Skye Eilers **2** knife pass around

[aporigine]

OK I have something awful to report. It grieves me to say this, but it’s true confession time.

An unfortunate series of events led to my whacking the Chef into a bowl, edge leading. I put a rather noticeable chip into the edge near the heel.

I took the blade to a Shapton 1k to try to repair the worst of it, but there’s
1) a hitch in the edge
2) the glorious near-zero bevel is visibly altered.

I will do whatever @Matt Jacobs asks to make him whole.

This is not usual for me. This is the second time in 40+ years in using knives I’ve done such a thing.

A photo of the consequences. Sharpie dot near the chip post-stone.

 

[Skye Eilers Knives]

OK I have something awful to report. It grieves me to say this, but it’s true confession time.

An unfortunate series of events led to my whacking the Chef into a bowl, edge leading. I put a rather noticeable chip into the edge near the heel.

I took the blade to a Shapton 1k to try to repair the worst of it, but there’s
1) a hitch in the edge
2) the glorious near-zero bevel is visibly altered.

I will do whatever @Matt Jacobs asks to make him whole.

This is not usual for me. This is the second time in 40+ years in using knives I’ve done such a thing.

A photo of the consequences. Sharpie dot near the chip post-stone.

View attachment 352665

It happens man, I’ve chipped and dinged many a knife. Once I dropped a finished custom tip first onto concrete while packaging it, so I can understand the stress and disappointment.

I’m more than happy to repair, but given I’m across the globe that may not be ideal haha. My take would be to knock the heel back a hair and resharpen. People can then still use it, without propagating the chip, and base their opinions of the cutting performance on the rest of the edge. Once it’s done the full pass-around, we could organise a repair or find someone domestic to fix.

But, they’re @Matt Jacobs ’ knives, so I’ll defer to whatever he prefers

 

[aporigine]

That done, I have more to say about these knives. I bought the fixings for a batch of bone broth, and alternated the two blades in prepping celery, carrot, onion, parsley and garlic.

Purely personal note: the Chef snuggles into my grip like it was made for me. “We will be friends!” it whispers. I don’t think I’ve handled a blade that so effortlessly becomes an extension of my hand.

Celery: delightful feedback as both knives communicate the texture of the thing being cut.

Carrot: both sink through without a sound. The root yields with a clear sense of its structure (crosscuts and lengthwise) sending its tactile message to my grip.

Onion: for this I used the gyuto more for its length of edge. Horizontal swipes went wonderfully. Both knives have an amazingly thin responsive tip.

Garlic (before I did the thing): pure pleasure.

Chiffonade of parsley … none of my other blades outperform.

Three incidental observations.
1) Viewed at a grazing angle, the blade roads are almost optically uniform. The edge follows a very clean curve, suggesting a conic section

2) That tip! The knife converges on a perfect (and damn sharp! Stabbed my finger I did) point, with no tiny corrections apparent in order to match sides or spine to the point of convergence. This is an amazing testimonial to the skill involved in crafting these blades. I wanted to append a spine shot to show how the tip converges to a whisper-thin perfection, but ~shrug~.

3) The knives have a different treatment of choil and heel. Deliberate and considered. Here’s a closeup of the way the choil of the Chef perfectly, smoothly transitions. There is no sign of the usual tiny corrections. I cannot say enough superlatives.

All told, it has been a privilege to handle these blades. The Tamashii gyuto is simply brilliant. On a subjective note, the Chef might have been made bespoke for me, by someone who knows more about what I want than I do. It has that rare little bit extra. It nestles into my hand like a kitten into my armpit.

(mirepix)

 

[aporigine]

It happens man, I’ve chipped and dinged many a knife. Once I dropped a finished custom tip first onto concrete while packaging it, so I can understand the stress and disappointment.

I’m more than happy to repair, but given I’m across the globe that may not be ideal haha. My take would be to knock the heel back a hair and resharpen. People can then still use it, without propagating the chip, and base their opinions of the cutting performance on the rest of the edge. Once it’s done the full pass-around, we could organise a repair or find someone domestic to fix.

