Zakharov Knives (Ukraine)

[miggus]

There has rarely been any mention of their knives here, I stumbled upon them by accident and decided to give it a try. Yuri and Michael Zakharov are two brother who collaborate to make custom kitchen knives in Lviv.
There is also a Brazilian maker by the same name, but as far as I know he is more focused on hunting knives and not kitchen knives.

The Zakharovs offer a large amount of shapes and handles, and have their own style, although they're clearly inspired by Japanese blades. You can find them on Instagram and Facebook, and probably in other media, too.

In the late summer, I ordered two kitchen knives from them. One with a wa-handle, one with a Western one. I will give the second knive to someone close to me as a gift. The ordering process has been exemplary, Michael (Mykhailo) took a lot of time and effort to talk me through different options. Payment process is streamlined now, too, with easy payment via Paypal.

I was enamored with my Togashi K-Tip by then (still are), and so I decided on more K-Tip style knives and ordered two knives with that shape.

I have to say that their gyuto inspired shapes are quite pretty though.

Given the war and the pummeling of the Ukrainian energy grid, I didn't expect the knives to be ready for quite some time, which was no problem of course. So I was happy and surprised to get a message from Mykailo recently that the knives are finished and will soon be on their way. I'm looking forward to them a lot. The wa-handle is bog oak, and a matching saya will be included.

I forgot what wood the second one is, but it will come with a leather saya and I'll gift it to someone close to me. They gave me a fancy gift a while ago: A Böker Leopard damascus folder - blade is made from the barrel of a Leopard tank. The bizarre irony of giving thanking them with an Ukrainian knife with all the talk about Leopards for Ukraine now was irresistible. We really do live in crazy times.

Anyways, I'm looking forward to getting those and will report back on how I like them. Can certainly recommend to have a look at their IG or Facebook if you're interested in something unusual.

 

[miggus]

They have arrived! I'll post more pics and a report soon.

 

[miggus]

TLDR: Fit and finish are on a high level in all aspects. The knife excels at being a jack-of-all trades: It comes with a straightforward geometry, giving quite a fair bit of performance and precision for most tasks while still being relatively rugged and worry-free. An original design and a ton of value for the price.
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Here’s miig with a quick look product review. Don’t consider this too extensive a description for two reasons:

- I cooked with the knife for like 2 hours only.

- Even more importantly, I have little experience with better knives in stainless.

Almost all the knives I have used and sharpened for the last couple of years are high-performance, high-maintenance low-alloy carbons. But I regularly sharpen soft stainless steel western knives for friends and family. This knife is neither, and sits somewhat in the middle.

Nevertheless, here are my impressions so far:


Ordering process

Could not have been any better. Mykhailo Zakharov took a lot of time and effort to talk me through different options and was very patient when I changed my ideas about how to make the handle three times. Every time, he sent several explanations and examples in reply to my suggestions. At this point, you can customize every detail about the blades to your liking. Very nice experience.

Virtually the same blade in two tastes: wa-handle in stabilized bog oak and ss spacer with bog oak saya and Yo-handle with leather sheath. The Wa is a gift, the Yo I treated myself with.

Optical inspection / first impressions

Overall, the knife is very well finished. Be it the handle or every part of the blade, every detail is done with a lot of care and skill. The spacer on the handle has a flawless polish, choil and back are very evenly rounded and have the same polish. The wood saya / leather sheath is just as good For the 150 USD for the blade 40 USD for the saya in bog oak, an absolute steal. Fit and finish and general quality of craft of this knife would suit blades well that cost a lot more.

These macro shots are merciless, but the knives have nothing to hide.

The steel

Steel here is mono N690 @60HRC I'll let Laurin describe it:

I would see N690 as an alternative to 440C that has some tempering resistance and secondary hardening.

Why There is Cobalt in VG-10 - Knife Steel Nerds

It felt better on the stones than western stainless, quite decent impression all in all. I saw that they now also offer to make their knives in M390, which is a higher-end steel.

Blade geometry

Let’s not forget that this is one of his more affordable blades at 160 USD without saya or shipping.

The edge on the blade is also optically perfect and relatively highly polished, a very civilized edge with a conservative angle that should last pretty well. It doesn’t cut aggressively as the usual carbon suspects, obviously. I have sharpened it a bit to put a more aggressive edge on, but I haven’t spent enough time with this steel to give detailed impressions. But I assume that it will do as expected: perfom well, sharpen up easily. Won’t break any records, but also won’t let you down.
Should be a very exciting experience for someone who hitherto has used thick stainless.

Knife geometry is interesting, I don’t think that I have handled a knife like this. It does taper town from the back to the cutting edge, the hammered finish is thicker, the shoulder is high up. The blade road is very broad and has what I assume is a belt finish.
It is not a zero grind, but goes in that direction, with a light touch of Washington Monument. It’s a stiff blade, no lateral flex is present. There is little distal taper, but the tip is slim enough so that onion performance is great.



To me it seems well-made. Geometry seems relatively simple and straightforward to me.



The first meals:

I have cooked two meals with it and one fruit salad. My base for comparison is very small here, since I have used mostly pretty high-end Japanese blades and then some typical western stainless. General impression is that this blade gets quite a bit of the j-knives vibe while still requiring less care and maintenance. The knife has an interesting overall feel. It seems to feel very, very light, even though it isn’t (220g for a 240 x 54mm blade).

Cutting up onions with it is a breeze, and I could get the steel quite grabby with little effort.

Slicing very thin layers of ginger/garlic and julienning very fresh carrots both highlighted that the knife is not just as thin behind the edge as j-knives. But not as brittle either… this is probably an unfair comparison anyways. It performed all these tasks well, just not as effortless as say a Kurosaki Senko-Ei. But way closer to the Kuro than to a Wüsthof, no doubt! With some familiarity on optimizing the sharpening for this steel-geometry combination, I think it will get even closer.

The shape of the blade is very good for push cutting, and allows rocking good enough if required. The fact that it is a bit “shovel” form means it is very easy to pick up food with it, and the nicely rounded back works well for pushing produce to the sides.

Further thoughts

For what the knife it costs directly from the maker, this is great performance. I intended the second knife I got as a gift for a passionate home cook who is not a knife nerd , but takes care of his tools. For that, it is perfect. What surprises me is the higher prices on the etsy shop. On etsy, that knife would run a bit above 300€. At that price point, competition gets a bit steeper.

I think when you order this in M390 and tell Zakharov to make a knife oriented towards enthusiasts, you’d get a way different result that would compare much more closely to J-Knives.

His style is quite unique, the blade handled and felt distinctly from J-Knives and mainstream or high-end Western blades. I'm not sure how old the Zakharovs are, but I think that a lot of interesting blades could come out of Lviv in the not-too-distant future.

 

[T85]

It looks interesting! I think I’ll give it a try soon. I’ve been looking for a new stainless steel chef knife

 

[daveb]

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