@OwlWoodworks would you mind if you share your camera gear and set up? You take amazing pictures and would love to learn a thing or two from you.
Owl Woodworks Collection
- Thread starter OwlWoodworks
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Thank you very much! I use a Sony A6100 with a Tamron 17-70. The key is the lighting though. I have an Aputure 120d with a LightDome Mk2. To be honest the equipment is above my skill level and it is probably capable of doing much better work than I use it for.
Agreed. Pics are always on point!
@OwlWoodworks Do you shoot in manual mode and do you set your W/B yourself or use the presets?
I’ll have to double check that. I only photograph in my shop with that light so I basically set up the camera settings once a couple years ago and haven’t touched it since. It’s all on a tripod though so I am always in aperture priority mode. And usually the only editing I’m doing is removing dust because I want to represent the makers as well as I can.
you make it sound so easy haha. I need to mess around my lighting because my pictures look bland and unexciting. Thanks for the info!
Was going to post a picture of my board by Luke the other day on IG and was embarrassed by how bad my photos were lol, didn’t do the board or knife justice at all
@OwlWoodworks post the cocktail board info here -- that is a nice addition to the lineup
I hear this a lot and always feel bad. I assure you any photo is better than no photo! But I get everybody looks at my photos in comparison and thinks there’s are bad, but also remember I have invested thousands into being able to photograph cutting boards beautifully. There is one thing you can do which I can’t no matter how much money I throw at it, and that is action shots! You can get fun messy shots with knives and food that I’ll never be able to top.
I’ll try to remember to photograph my photography setup next time too! And you’re welcome
I actually have a little petty knife I’ve been meaning to post. Maybe I’ll lay that on one of the bar boards for photos
BillHanna
Gotta get ready for ARM
I just saw it on IG. That lil guy is HANDSOME.
Thank you!
William Catcheside Gyuto
Length: 217mm
Height: 52mm
Thickness: 7mm (above the heel) 3mm (mid point)
Weight: 242g
Steel: C105 / C105 + Wrought Iron Damascus
Handle: Black Palm/Stag Antler
When you hear “Catcheside” there are of course two words that come to mind, “Sex Appeal”. The next two would probably be “Forged Geometry”. And this bad boi has both. His classic C105 core dressed in a damascus compound of C105 and wrought iron. Stretched out to a tidy 217mm x 52mm and a forged geometry brought down to less than a centimetre from the cutting edge. Lastly, it is finished with his classic mirrored nashiji finish with a blued tang. My favourite part of all of this is that each aspect is so fantastically unique to Will’s work. His work is probably the most uniquely recognizable of any knife maker out there. There is no mistaking a Catcheside for something else and vise versa. I think the reason for this is that he has been refining and perfecting his style for years and he has settled on what he loves.
However, what I will say is that while he has perfected his style of knife I don’t actually think it is the perfect knife. There are two things I would like to discuss. The first is that I have owned and used Catcheside knives previous to this and the bevels were all wildly different. One with a heavy right-handed bias and another with a crazy left-handed bias that changed to 50/50 part way down (both not advertised as having any kind of asymmetry). I couldn’t get them to cut straight for the life of me. I thought I was the idiot because this is the work of the great Will Catcheside, but when they moved on to other owners, they said the exact same thing. So with this one I specifically requested a very symmetrical 50/50 bevel and I am happy to report it cuts fantastically straight. So I have absolutely no complaints with the grind on this knife, but it is something I’ve noticed that can vary.
The next is the handle. Now I want to be extremely clear that the handle on this knife is executed and finished perfectly! My issue is not with the work that went into it so much as it is with the overall design. The shape of his handles and the pieces that go into them are extremely blocky. It is beveled but those bevels are perfectly symmetrical and 45* all over the knife. There isn’t really any design or elegance that goes into it. It is a 45 on each edge and then at the bolster it is a 45 on either side, but not on the top and bottom. The top of the bolster not being beveled or even really blunted does lead to a bit of a hot spot when holding it in a pinch grip for long periods. A lot of this is also due to the size of the handle, they are quite large which makes the points even bigger. It all just adds up to a very simple, blocky and utilitarian handle. Now the big caveat here is that maybe this is exactly what Will likes and what the majority of his customers like. I can however say that in comparison to my other knives and talking to other collectors, it is not desirable in my experience.