But, they’re @Matt Jacobs’ knives, so I’ll defer to whatever he prefers

I gave it a few swipes on a Shapton 1k, basically to knock back the deformed steel. I did not attempt to fix it, since I’m a novice with the stones — and since I was shaky upset. Perhaps a better sharpener down the line can do a proper job.

I’ve reached out to you about making me a copy of that magical knife. One option is that Matt gets the new one, while I buy the one I hurt.

Bottom line is, I am very impressed with the way you made these; see above. Though I do wonder; is a different steel, (oh, Apex or Magnacut) a negotiable option? From a geometry and balance standpoint, I’ve found something wondrous.

 

[Gshep91]

OK I have something awful to report. It grieves me to say this, but it’s true confession time.

An unfortunate series of events led to my whacking the Chef into a bowl, edge leading. I put a rather noticeable chip into the edge near the heel.

I took the blade to a Shapton 1k to try to repair the worst of it, but there’s
1) a hitch in the edge
2) the glorious near-zero bevel is visibly altered.

I will do whatever @Matt Jacobs asks to make him whole.

This is not usual for me. This is the second time in 40+ years in using knives I’ve done such a thing.

A photo of the consequences. Sharpie dot near the chip post-stone.

View attachment 352665

Could be a quick turn around to ship it to JKI in LA or drive it over. Might be worth the pause unless someone feels pretty confident in sharpening & possible thinning after?

 

[aporigine]

Could be a quick turn around to ship it to JKI in LA or drive it over. Might be worth the pause unless someone feels pretty confident in sharpening & possible thinning after?

Thanks. That’s a solid option.

which leads me to
4) the perfectly-aligned belt finish on the blade faces. Skill.

 

[Matt Jacobs]

First off don't sweat it we all make mistakes. I would say if the geometry is mostly intact. Let's just continue with the pass around and then afterwards we can figure out what we want to do with it. I have Acre Forge close by and I trust those guys to help me make it right or I'll happily send it back to Skye. I would love it if you bought one from him. However, I will not accept a new one from you. That one is yours to enjoy thanks for letting us know and don't stress it too much.

 

[M1k3]

If JKI isn't an option, and fixing is still on the table, I'll volunteer to get it back into working order. No promises on matching the finish, but I won't leave it looking like crap.

 

[Skye Eilers Knives]

I gave it a few swipes on a Shapton 1k, basically to knock back the deformed steel. I did not attempt to fix it, since I’m a novice with the stones — and since I was shaky upset. Perhaps a better sharpener down the line can do a proper job.

I’ve reached out to you about making me a copy of that magical knife. One option is that Matt gets the new one, while I buy the one I hurt.

Bottom line is, I am very impressed with the way you made these; see above. Though I do wonder; is a different steel, (oh, Apex or Magnacut) a negotiable option? From a geometry and balance standpoint, I’ve found something wondrous.

Thank you very much for all the kind words mate, they are greatly appreciated and I’m pleased the knives impressed so thoroughly. You noticing all the small details and refinements is a great compliment.

In terms of making one for you or you having this one, I’ll let you discuss that with Matt and then I’ll take it from there depending on the outcome.

I am making more, likely around January next year as I’m busy with a lot of customs currently. As said way back at the beginning, I’ll be lengthening the French Chef to 225, widening the tip profile a hair and also doing a 240mm option for both models as well. If plans align, I’ll also be offering nakiri and
petty variations too. So for anyone in this passaround, or reading, those will be the near-future possibilities. 210 chefs could still be done too, but they’d be a custom alternation.

In terms of other steels: it is a plan to do the occasional limited drop in fancier steels. I did a vtoku2 san mai Tamashii Gyuto just recently, and magnacut and AU are both possibilities too. Of course they’ll be a fair bit more expensive, but still cheaper than customs in the same steels.

I’d have to wait on some ~3mm stock in the apex, which I believe is in development last I looked. The only thing I will say is that these alternative steel production batches will be very limited because fancy steels are insanely expensive here in New Zealand (as there is so little supply/local maker demand) which limits me to importing with an exchange rate that is never in my favour haha

 

[aporigine]

More random observations;

The knives are so fresh that my onion cuts (but not the shallot; perhaps a less aggressive sulfur chemistry there) gave slightly discolored product. After dicing pastrami for the meal documented in the Cooking thread, when I licked the blade I tasted some iron. Understand this is not a complaint; it speaks to the knives’ newness.

