The Volume of Custom (Kitchen) Knifemakers

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@milkbaby he's not writing anything on cooking. That could give a clue. And maybe he is known as a good address for boning knives and western debas? ;)
 
scott.livesey said:
anybody have any links to other American or European custom/small scale producers that make a good blade? some small companies that make interesting stuff would be New West Knifeworks http://www.newwestknifeworks.com/ Warther Cutlery https://warthercutlery.com/product-category/knives/ and Calton Cutlery http://www.caltoncutlery.com/ anybody used any of these blades?
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The last link seems to be a guy actually making knives himself.
The first two, I think perhaps they are just selling knives rather than producing them??
 
Warther used to make their own knives. I first met them at the Knifemakers Guild show in Florida a number of years ago and have a couple of their blades around here someplace. I think I remember the head Warther passing a few years ago so things may have changed after that.
 
LifeByA1000Cuts said:
@milkbaby he's not writing anything on cooking. That could give a clue. And maybe he is known as a good address for boning knives and western debas? ;)
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That is immaterial when you consider this:

JayDragon.jpg



:viking:
 
scott.livesey said:
anybody have any links to other American or European custom/small scale producers that make a good blade? some small companies that make interesting stuff would be New West Knifeworks http://www.newwestknifeworks.com/ Warther Cutlery https://warthercutlery.com/product-category/knives/ and Calton Cutlery http://www.caltoncutlery.com/ anybody used any of these blades?
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If you're asking about folks in "mini production", I have no idea of the quality but Doghouse Forge is cranking them out. Excluding their custom and damascus items it kind of looks like they get their stuff waterjet cut as the only production "shortcut".

As mentioned, Calton seems to be just the one maker.

Murray Carter pumps out a lot of knives and even more when you include the Muteki apprentice/journeyman associate knives.
 
@milkbaby there you have it - that slicer has big knuckle clearance issues, and the spine could use some rounding.
 
back to the idea of the thread, does anyone here own a hand made blade from an American maker? if so, who made it and do you like the knife. it is very expensive to obtain any Japanese cutlery steel here in US, but we do have a large selection of high carbon, stainless, and powder steels to choose from
 
I believe there are quite a few here, I own a Carter Gyuto and Petty, a Bunka from Kayne, a Ktip from Halycon and a pairing from Nora.
 
I'm returning to this thread to note that I'm still blown away by the constant influx of new kitchen knife makers I'm seeing out there in interweb land. They're coming at a truly astonishing rate, it's crazy!

Have you folks been noticing this too?
 
yep, many new makers. IG is full of them. Some more talented and invested than others but plenty anyway.
 
valgard said:
yep, many new makers. IG is full of them. Some more talented and invested than others but plenty anyway.
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Yeah IG is full to the brim. I think I've ran across an unknown (to me) maker everyday for weeks now.
 
Dave Martell said:
I'm returning to this thread to note that I'm still blown away by the constant influx of new kitchen knife makers I'm seeing out there in interweb land. They're coming at a truly astonishing rate, it's crazy!

Have you folks been noticing this too?
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It has been Very interesting to watch the growth of all this.....
 
Dave Martell said:
I'm seen some serious talent for sure. It's tough to tell from pictures alone though.
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You know I'm just yanking your chain?

Most I've seen getting into the kitchen knife market are doing so because that's one of few growth markets for knives and they're looking to get in on a piece of it.
 
daveb said:
You know I'm just yanking your chain?

Most I've seen getting into the kitchen knife market are doing so because that's one of few growth markets for knives and they're looking to get in on a piece of it.
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Yeah of course I do. :D

I think you're right about makers migrating into kitchen knives.
 
Dave Martell said:
I'm seen some serious talent for sure. It's tough to tell from pictures alone though.
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There have been loads of knifemakers appearing in Aus over the last few years.
Luckily quite a few attend the Sydney knife show so we get a chance to 'check them out' fairly regularly.
It's quite impressive how quickly they get up to speed with really good quality knives.
There's a facebook page for aussie knifemakers which is very active, plus they have yearly get togethers with american ABS smiths as key 'speakers', Bill Burke was over here 2 years ago, he was also at the Sydney knife show that year.
You also get a fair bit of feedback about their work on IG.
 
Generally it's really good to see I think. As long as makers do their best to be honest. As a buyer some caution is advisable as usual.
 
There are persons writing books and making Kitchen knives that have never worked in a production kitchen. One of my favorite folders is a Ken Onion design. His kitchen knives are a joke with a lot of hype or as we say these days fake news.

Am hopelessly biased, pretty much only Japanese knives. Sure other countries have custom makers that turn out very nice blades. Don't pay much attention to the new makers only what I read here. Japanese you can get superb cutters 150.00-400.00 with quality steel and excellent geometry. You can get a stamped knife with good heat treatment for not too much coin. Step up the price some you can get hand forged, real chiseled kanji, quality stainless, carbon or carbon core made by dudes who know how to make a blade that works.

These guys don't need hype. Usually the more hype the lesser the knife if you make a living in front of a cutting board.
 
Keith you are spot on. I can not say why other amateurs have started making knives (most of those that have popped up recently are not full time makers), but to me it is simply a way to balance my ‘sitting’ job. And when that urge arrived my main hobby was Japanese kitchen knives. But I am fully aware that however good my knives might become one day, I can never reach the price/value of manufactured Japanese kitchen knives. But I am having a lot of fun trying to learn more and improve my work. And making a few people happy by making them ‘their’ knife makes it much more satisfying.

P.S. I hate hype and that is the last thing I want to hear about my knives too.
 
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