Again, the handle is made perfectly, it’s just that I don’t think the original design is that nice to begin with. I find this kind of a bummer because his blades are some of the most beautiful in the world! They are so fantastically unique and stunning, I’d love to see the handles live up to the same standard. I think his work would look beautiful with a much more simple and refined design like some of the ones Jackson Rumble does with a single piece of wood with a paper thin brass spacer. This would also play nicely off the rainbow of colour on the tang.
But anyways, there’s something not quite perfect with everything but it’s nothing to dwell on. There are far too many amazing things with this knife to sit and talk about the handle the whole time. My favourite part of this knife by far is that in just the right light you can see the layers of damascus poking through the mirrored finish and it is just so freaking cool. I wanted to try to capture his impeccable damascus work as best as possible so in one of the later shots I threw in an EXTREMELY detailed pic show casing the damascus in the bevel and even the scratch marks of the primary bevel. Hopefully as always this helps you get a complete picture of what a knife is like to help you make a buying decision.
And on that, for the price of his work and how wildly unique and skilled some of his processes are, I’d definitely recommend you try one out.
So without further adieu ladies and losers, I am honoured to present my new Catcheside!
Length: 217mm
Height: 52mm
Thickness: 7mm (above the heel) 3mm (mid point)
Weight: 242g
Steel: C105 / C105 + Wrought Iron Damascus
Handle: Black Palm/Stag Antler
When you hear “Catcheside” there are of course two words that come to mind, “Sex Appeal”. The next two would probably be “Forged Geometry”. And this bad boi has both. His classic C105 core dressed in a damascus compound of C105 and wrought iron. Stretched out to a tidy 217mm x 52mm and a forged geometry brought down to less than a centimetre from the cutting edge. Lastly, it is finished with his classic mirrored nashiji finish with a blued tang. My favourite part of all of this is that each aspect is so fantastically unique to Will’s work. His work is probably the most uniquely recognizable of any knife maker out there. There is no mistaking a Catcheside for something else and vise versa. I think the reason for this is that he has been refining and perfecting his style for years and he has settled on what he loves.
However, what I will say is that while he has perfected his style of knife I don’t actually think it is the perfect knife. There are two things I would like to discuss. The first is that I have owned and used Catcheside knives previous to this and the bevels were all wildly different. One with a heavy right-handed bias and another with a crazy left-handed bias that changed to 50/50 part way down (both not advertised as having any kind of asymmetry). I couldn’t get them to cut straight for the life of me. I thought I was the idiot because this is the work of the great Will Catcheside, but when they moved on to other owners, they said the exact same thing. So with this one I specifically requested a very symmetrical 50/50 bevel and I am happy to report it cuts fantastically straight. So I have absolutely no complaints with the grind on this knife, but it is something I’ve noticed that can vary.
The next is the handle. Now I want to be extremely clear that the handle on this knife is executed and finished perfectly! My issue is not with the work that went into it so much as it is with the overall design. The shape of his handles and the pieces that go into them are extremely blocky. It is beveled but those bevels are perfectly symmetrical and 45* all over the knife. There isn’t really any design or elegance that goes into it. It is a 45 on each edge and then at the bolster it is a 45 on either side, but not on the top and bottom. The top of the bolster not being beveled or even really blunted does lead to a bit of a hot spot when holding it in a pinch grip for long periods. A lot of this is also due to the size of the handle, they are quite large which makes the points even bigger. It all just adds up to a very simple, blocky and utilitarian handle. Now the big caveat here is that maybe this is exactly what Will likes and what the majority of his customers like. I can however say that in comparison to my other knives and talking to other collectors, it is not desirable in my experience.
Again, the handle is made perfectly, it’s just that I don’t think the original design is that nice to begin with. I find this kind of a bummer because his blades are some of the most beautiful in the world! They are so fantastically unique and stunning, I’d love to see the handles live up to the same standard. I think his work would look beautiful with a much more simple and refined design like some of the ones Jackson Rumble does with a single piece of wood with a paper thin brass spacer. This would also play nicely off the rainbow of colour on the tang.