The second onion that went into mirepoix gave no visible discoloration. Patina builds with gratifying speed.

I’m passing these on with visibly more patina than when I got them. I see this as a good thing, but am open to dissenting opinions.

Balance point on the Chef is right under my thumb.
The gyuto is maybe a centimeter forward.

One task remains before I ship them on. I have a lovely russet that will be reduced to batonnet for frites.

Our local fast food giant charges $6 for a large fries. Even with the cost of a 4-lb bucket of oinkment, my homemade copies are cheaper and easily as good.

(add) forgot to append a photo. Smoked Alaskan salmon (a fragile thing) sliced with clean authority.

Ordinarily this job would go to a Shibata. Iykyk!

 

[xsmx13]

Thank you very much for all the kind words mate, they are greatly appreciated and I’m pleased the knives impressed so thoroughly. You noticing all the small details and refinements is a great compliment.

In terms of making one for you or you having this one, I’ll let you discuss that with Matt and then I’ll take it from there depending on the outcome.

I am making more, likely around January next year as I’m busy with a lot of customs currently. As said way back at the beginning, I’ll be lengthening the French Chef to 225, widening the tip profile a hair and also doing a 240mm option for both models as well. If plans align, I’ll also be offering nakiri and
petty variations too. So for anyone in this passaround, or reading, those will be the near-future possibilities. 210 chefs could still be done too, but they’d be a custom alternation.

In terms of other steels: it is a plan to do the occasional limited drop in fancier steels. I did a vtoku2 san mai Tamashii Gyuto just recently, and magnacut and AU are both possibilities too. Of course they’ll be a fair bit more expensive, but still cheaper than customs in the same steels.

I’d have to wait on some ~3mm stock in the apex, which I believe is in development last I looked. The only thing I will say is that these alternative steel production batches will be very limited because fancy steels are insanely expensive here in New Zealand (as there is so little supply/local maker demand) which limits me to importing with an exchange rate that is never in my favour haha

This is all music to my ears!

 

[aporigine]

Finally got them sent on (local post offices tend to have unscheduled closures) after lightly swabbing them in tsubaki oil and rebuilding the excellent packaging. The fitted cardboard sayas are a stroke of genius.

A few last observations.
I made more mirepoix for the last few chicken bones, and used the gyuto exclusively. It is a marvelous knife that, in my instance, suffered a bit from being accompanied by one I found special good.
But when I settled into the task, notably with the onion, and got into the “man food board knife” Zen zone, it was a natural and superb partner. Same voodoo tip.

To sum up, the gyuto scores an honest 100%. The chef, 105%.

 

[jedy617]

Ooo fancy steel from Skye. Bad time to check this thread when I have things to be selling not buying...

 

[xsmx13]

Apologies for the delayed note here, life has been crazy and I had to jump in the truck and drive to San Diego and back to Sacramento over two days immediately upon receiving them on Friday. They arrived safe and sound other than the previously documented damage, which while apparent, is not as pronounced as I had expected.

I have mostly played short order cook for my daughter, dad, and significant other the last couple days and look forward to a fuller meal prep Friday night for some more diverse use. That said...

@Matt Jacobs Thank you for putting on the pass around and giving me the chance to try these!

@Skye Eilers Knives ... Get the **** outta here with this level of finishing on a knife this cheap. I lean towards the wa handles, and while I'd prefer a lighter and natural material for the handle, I had to keep reminding myself that these are production line pieces. With that perspective, I am shocked at how well done they are for a production line. As noted, I need to put it through some broader use to fully form an opinion, but so far I really am impressed with the grinds. You're your own maker of course and have definite stylistic differences, but these immediately made me think of Tony Laseur's work that balances some really high quality finish on knives meant to be users, while having nice grinds and incredible value that punches far far above the price. Well done, Sir!

 

[Skye Eilers Knives]

Apologies for the delayed note here, life has been crazy and I had to jump in the truck and drive to San Diego and back to Sacramento over two days immediately upon receiving them on Friday. They arrived safe and sound other than the previously documented damage, which while apparent, is not as pronounced as I had expected.

