This is not meant to be a full review but a quick update on my new Nordquist Designs s-grind chef knife.
I first saw Nordquist on Instagram in late 2020 and fell in love with the design. I worked with him on a gyuto in 1084 with a cocobolo handle and carbon steel insert.
This knife quickly became my favorite knife, it had a few small shortcomings with tall dense product but I love using it. Over the last year or so myself and others that own his knives gave our feedback, Jesse made many small updates and this new knife includes those. He revamped the handle, its thicker at the bolster and angled back at the bottom. The rest of the handle is much more rounded and smaller, it is significantly more comfortable both in a pinch and a racket. The biggest change is raising the milling essentially doubling the height of the bevel, this completely changed how the knife goes through food. Any wedging or cracking from the previous knife is gone. I have not found product that this knife does not excel at. It is significantly thinner directly behind the edge and in the milled area itself. Before work this morning I did a quick comparison of the old and new on a hard sweet potato. This one went through with zero wedging or cracking. As you can see in the pictures he went from easing the spine and choil to completely rounding them. The glue up on the handle and all the finishing is significantly better. He was also able to reduce the weight by 3oz, it is much more nimble than my other one. What really sets his knives apart for me is how insanely thing the front 1/3 of the knife is. It goes through garlic, onion etc. better than any knife I own. When comparing to other S-grinds I have used this is a much more complete knife.
Quick specs on this one, 245mm by about 63mm the steel is CPM-154 at about 62hrc. The handle is an absolutely gorgeous piece of buckeye burl with a bog oak insert. I don't remember the weight off hand but it feels amazing and the balance is out front as I like it. I decided to go with kind of a drop point chef to try a different profile than my other Nordquist. I would still probably prefer a little bit lower tip but it works really well and rocks like you wouldn't believe. I am excited to get more use on this steel and with the size and it being stainless, this is a prep monster. After just under a month of use I couldn't be happier with this knife and I fully recommend anyone work with Jesse. My bottom line so far would be that my first knife from him was an amazing S-grind knife. This knife is just absolutely fantastic and I don't need to qualify it as being an S-grind, it cuts that well. Enjoy the pics and feel free to ask any question. Enjoy the pics and feel free to ask any question.
I first saw Nordquist on Instagram in late 2020 and fell in love with the design. I worked with him on a gyuto in 1084 with a cocobolo handle and carbon steel insert.
This knife quickly became my favorite knife, it had a few small shortcomings with tall dense product but I love using it. Over the last year or so myself and others that own his knives gave our feedback, Jesse made many small updates and this new knife includes those. He revamped the handle, its thicker at the bolster and angled back at the bottom. The rest of the handle is much more rounded and smaller, it is significantly more comfortable both in a pinch and a racket. The biggest change is raising the milling essentially doubling the height of the bevel, this completely changed how the knife goes through food. Any wedging or cracking from the previous knife is gone. I have not found product that this knife does not excel at. It is significantly thinner directly behind the edge and in the milled area itself. Before work this morning I did a quick comparison of the old and new on a hard sweet potato. This one went through with zero wedging or cracking. As you can see in the pictures he went from easing the spine and choil to completely rounding them. The glue up on the handle and all the finishing is significantly better. He was also able to reduce the weight by 3oz, it is much more nimble than my other one. What really sets his knives apart for me is how insanely thing the front 1/3 of the knife is. It goes through garlic, onion etc. better than any knife I own. When comparing to other S-grinds I have used this is a much more complete knife.
Quick specs on this one, 245mm by about 63mm the steel is CPM-154 at about 62hrc. The handle is an absolutely gorgeous piece of buckeye burl with a bog oak insert. I don't remember the weight off hand but it feels amazing and the balance is out front as I like it. I decided to go with kind of a drop point chef to try a different profile than my other Nordquist. I would still probably prefer a little bit lower tip but it works really well and rocks like you wouldn't believe. I am excited to get more use on this steel and with the size and it being stainless, this is a prep monster. After just under a month of use I couldn't be happier with this knife and I fully recommend anyone work with Jesse. My bottom line so far would be that my first knife from him was an amazing S-grind knife. This knife is just absolutely fantastic and I don't need to qualify it as being an S-grind, it cuts that well. Enjoy the pics and feel free to ask any question. Enjoy the pics and feel free to ask any question.