But anyways, there’s something not quite perfect with everything but it’s nothing to dwell on. There are far too many amazing things with this knife to sit and talk about the handle the whole time. My favourite part of this knife by far is that in just the right light you can see the layers of damascus poking through the mirrored finish and it is just so freaking cool. I wanted to try to capture his impeccable damascus work as best as possible so in one of the later shots I threw in an EXTREMELY detailed pic show casing the damascus in the bevel and even the scratch marks of the primary bevel. Hopefully as always this helps you get a complete picture of what a knife is like to help you make a buying decision.
And on that, for the price of his work and how wildly unique and skilled some of his processes are, I’d definitely recommend you try one out.
So without further adieu ladies and losers, I am honoured to present my new Catcheside!
REHANDLED William Catcheside Gyuto
I wrote my Catcheside write-up a couple days ago and thought to myself, “awful bold of you to say the handle is no good and say it would look better with something else without actually doing anything and proving it”. So I took the last two days and made what I thought would be the perfect handle for this Catcheside. I chose snakewood and brass as I felt the colours of both would really play nicely with the rainbow tang. In addition, the more simple refined handle wouldn’t detract attention away from the blade as much so you could really focus on Will’s incredible work. My goal with the whole thing was to do right by the incredible blade Will made. Not just to put a nice handle on it, but put a very intentionally designed handle that added and elevated the piece as a whole.
The dimensions of the handle are modelled after Yanick’s handles and my Kaiju handle. I won’t go into the exact dimensions but there is a 5mm taper in both axis’ from the front to the rear to give it very subtly more visual weight in the back. The bevels also taper slightly getting about 1mm wider at the rear of the knife and the top bevels are at 45* whereas the bottom ones are closer to 30*. The main part of the handle was drilled out with a 3/8” forstner bit and the bolster portion was hand cut with files. Lastly, the layers are epoxied together and supported with two hidden pins. I don’t know what people usually use for hidden pins, but I didn’t have any thin metal rod stock, so I cut a drill bit in half and used that!
In the end, I am happy to report that what I visualized in my head as being superior turned out exactly how I hoped. I think this handle makes the knife feel sooo much better in hand, and makes the overall piece look better too. It’s a lot of personal preference, but I’m incredibly happy with it now. Hopefully you like the photos below where I tried to capture how the new handle looks with the knife and finally got and awesome pic of the damascus through the mirrored cladding! It’s so sick. Oh and a couple progress shots cuz why not.
Interested to hear if people like it or if they think I ruined it.
P.S. Don't tell anybody about this board! It's my next newsletter board but I haven't started posting it yet so shhhhhhh it's a secret. I was gonna wait but I was too excited to share this knife.
I wrote my Catcheside write-up a couple days ago and thought to myself, “awful bold of you to say the handle is no good and say it would look better with something else without actually doing anything and proving it”. So I took the last two days and made what I thought would be the perfect handle for this Catcheside. I chose snakewood and brass as I felt the colours of both would really play nicely with the rainbow tang. In addition, the more simple refined handle wouldn’t detract attention away from the blade as much so you could really focus on Will’s incredible work. My goal with the whole thing was to do right by the incredible blade Will made. Not just to put a nice handle on it, but put a very intentionally designed handle that added and elevated the piece as a whole.
The dimensions of the handle are modelled after Yanick’s handles and my Kaiju handle. I won’t go into the exact dimensions but there is a 5mm taper in both axis’ from the front to the rear to give it very subtly more visual weight in the back. The bevels also taper slightly getting about 1mm wider at the rear of the knife and the top bevels are at 45* whereas the bottom ones are closer to 30*. The main part of the handle was drilled out with a 3/8” forstner bit and the bolster portion was hand cut with files. Lastly, the layers are epoxied together and supported with two hidden pins. I don’t know what people usually use for hidden pins, but I didn’t have any thin metal rod stock, so I cut a drill bit in half and used that!
