Heavy Chef's Knife - A New Project

Japanese Knives - by Tokushu Knife
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It might be the picture, as the handle is about 5.75" long or even tad shorter. I am still undecided whether to angle the butt or not, so final pictures will show a completed handle.

Bear in mind that this is not a Western handle, but a D for a Western knife.

This handle was a first-try to test the process (actually, an experimental geometry on the blade too), and I already made notes how I am going to do a next one. I wasn't sure if I should leave the chamfer on the tip or blend it (didn't do a great job on that), but this will get fixed on the subsequent handles.d

One thing that is not captured in the pictures is that this handle is incredible comfortable for both pinch grip and handle hold.
 
Thank you.

Now that I got a taste of how a Western handle is made, I feel pretty confident about making one.

M
 
Marko Tsourkan said:
225mm heavy chef's knife in 52100, 62-63RC hardness. 245g. Handle - cocobolo, blackwood nickel silver.

View attachment 18739

View attachment 18738
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I think I got enough feedback for the version 1.0 to attempt a version 2.0. This one will feature a slightly thinner geometry in the first 1/3 of the blade (from the heel on), but other than that, it's going to be similar to 1.0 except for the handle.

I am going to do this in a target lengh for a heavy chef - 250-255mm (on the edge), and with a Western handle.

I am also going to run an experiment on edge stability. Currently I have a blank in 52100 and a blank in A2 in 255-260mm, both 3.5mm thick. A2 is about 64Rc after tempering and 52100 is about 63.5RC. Either is a point harder than I heat treat my knives, but for the sake of an experiment, I am going to grind them to about .10mm at the edge, and do a flex test on some dense stuff (but with a little give), like a brass rod or 1/4" tropical hard wood strip. It runs like this - you press an edge on the rod or narrow strip of wood on an angle and make the edge flex. If a flex results in chipping, the edge is unstable, and hardness needs to be brought down. I doubt that the edge will roll at that hardness, so I am only testing for chipping. Will report on the results after the test.

M
 
Hopefully this will be completed before Sunday, as Sunday I might be visiting a pro kitchen (I would not call it apprenticeship yet, but hopefully will lead to frequent visits and work in the pro environment with some of the pro guys in the tri-state area). I am very excited.

M
 
I have been looking for this for a while, but folks who can give me an opportunity to visit and work there a little bit are far away from me and I don't drive (though I am making baby steps in that direction). I hope that over time I can dedicated a day a week just for that.

M
 
255mm (on the edge) "sword" grind heavy workhorse gyuto in 52100 for a left-hand user. Weight with handle will be around 275-290g. Thickness at the spine 3.4mm, half way 2.5mm, 50mm from the tip - 2mm. Thickness at shinogi line heel to tip - about 2mm. The knife will either have a hybrid D, or a Western handle.

I am likely to convex the tip on this knife, as it will improve lateral cuts. Another thing, I find it time consuming to finish primary bevel on the stones (this is 63.5RC hard steel), so I would probably finish/blend the bevels with sand paper, and leave it the customer to spend time and make the shinogi line crisp or leave the finish as is. The underlying geometry will not changed, so the performance won't be affected.

I come to think that the bevel on the left side is slightly more prominent than on the right, so I think this knife will be more suitable for a "lefty". I will grind one for a "rightly" today.

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I am going to put a hybrid D handle on this knife. Cocobolo with a brass tip and blackwood endcap. Mulling about angling the butt on this handle.

M
 
Asymmetrically ground for a right-hand use. Western, Wa, or Hybrid D handle.
52100, 255mm on the edge. Other specs are coming tomorrow.

20131101_205326.jpg
 
Slicing the horizontal slice in an onion whilst dicing it.
 
JohnnyChance said:
My Heijis are some of the best lateral cutters I have, so I am not sure convexing the tip will be better or significantly different.
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On Heiji where bevels converge about 25mm behind the tip, thickness is about 2mm. That's pretty thick, so you got to apply some pressure to push the tip through the food in lateral cuts unless you are cutting soft stuff primarily like onions or cuts are very shallow.

The very tip is super thin, but it gets progressively thicker after 5-6mm or so.

I am not saying it is impossible. I am just trying to understand why some users find sword geometry perform poorly on lateral cuts, and some find quite the opposite.

Please elaborate.

M
 
Marko Tsourkan said:
On Heiji where bevels converge about 25mm behind the tip, thickness is about 2mm. That's pretty thick, so you got to apply some pressure to push the tip through the food in lateral cuts unless you are cutting soft stuff primarily like onions or cuts are very shallow.

The very tip is super thin, but it gets progressively thicker after 5-6mm or so.

I am not saying it is impossible. I am just trying to understand why some users find sword geometry perform poorly on lateral cuts, and some find quite the opposite.

Please elaborate.

M
Click to expand...

Convex doesn't have the ridge the way sword grind has, so even it's not shallow (like Kato for instance) it still encounters less resistance in lateral cuts.

This is what I observed trying both, Heiji and Kato, but I don't cut enough to have a good feel for it, so your input is very helpful.

Sword grind is one of the 3 grinds for a heavy workhorse that I would like to try to understand better. Geometry-wise I am there, but I still need to figure out (with your help) if some things of the original geometry can be improved, like the tip.

M
 
Waiting patiently for Mizuno honyaki to arrive so I can try a third type (the last of the 3)
 
Left and Right hand use knives with an asymmetric grind. Right-hand blade has the bevel on the insider blended, while the left-hand blade,polished. Both knives will weigh about 290g with handles. 52100,63Rc.

DSC_0546.jpg

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DSC_0547.jpg

Target geometry
Asymmetric.jpg
 
Very interesting knife, glad to see any news about this knife.

As grandfather Lenin says: - practice practice and one more practice.
 
man, i don't even have my custom "normal" gyuto, but looking at this thread already makes me want to have the next one... i think i have a serious problem!!! :sad0:
 
Yep, waiting for it to arrive. Not a big deal, as I am channeling all my attention on sword grind geometry.
 
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