I have mostly played short order cook for my daughter, dad, and significant other the last couple days and look forward to a fuller meal prep Friday night for some more diverse use. That said...

@Matt Jacobs Thank you for putting on the pass around and giving me the chance to try these!

@Skye Eilers Knives ... Get the **** outta here with this level of finishing on a knife this cheap. I lean towards the wa handles, and while I'd prefer a lighter and natural material for the handle, I had to keep reminding myself that these are production line pieces. With that perspective, I am shocked at how well done they are for a production line. As noted, I need to put it through some broader use to fully form an opinion, but so far I really am impressed with the grinds. You're your own maker of course and have definite stylistic differences, but these immediately made me think of Tony Laseur's work that balances some really high quality finish on knives meant to be users, while having nice grinds and incredible value that punches far far above the price. Well done, Sir!

Thanks very much for the kind words man, and no worries on the delay, life is busy haha.

That all means a lot, I'm glad they impress! Yeah I thought about natural materials, but I can't beat the consistency and affordability of using micarta sheets on my cnc. I have an unhealthy addiction to nice woods , but on a production series it doesn't make sense haha. Plus, micarta is zero maintenance, no material shifting over time and it's still pretty attractive imo.

But, you heard it here first: I'll probably do some naturals every now and then, perhaps particularly on the eventual mini batches with fancy steels.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy using them for the next while!

 

[sansho]

in for skye western chef magnacut

 

[Stevem627]

I’m not sure where we are in the line for the pass around, but I’m back home as of Saturday. I look forward to getting these as soon as I fall into line.

 

[Skye Eilers Knives]

I’m not sure where we are in the line for the pass around, but I’m back home as of Saturday. I look forward to getting these as soon as I fall into line.

Once @xsmx13 is done (no rush), they're on to @Delat and then you @Stevem627

 

[MartinJ]

Very interesting to follow this thread
My wallet would probably disagree tho

 

[Skye Eilers Knives]

Very interesting to follow this thread
My wallet would probably disagree tho

My aim is for the production knives to be a gateway drug to my custom work, so your wallet is probably right

 

[MartinJ]

My aim is for the production knives to be a gateway drug to my custom work, so your wallet is probably right

Do you know what the next batch will be?

 

[Skye Eilers Knives]

Do you know what the next batch will be?

1) 225 French Chefs and Tamashii gyutos
2) 240mm options too
3) potentially nakiri and petty options
4) potentially some san mai, apex ultra and magnacut mini drops too

Standard models will be in AEBL (or nitro v depending on stockist supply) or 52100.

Price wise we're still hopefully looking at less than or equal to $300usd, but final calculations will have to be done before I publicly commit to that. It wouldn't be any large degree north of that in the worst case.

I'll likely open a pre order (free) via my newsletter some time in December, with the aim to begin production in January. I'm unsure how many I'll take at this time, but there will be plenty of opportunity. The first batch was 65 total, so something in that region or higher I'd imagine.

There will be the changes to the models listed by Matt at the beginning, but for further clarification, the French chef will be lengthened to 225 and also have its tip changed to be a little wider and less aggressively pointy in profile, as that was the main point of feedback on the first batch. The profile will be somewhat similar to the current gyuto profile, but with the Western handle of course.

 

[MartinJ]

Thanks for all the info
Seems promising i'll keep myself updated

 

[NotAddictedYet]

the French chef will be lengthened to 225 and also have its tip changed to be a little wider and less aggressively pointy in profile, as that was the main point of feedback on the first batch

nooo love the pointy tip

 

[Skye Eilers Knives]

nooo love the pointy tip

Haha that’s fair man, I do too. However, I’ve found that with the crazy spine distal taper (which will remain), it can be slightly challenging to sharpen the tip properly without rounding it or creating a slight recurve, since it’s flexible on the stones. Also, it’s harder for me to grind without messing it up and having to re-profile, and I want a hair more forward balance, which needs to come from more width out by the tip.

It won’t be as wide as the gyuto, so still pointy with a wicked distal taper, but a little wider should fix all those concerns, and also make it a little more familiar of a profile for people too. But, perhaps if someone here and there is after a pointier one, I can do that as a custom adjustment to the base model. I can always remove material easily enough

 

[Delat]

Hi all, I have the knives and apologize for the radio silence as things have been a little hectic.