In the end, I am happy to report that what I visualized in my head as being superior turned out exactly how I hoped. I think this handle makes the knife feel sooo much better in hand, and makes the overall piece look better too. It’s a lot of personal preference, but I’m incredibly happy with it now. Hopefully you like the photos below where I tried to capture how the new handle looks with the knife and finally got and awesome pic of the damascus through the mirrored cladding! It’s so sick. Oh and a couple progress shots cuz why not.
Interested to hear if people like it or if they think I ruined it.
P.S. Don't tell anybody about this board! It's my next newsletter board but I haven't started posting it yet so shhhhhhh it's a secret. I was gonna wait but I was too excited to share this knife.
Oh, and I just used the Catcheside for dinner and it is absolutely amazing. So while aspects of Will’s work may not be my style aesthetically, there is not doubt this man knows how to forge a knife!
Yanick Puig Damascus Gyuto
Length: 230mm
Height: 56mm
Thickness: 5mm
Weight: 200g
Steel: 135Cr3 / Wrought Iron Damascus
Handle: Rio Rosewood / Beech
Finally getting around to posting my Yanick Couteaux Damascus Gyuto, I just needed to make a cutting board that it would look amazing on! At 230/56/5 it is pretty much goldilocks dimensions for me. I don’t think I have to tell you how infrequently Yanick makes damascus pieces, so to have this be my perfect size, damascus and a beautiful rosewood handle is like an angel came down and delivered my perfect knife.
Now I have owned a Yanick Yanagiba for quite a while and I have always thought it was amazing, but my opinion is kind of worthless in that I have literally never used another Yanagiba and probably don’t even use this one correctly. So take my love for that one with a grain of salt. I do however own lots of gyuto’s so I can tell you with confidence, this is probably the best gyuto I own. End of story… Now let’s continue with the story. It just feels so right, it’s hard to describe. Like my Newham may actually cut a tiny bit better, but it’s also 1.5 mm thinner at the spine, heavy s-grind and just overall super thin in comparison. Feels like a feather. My Nine is also an insane cutting knife but in a totally different way. It has this complex geometry that changes down the massive length of the blade and excels at long smooth push cuts. This Yanick however is just, right. For how I normally use a knife with a standard push cut, for how I hold it, it is perfect. The weight and thickness is substantial enough that it feels solid in your hand. While still competing neck and neck with my Newham which is so much thinner. It’s kind of weird in that when I hold the knife I can feel the weight and thickness of it, yet it cuts like it’s twice as thin. It’s a freaky feeling to be honest.
I’ve always been speculative of hype on the forums for a lot of things but oh man does Yanick ever live up to it. It really is that good and I officially get it. If you have the opportunity to pick one of these up, (which let’s be serious, nobody does) please do it. If you don’t though, I still wholeheartedly recommend scooping up a Newham. In my experience, the cutting performance is nearly identical, except you will actually be able to get one!
Now with that, I have as always done my best to capture all the delicious details in the following photos. Oh and I freshened it up on an uchigumori before these photos and gave the spine a tasteful polish. It's a very fun knife to work on.
Length: 230mm
Height: 56mm
Thickness: 5mm
Weight: 200g
Steel: 135Cr3 / Wrought Iron Damascus
Handle: Rio Rosewood / Beech
Finally getting around to posting my Yanick Couteaux Damascus Gyuto, I just needed to make a cutting board that it would look amazing on! At 230/56/5 it is pretty much goldilocks dimensions for me. I don’t think I have to tell you how infrequently Yanick makes damascus pieces, so to have this be my perfect size, damascus and a beautiful rosewood handle is like an angel came down and delivered my perfect knife.
Now I have owned a Yanick Yanagiba for quite a while and I have always thought it was amazing, but my opinion is kind of worthless in that I have literally never used another Yanagiba and probably don’t even use this one correctly. So take my love for that one with a grain of salt. I do however own lots of gyuto’s so I can tell you with confidence, this is probably the best gyuto I own. End of story… Now let’s continue with the story. It just feels so right, it’s hard to describe. Like my Newham may actually cut a tiny bit better, but it’s also 1.5 mm thinner at the spine, heavy s-grind and just overall super thin in comparison. Feels like a feather. My Nine is also an insane cutting knife but in a totally different way. It has this complex geometry that changes down the massive length of the blade and excels at long smooth push cuts. This Yanick however is just, right. For how I normally use a knife with a standard push cut, for how I hold it, it is perfect. The weight and thickness is substantial enough that it feels solid in your hand. While still competing neck and neck with my Newham which is so much thinner. It’s kind of weird in that when I hold the knife I can feel the weight and thickness of it, yet it cuts like it’s twice as thin. It’s a freaky feeling to be honest.
