NO ChoP!
Old Head
As I follow literally every knife maker on Instagram, have owned a few customs, handled a bunch more, visited a few makers shops and delved into making a few knives on my own, my respect for traditional Japanese knives has only grown.
We will nitpick every slight nuance of a j-knife, "this could have had 1mm more of a flat spot", or "the tip is 1mm too high for me", or " I prefer knives that weigh 1gram less". And changes do happen and evolve slowly over time. Many are now stainless clad, taller profile, thinner behind the edge. Searching and finding that new knife has always been part of the fun.
Enter customs. Instant gratification. And the good ones can turn ones vision into reality. And there are makers who do a hell of a job. (There are makers who make complete shyt. And there are customers whose vision is complete shyt.)
Art. That would be the answer. A full, one off custom is a piece of art. And I agree, there are some drop dead sexy knives out there. And I love to look at them, and hold them.
Put a J-knife in my hand and I want to use it. Cut with it. At the end of the day, I am a 30+ year veteran kitchen grunt who has wielded a knife in-hand for probably 100,000 hours.
I will continue to admire the art. For me, it's the J-knife life.
We will nitpick every slight nuance of a j-knife, "this could have had 1mm more of a flat spot", or "the tip is 1mm too high for me", or " I prefer knives that weigh 1gram less". And changes do happen and evolve slowly over time. Many are now stainless clad, taller profile, thinner behind the edge. Searching and finding that new knife has always been part of the fun.
Enter customs. Instant gratification. And the good ones can turn ones vision into reality. And there are makers who do a hell of a job. (There are makers who make complete shyt. And there are customers whose vision is complete shyt.)
Art. That would be the answer. A full, one off custom is a piece of art. And I agree, there are some drop dead sexy knives out there. And I love to look at them, and hold them.
Put a J-knife in my hand and I want to use it. Cut with it. At the end of the day, I am a 30+ year veteran kitchen grunt who has wielded a knife in-hand for probably 100,000 hours.
I will continue to admire the art. For me, it's the J-knife life.