The very, very tip of the gyuto arrived with a tiny deflection. It’s not easily visible but I noticed a hitch while drying it. I’m going to leave it alone as tip repairs tend to be a little tricky. In reading back over the thread I see that the Chef had a little edge damage - I didn’t notice it in use but I’ll take a closer look and if any minor repair is needed I’ll go ahead and sharpen it out.

The edges were just a tiny bit dull, basically bouncing off a paper towel but sharp enough to slice copy paper. I gave both knives about a dozen light edge-leading honing-style strokes on an SP2k just to give them a little bite. Basically about what I’d do to deburr, so very minimal steel loss, if any.

On to usage. I just had a small prep and both were a delight to use on onions and carrots. I started with the Chef and although I normally don’t care about wa vs yo handles, when I switched to the Gyuto the difference in comfort was immediately apparent. That is, the gyuto initially felt a bit awkward and uncomfortable initially but only by comparison to how nice the handle is in the Chef. Honestly if you’re trying to decide between the two, you need to experience the handle on the Chef.

Anyway, I mainly used the Chef as I wanted to compare it to my gen 1 version. It’s a tiny bit thinner, mostly noticeable in the smoothness of horizontal cuts through onions. The tip is awesome, but yeah I sorta feel like it’s almost inevitable to tip the thing, similar to the fragility of k-tips.

I’ve never really understood when people talk about “feedback” but all my knives from Skye do provide an interesting feel while cutting. It’s hard to describe, but it’s like you can feel the edge sliding through the food. It’s fun and unique.

So I’ll take a look at the edges then pack these guys off to @Stevem627 next.

Oh yeah, for whatever reason my wife decided me chopping garlic was cool and worth filming. The heel height is a bit low for a double-rock, but here’s the French Chef in action.

 

[Skye Eilers Knives]

Thanks very much for the kind words @Delat! The tipping issue is definitely a consideration for sure. I like the thin tip, but it certainly requires care from the end user. Perhaps not the best idea for a wide-selling production knife, though I feel it does provide an attractive selling point to a skilled user in this market bracket. I'll see.

As for the handles, I'm glad the ergos on the French chef stand out. That's lovely to hear and very validating for the near 150 hours I spent refining them in my R&D haha. How do you feel the Wa stands up in comparison to other Wa handles you have?

 

[Delat]

It took a little searching but I found the very tiny little chip in the Chef. It’s so small and close enough to the heel that I’m just going to leave it alone as that part of the edge doesn’t typically have much food contact.

Knives will be packed up and sent out later this week. Many thanks to @Matt Jacobs and @Skye Eilers Knives for the opportunity to play with these two knives!

 

[Delat]

Thanks very much for the kind words @Delat! The tipping issue is definitely a consideration for sure. I like the thin tip, but it certainly requires care from the end user. Perhaps not the best idea for a wide-selling production knife, though I feel it does provide an attractive selling point to a skilled user in this market bracket. I'll see.

As for the handles, I'm glad the ergos on the French chef stand out. That's lovely to hear and very validating for the near 150 hours I spent refining them in my R&D haha. How do you feel the Wa stands up in comparison to other Wa handles you have?

I took a closer and hadn’t even realized it was a multi-piece handle! Very nice detailing and unusual for the price range. In terms of comfort it’s fairly typical of standard wa handles. I notice it has a little more weight, likely from the materials. It gives the handle a nice substantial feel and I was surprised to see the balance point remains over the heel; I expected it be further back once I started paying attention to the handle.

I’m generally liking semi-western handles these days for comfort, in particular I think I like that they taper down towards the neck so the transition to the blade in a pinch grip is smoother.

 

[aporigine]

It took a little searching but I found the very tiny little chip in the Chef. It’s so small and close enough to the heel that I’m just going to leave it alone as that part of the edge doesn’t typically have much food contact.

Knives will be packed up and sent out later this week. Many thanks to @Matt Jacobs and @Skye Eilers Knives for the opportunity to play with these two knives!

Thank you. That is very gracious.