I’ve always been speculative of hype on the forums for a lot of things but oh man does Yanick ever live up to it. It really is that good and I officially get it. If you have the opportunity to pick one of these up, (which let’s be serious, nobody does) please do it. If you don’t though, I still wholeheartedly recommend scooping up a Newham. In my experience, the cutting performance is nearly identical, except you will actually be able to get one!
Now with that, I have as always done my best to capture all the delicious details in the following photos. Oh and I freshened it up on an uchigumori before these photos and gave the spine a tasteful polish. It's a very fun knife to work on.
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2019
- Messages
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- 7,697
Was this the one on eatingtools? Man nice pickup. I'd love to add a damascus and or a honyaki from Yanick someday
Looking at your handle making - did you use drill bits as pins?!
Great review as always! Where did you get this?
coreyrichards
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2016
- Messages
- 93
- Reaction score
- 230
This Yanick is easily one of my favs and I’ve quietly noticed it in your collection before. I’ve also drooled over the Eating Tools listing who knows how many times now so I am a big fan to say the least!
I’m lucky enough to own a 225mm gyuto from Yanick as well, and I agree with every word you wrote. They feel great in hand, they look amazing, and man can they cut! Yanick is such a kind and generous person, and a true master of his craft. His work is clearly sought after for a reason, and his gyuto could easily be the favorite in my collection.
For what it’s worth I may have also picked up a very similar Newham after reading your rave review. I haven’t got it into food yet, but the time is coming soon. It’s such a stunning knife though, I can’t wait to see what it’s all about.
Thanks as always for your great reviews and excellent photos, Luke. Excited to see what’s coming next!
I’m lucky enough to own a 225mm gyuto from Yanick as well, and I agree with every word you wrote. They feel great in hand, they look amazing, and man can they cut! Yanick is such a kind and generous person, and a true master of his craft. His work is clearly sought after for a reason, and his gyuto could easily be the favorite in my collection.
For what it’s worth I may have also picked up a very similar Newham after reading your rave review. I haven’t got it into food yet, but the time is coming soon. It’s such a stunning knife though, I can’t wait to see what it’s all about.
Thanks as always for your great reviews and excellent photos, Luke. Excited to see what’s coming next!
Thank you and yes! This one was through Eating Tools.
Hahaha, yea I did! I was trying to figure out what I could use for a pin, and then thinking about how I’d need to find the same size drill bit to make the hole. Then it dawned on me… what if the pin.. WAS THE DRILL BIT! Game changer
Hmm, if only you had an excellent new cutting board to compare them on?!
If only we knew a guy..Hmm, if only you had an excellent new cutting board to compare them on?!
I just received my Newham and it’s a hell of a knife. Luke’s review is spot on, mines slightly larger than his but the same steel.
My only complaint is the handle is a bit large for me, not uncomfortable but it definitely feels a little off for me.
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2019
- Messages
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- Reaction score
- 7,697
kkf group buy when?Hmm, if only you had an excellent new cutting board to compare them on?!
Hahaha, oh god. Give me a couple years to catch up on my current work load please
Toyama Bloomery Iron Gyuto
Length: 245mm
Height: 52mm
Thickness: 3mm
Weight: 200g
Steel: 130WCrV5/500 year old french anchor from bloomery iron
Handle: Chestnut/Horn
This is a perfect example of “Things I don’t deserve!” After making a post on here a while back asking people what knives I should add to my Japanese collection, a member reached out to me offering to sell me what was BY FAR the most difficult to attain knife on the list, this 240 bloomery iron Toyama (and for an unbelievably fair price too). Needless to say I graciously accepted and he has a pocket full of money, a new bar board and a little something extra that is currently on the way which I won’t spoil his surprise of here. To say I am beyond grateful for all the amazing people on this forum is an understatement. You guys are amazing and as such I want to do my best to tell you all about this knife so it’s not such a mystery piece and if you have the opportunity to get one one day, you’ll know what you’re getting!
