on a couple of previous examples that I found on his website. Acute laser grind, to spec, in 52100 with textured spine and an olivewood/blackwood handle combo. Michael was responsive and quite pleasant to work with, and gracefully handled my many emails about various details.
In particular, while perusing examples of Michael’s work, I had become quite smitten with a unique textured pattern that he has created. This hammered pattern has a light, almost feathered quality, as depicted in the below picture of a 52100 gyuto that I also purchased from Michael:
The cleaver arrived only 2.5 months after ordering, which is a great turnaround time for a custom knife. When I unboxed the knife, I was very impressed with the quality of Michael’s hand-finished workmanship. The grind was exactly as requested and I could tell that the knife was going to be an excellent performer.
Unfortunately, there was one issue: as later explained to me, the height of the blade prevented Michael from using his normal technique for adding the textured finish that he applies to his gyutos, forcing Michael to attempt to recreate the finish using a different technique. As you can see in the below comparison photo, the textured finish on the cleaver has some similarities to the gyuto, but lacked that beautiful feathered quality that attracted me to the finish in the first place:
I want to be clear that Michael did not just spring the different finish on me. To his credit, he sent me pictures of the completed knives before shipping, and I accepted their appearance over email. At the time, I wasn’t sure if the different looking finish was a trick of the light or something more substantial, and besides, I had become aware that Michael had just suffered a family medical emergency and I didn’t want to unduly burden him during a difficult time.
When I received the knife, though, it was clear to me that the finish was quite different, as exhibited here:
Because it was my first custom commission, and wanting to be 100% satisfied, I sheepishly wrote Michael to inquire about the difference in finish, and to apologize for not speaking up sooner when I saw the photographs. Michael promptly verified that the finish was made using a different technique because the dimensions of the blade required it, and he candidly explained that he did not think about this detail while we were in the commissioning process.
Meanwhile, thanks to ARM, my collection of rectangles had exploded in size, and I had acquired a number of carbon cleavers. I asked Michael if he would be willing to make a second cleaver for me in SF100 (a UK version of AEB-L) with a clean brushed finish instead of the textured finish, and if he would be able to offer a bit of a discount for the new cleaver so that I could sell the original cleaver on the secondary market without taking too much of a hit. In other words, I was hoping to break even. Michael came back with a very generous offer, which was simply to pay for my return shipping so that I could return the 52100 cleaver back to him, and he would send me the new stainless cleaver without any additional charge.
Thereafter, Michael spent a fair amount of time researching return shipping options to the UK, but we eventually realized that it would be prohibitively expensive. I was floored when Michael then offered something I never expected or dared ask for: he would send me the replacement stainless cleaver in exchange for retaining my original purchase price, and asked me to keep the 52100 cleaver as a free gift! Yes, you read that correctly: he sent me the replacement knife and allowed me to keep the original knife for free. In a word, AMAZING.
The replacement cleaver shipped about 30 days after our discussion, which is another really great turnaround time. It arrived just as discussed, with another beautiful olivewood handle and a clean brushed finish. Here it is pictured alongside the original cleaver:
As for use, both cleavers feel great in hand and have very high performance laser grinds. I forget if this picture is the 52100 or SF100 specimen, but they are very similar so this is a good representation of both knives:
I promised Michael that I would provide candid feedback on use, so the only note I want to include is that the profile on both cleavers, although possessing a nice gentle curve toward the tip, has a “hard stop” flat section toward the back. This can require some adjustments in cutting motion, especially if you are used to the slight rock that you can incorporate with a standard gyuto. However, this is not that unusual with cleavers. You will see some makers like Moritaka employ an extremely flat profile on their cleavers, and Michael’s has more of a curve than that. However, Michael mentioned to me that he is considering redesigning his cleaver profile to remove the hard stop, so that is something to think about if you order a cleaver from him. It really is a matter of personal taste and cutting style, and the various adjustments that you have to make when using different types of blades.
Some months removed from the process, I must say that the finish on the 52100 cleaver has actually grown on me, aided in part by the gorgeous blue patina that the 52100 steel readily takes when cutting warm protein:
The ultimate result is that I am extremely grateful to Michael for his amazing business practices, and I feel like I have made out as an absolute bandit in this transaction. I wanted to make sure to post this review to help spread the word about Michael’s knives, and, in particular, his generosity and integrity. Thanks, Michael, for the wonderful experience – I look forward to more purchases in the future!
