Wanted: Feedback on Majime or Heartwood Forge

[Matt Zilliox]

Hello Community

I have been lurking around reading for some time and recently joined. I hope its ok to ask for feedback on makers in this forum, i saw a few other folks asking too...

A newer maker who has caught my eye, but does not appear to show up on your website anywhere, is Max at Majime Knives. I would love to know if anyone has used his knives and how they cut/perform in the kitchen.
Its really hard to get any information on his knives, perhaps because he is new. here is an example of his work from the Diondamascus website:

Another maker I'm interested in getting a knife from, who I have seen a couple comments on this site for is Will Manning at Heartwood Forge though not much info on ow his knives perform in the kitchen, more on the materials used. Id love to know more about his grinds and how the knives perform.

Thanks forum

 

[Matt Zilliox]

perhaps this subforum sees little use, or perhaps there is no experience with these makers? still learning my way around

 

[Dendrobatez]

Pm'd

 

[SilverSwarfer]

@Matt Zilliox

Anything at all result from this?

 

[valdim]

Your initial post looks like a teaser...

 

[SilverSwarfer]

Friend of mine asked me about this maker. I couldn’t answer because it’s new to me. Anyone know about these blades?

 

[Matt Zilliox]

i never heard much feedback at all to be quite honest, so i never bothered to try one. The thread could probably be deleted really

 

[marc4pt0]

Both are making some good looking knives. Curious how they perform

 

[milkbaby]

Both are making some good looking knives. Curious how they perform

Curious enough to buy some and report back?

 

[ragz]

I've been waiting to comment for a while-- I've just wanted to spend more time with the knives before commenting. I own three of his blades now, and I'll be sure to buy more. I'll be honest-- I don't want to create hype, because his work is still reasonably obtainable. I've personally seen massive improvement and innovation in the short time that he's been commercially producing knives. I feel like he reached a point now he's producing something that preforms not only amazing as a tool, but very unique as well. From a many many knives I own, I reach to his knives often. His knife grinds are particularly good. The ergonomics of the handle was something I never knew I wanted. His heat treatment is excellent as well-- the only knife that I would say feels more fun to sharpen is my hinoura (Sr.) or munetoshi.

The one big thing I will caution is his blades are unique. Really unique. Most blades hybrid in nature that blur the lines between traditional knife forms. I can 100% see someone purchasing a knife that ends up being too weird or to too far from what they are used to. Or simply, buying a knife for a task they don't do. For me, there are moments of absolute brilliance ( his gyutos is not only singularly unique and a absolute pleasure to use). There is a lot of consideration into the user and the task the blade is intended for. Sujihiki's with higher knuckle clearance, tall nakiris with dramatic s grinds etc. It's very thought out-- and the result is he's creating a line of very unique well preforming blades. Though without knowing a persons cutting styles , what kind of cooking they do etc I couldn't just make a blanket recommendation to pick one of his knives up. You would need to more carefully pick the knife-- or just order a custom.

My finial thoughts on Majime is that he's the real deal. You arn't going to get the same level of FnF that some of the more experienced great american knife makers offer. Yet in terms of innovation, and creating real performer of a blade, he's as good as they come. In many respects he's better. There is a certain sensibility ex-chef-turned-knife maker brings. Creating blades for specific tasks is a big one. Which I absolutely love. It's something you see commonplace in japan yet hardly here. And I'm a firm believer the right knife for the task makes all the difference in the world.

 

[Hz_zzzzzz]

I got this Majime knife in July.

What I like:
Good heat treat on AEBL. Probably the hardest non powder stainless steel I’ve ever used while still being tough. Gets crazy sharp.

Unique look. It’s a really good looking knife in my opinion.

Thin but stiff tip. It’s stiff because there is no much distal taper until tip part but I like it in this way because the middle of the knife is really thin all the way from heel to tip due to the big groove. This tip grind is one of the best that I’ve used.

The profile is my type: slight continuous curve from heel to tip.

The groove makes it maintain like a wide bevel knife. You could sharpen the entire area below the groove easily.

What I don’t like:
The packaging is pretty primitive (no box just some soft wrapping). The knife arrives completely dull although it has an edge. I think it’s the way it’s packaged that made it dull during shipping.

The edge length is 220 mm although it’s listed as 9 inch. No big deal but specs in metrics could help.

The handle is too long for a 220 mm blade. I removed ~8 mm at the end of the handle and now it looks more balanced to me. The photo below is after I shortened the handle myself.

And the biggest complain is it’s pretty thick right above the edge. I mean it cuts potato and onion fine but it wedges in carrots badly. I had to thin it out of the box. If you look at his cutting test videos on Instagram you don’t see any wedge in cutting anything, so I guess there are some variances among his works and I got a bad one. The non-stickness that groove is supposed to add on is just ok level. Not as nonstick as a Wat.

 

[Hz_zzzzzz]

Before I thinned it:

After I thinned it BTE. Still not as thin as I would like it to be but cuts much better now.