As I sit here typing this I’m looking at the knife beside me and you can feel how special this piece is. The amount of activity going on in the cladding is wild. A beautifully classic Japanese profile and from what I can see visually, the geometry appears to be identical to how everyone else describes their Toyama’s. So I can only assume it performs just as incredibly as the rest of the knives. To go back to the cladding for a minute, my favourite part are these flowing rivers of tiny dark little pits. They’re more random on the upper parts of the cladding and then as the geometry changes closer to the edge you get this tight little line along the bottom edge of the cladding. Really beautiful. Overall, this knife oozes character and history.
Now unfortunately, it’s not all roses and chocolate covered strippers here. There are some things with the knife that I am extremely shocked by. And I want to preface this next part by saying this DOES NOT change how I feel about this knife. I am incredibly grateful to the last owner for giving me such a special piece and I absolutely love it.
However, for the more cosmetically minded collectors there are some serious flaws you should be aware of. First is the finish of the knife. I have heard that Toyama’s are rough but this is the single worst finished knife I’ve ever held. I sent pictures to other people and talked to one other person who owns a bloomery Toyama and the consensus was:
“Mine is terrible too”
“Send it back”
“That is unacceptable for a knife that costs so much”
I’m no fit and finish slut so these things really don’t bother me, I’m just happy to own such a special piece. But I will admit I find it strange that such a special piece would be finished so poorly. As a maker myself, I know that when I take on a special project, it gets an extra level of scrutiny because it’s so… special?! I dunno, like you don’t go to the butcher, splurge on the finest rib eyes they have and then cook them to a careless ‘well done’, right? Now I don’t know if the finishing on this knife was done by Toyama or JNS and I really don’t care because my goal isn’t to point fingers, it’s just to let you now that if you have an opportunity to purchase one of these, you should know what to expect. For what it is, and the price, it is likely not what you are expecting. I did my best to capture some of the scratches but I can say there are a tremendous amount of perpendicular grinding scratches still left at the tip, and a lot of diagonal scratches on the side, some that even span the entire side of the blade from edge to spine. The stray diagonal scratches cover the entirety of the blade and the perpendicular grinding scratches are only near the tip. And I am photographing these with the absolute harshest synthetic lighting. Also, I included a couple photos from JNS so you can see that these scratches were present before it reached the hands of the customer incase that is in question. And sorry one of my photos is not in perfect focus, I did my best.
My first thought was maybe some how this happened with the previous owner but he assured me it was only taken out to look at, and I went ahead and looked at the original JNS listing and compared individual scratches for a good hour or so and I can say that I could spot the vast majority of the scratches in the original listing as well. So nothing was hidden here, nothing shady going on, just surprisingly rough. I haven’t bothered to get detail shots of the whole blade, just some of the front half so you can get an idea of how it looks.
Lastly, and this one kind of reinforces the lack of care that went into the knife is the handle installation. The previous owner was given the option to have the handle left off or installed. He chose to have it installed. Now I’m no handle installation expert but the last photo is with the handle laid flat on my bench and I confirmed that all the angles and faces of the handle are true and as expected. However the blade is installed about 10 degrees off. Again, I know nothing about handle installation so maybe I’m missing something here and this is some kind of weird traditional thing or a right handed thing, but to me it looks… wrong? And everybody else I asked confirmed this is terrible. It is also very noticeably twisted when looking at how it is inserted into the bolster so it is not an optical illusion of any kind.
Oh, and one other thing I forgot and I don't know if this is normal, good enough or bad. I have no idea. But the knife and the kiri box don't appear to be meant to be together. The knife is in a standard paper/carboard box which is then inside the kiri box. However there are these little blocks of wood added at either end to take up the extra space. It's almost like the kiri box is made for a 270 so some extra wood was added so that everything sits snuggly. Maybe this is totally normal, my only experience with kiri boxes is with the kaiju and river jump and neither look like this. Normally I wouldn't think anything of it, but there does appear to be a pattern of care here that this fits.
