My first chef's knife

A

Adam Reese

Member
Hello everyone,

Let me start off by saying that I don't post here much, but hopefully that will change.

Ok, the reason for this post is that I wanted to get your opinions on my first chef's knife. I made it in kind of a modified western chef style because this is a style that I am familiar with using. I am by no means a chef, but I do enjoy cooking. Ok, enough talk, here it is


It started as Aldos 1095 in .09" thickness. I heat treated it to 63Rc with a hamon for visual appeal, and it has cocobolo scales with carbon fiber pins. The handle is 4 1/2" long, and the blade is about 7 1/2". At it's widest point, it is 2 1/4" wide. I don't remember how thin I ended up grinding it, but it is thin enough to cut really well, but not so thin that only a professional sushi chef can use it.:) The balance is right at the front of the scales and the choil is rounded and polished for comfort.

Tell me what you think (excuse the dust and fingerprints)
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And some better pics of the hamon
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Well?

-Adam
 
It looks very fuctional and handsome too.
The one area you may want to change on your next one is the amount of kunckle clearence on a cutting board.
From your pics, with a full hand grasp, you are a little close in the area.

I design my culinary cutters large & small to have pleanty of clearence so they can be used and go through many years of sharpening without getting my knuckles near the board.

Keep using them and if you know a professional chef in your area ask him his thoughts on your design.
 
Thanks Laurence!

If I have a full hand grasp on the knife, with the blade resting on the cutting board on it's heel, there is about 1/4" or so of clearance and I have big hands (my wife has considerably more room). Now the majority of the time I use a knife like this is with a pinch grip, so I'm not sure exactly how much clearance I need. Is 1/4" to little? When I was drawing this knife, I initially had the blade about 2 3/4" wide, but I thought it looked kind of weird. What is a good number to shoot for as far as clearance goes?


-Adam
 
Many do use a pinch grip and some are wrapped all the way around.
Remember that after a decade of sharpening by "who knows" a 1/4" isn't very much. Most of my patterns have around 3/4" or more. That said, there are no real rules here.

My comment was try to help you be aware of the knuckles on the board. Ask others around you to hold your knives and cook with them if possible and you will find that sweet spot of clearance that will work for most people.
 
Thank you for the replies Laurence! I think I may do a pass around with this knife to let some people get some hands on time with it. That way i can get some feedback like you were talking about.

-Adam
 
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