So again, this is a wonderful knife because of what it inherently is at its core. However, my assessment is that there was very little care put into this knife, and based on my conversations with other collectors, my feelings are an understatement. I love this knife, and I am eternally grateful for the unparalleled generosity of the member who sold it to me. However, if you have the opportunity to purchase one of these, I want you to know what to expect and I recommend not having the handle installed.
I think this knife has the potential to be absolutely spectacular, just needs a stone wizard to pull out the inner beauty. @naader You busy? Wanna entertain us with a little polishing transformation thread?!?
JNS Photos:
Length: 245mm
Height: 52mm
Thickness: 3mm
Weight: 200g
Steel: 130WCrV5/500 year old french anchor from bloomery iron
Handle: Chestnut/Horn
This is a perfect example of “Things I don’t deserve!” After making a post on here a while back asking people what knives I should add to my Japanese collection, a member reached out to me offering to sell me what was BY FAR the most difficult to attain knife on the list, this 240 bloomery iron Toyama (and for an unbelievably fair price too). Needless to say I graciously accepted and he has a pocket full of money, a new bar board and a little something extra that is currently on the way which I won’t spoil his surprise of here. To say I am beyond grateful for all the amazing people on this forum is an understatement. You guys are amazing and as such I want to do my best to tell you all about this knife so it’s not such a mystery piece and if you have the opportunity to get one one day, you’ll know what you’re getting!
As I sit here typing this I’m looking at the knife beside me and you can feel how special this piece is. The amount of activity going on in the cladding is wild. A beautifully classic Japanese profile and from what I can see visually, the geometry appears to be identical to how everyone else describes their Toyama’s. So I can only assume it performs just as incredibly as the rest of the knives. To go back to the cladding for a minute, my favourite part are these flowing rivers of tiny dark little pits. They’re more random on the upper parts of the cladding and then as the geometry changes closer to the edge you get this tight little line along the bottom edge of the cladding. Really beautiful. Overall, this knife oozes character and history.
Now unfortunately, it’s not all roses and chocolate covered strippers here. There are some things with the knife that I am extremely shocked by. And I want to preface this next part by saying this DOES NOT change how I feel about this knife. I am incredibly grateful to the last owner for giving me such a special piece and I absolutely love it.
However, for the more cosmetically minded collectors there are some serious flaws you should be aware of. First is the finish of the knife. I have heard that Toyama’s are rough but this is the single worst finished knife I’ve ever held. I sent pictures to other people and talked to one other person who owns a bloomery Toyama and the consensus was:
“Mine is terrible too”
“Send it back”
“That is unacceptable for a knife that costs so much”
I’m no fit and finish slut so these things really don’t bother me, I’m just happy to own such a special piece. But I will admit I find it strange that such a special piece would be finished so poorly. As a maker myself, I know that when I take on a special project, it gets an extra level of scrutiny because it’s so… special?! I dunno, like you don’t go to the butcher, splurge on the finest rib eyes they have and then cook them to a careless ‘well done’, right? Now I don’t know if the finishing on this knife was done by Toyama or JNS and I really don’t care because my goal isn’t to point fingers, it’s just to let you now that if you have an opportunity to purchase one of these, you should know what to expect. For what it is, and the price, it is likely not what you are expecting. I did my best to capture some of the scratches but I can say there are a tremendous amount of perpendicular grinding scratches still left at the tip, and a lot of diagonal scratches on the side, some that even span the entire side of the blade from edge to spine. The stray diagonal scratches cover the entirety of the blade and the perpendicular grinding scratches are only near the tip. And I am photographing these with the absolute harshest synthetic lighting. Also, I included a couple photos from JNS so you can see that these scratches were present before it reached the hands of the customer incase that is in question. And sorry one of my photos is not in perfect focus, I did my best.
My first thought was maybe some how this happened with the previous owner but he assured me it was only taken out to look at, and I went ahead and looked at the original JNS listing and compared individual scratches for a good hour or so and I can say that I could spot the vast majority of the scratches in the original listing as well. So nothing was hidden here, nothing shady going on, just surprisingly rough. I haven’t bothered to get detail shots of the whole blade, just some of the front half so you can get an idea of how it looks.
Lastly, and this one kind of reinforces the lack of care that went into the knife is the handle installation. The previous owner was given the option to have the handle left off or installed. He chose to have it installed. Now I’m no handle installation expert but the last photo is with the handle laid flat on my bench and I confirmed that all the angles and faces of the handle are true and as expected. However the blade is installed about 10 degrees off. Again, I know nothing about handle installation so maybe I’m missing something here and this is some kind of weird traditional thing or a right handed thing, but to me it looks… wrong? And everybody else I asked confirmed this is terrible. It is also very noticeably twisted when looking at how it is inserted into the bolster so it is not an optical illusion of any kind.
Oh, and one other thing I forgot and I don't know if this is normal, good enough or bad. I have no idea. But the knife and the kiri box don't appear to be meant to be together. The knife is in a standard paper/carboard box which is then inside the kiri box. However there are these little blocks of wood added at either end to take up the extra space. It's almost like the kiri box is made for a 270 so some extra wood was added so that everything sits snuggly. Maybe this is totally normal, my only experience with kiri boxes is with the kaiju and river jump and neither look like this. Normally I wouldn't think anything of it, but there does appear to be a pattern of care here that this fits.
So again, this is a wonderful knife because of what it inherently is at its core. However, my assessment is that there was very little care put into this knife, and based on my conversations with other collectors, my feelings are an understatement. I love this knife, and I am eternally grateful for the unparalleled generosity of the member who sold it to me. However, if you have the opportunity to purchase one of these, I want you to know what to expect and I recommend not having the handle installed.
I think this knife has the potential to be absolutely spectacular, just needs a stone wizard to pull out the inner beauty. @naader You busy? Wanna entertain us with a little polishing transformation thread?!?
JNS Photos:
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Re: the Catcheside convo from earlier this summer, I will agree that Will's handle making is not as strong as his knifemaking. Interestingly, my older Catchesides (2015-2018) have what I would consider much more refined handle construction. The basic wenge wa handles were slimmer, less square and blocky and instead more rectangular, and overall just better proportioned. Of his custom-grade handles, I have a tapered ironwood wa that's super nice and a d-handle that is to die for.
I suspect the reasons of the shift might be three-fold: 1) He is focusing more of his time and energy on his forging and so the handles while not exactly an after thought don't always receive special attention; 2) His custom/non-wenge handles have always been on the pricier side and so in terms of affordability, him spending less time on handles equates to cheaper prices he can offer; 3) That his newer forging style with the extreme spine taper means that the knife going into the handle is thicker and perhaps requires to his mind a thicker handle to accommodate it. (Of course, he could forge the the tang skinner and make them integral/semi-integral but again that goes back to point #2).
I personally prefer his older handle work. The only handle on the most recent 4 I've bought from him has been my ironwood wa handled cleaver, which feels great in hand. However, I will admit that I do think it's worth knowing when you buy his blades that he has quite a lot of variation between individual blades and that either the handle or the grind might be not to my tastes without adjustments. All that said though, they are great knives, and to his credit, Will's prices really haven't shifted much at all since I bought my first one 8 or 9 years ago.
I suspect the reasons of the shift might be three-fold: 1) He is focusing more of his time and energy on his forging and so the handles while not exactly an after thought don't always receive special attention; 2) His custom/non-wenge handles have always been on the pricier side and so in terms of affordability, him spending less time on handles equates to cheaper prices he can offer; 3) That his newer forging style with the extreme spine taper means that the knife going into the handle is thicker and perhaps requires to his mind a thicker handle to accommodate it. (Of course, he could forge the the tang skinner and make them integral/semi-integral but again that goes back to point #2).
I personally prefer his older handle work. The only handle on the most recent 4 I've bought from him has been my ironwood wa handled cleaver, which feels great in hand. However, I will admit that I do think it's worth knowing when you buy his blades that he has quite a lot of variation between individual blades and that either the handle or the grind might be not to my tastes without adjustments. All that said though, they are great knives, and to his credit, Will's prices really haven't shifted much at all since I bought my first one 8 or 9 years ago.
