Top 5 makers

[Don Nguyen]

Michael Rader, Devin Thomas, Bob Kramer, Murray Carter, Bill Burke, and Will Catcheside are some to name.

 

[bear1889]

Michael Rader, Devin Thomas, Bob Kramer, Murray Carter, Bill Burke, and Will Catcheside are some to name.

You know from what about I read about you and your knives, even though I have not had a chance to handle one of yours, I believe you to be very modest for I believe that someone of your talent to name others is surely an attribute of one devoted to the art of kitchen knife making.

 

[Don Nguyen]

You know from what about I read about you and your knives, even though I have not had a chance to handle one of yours, I believe you to be very modest for I believe that someone of your talent to name others is surely an attribute of one devoted to the art of kitchen knife making.

Thanks man. I really appreciate that, but I'm still so new and inexperienced from any of the makers named here. It's always a learning process for me, and I feel like I have such a long way to go before I feel even close to what they're capable of.

 

[pnsxyr]

If what we are talking about is actual performance in the kitchen and longevity (with cosmetics and marketing aside):

1. Konosuke (while all models are fantastic, the Fujiyama line [which uses White #1 + #2, Blue #2, and ZDP-189] is THE best chef's knife on the market, definitively)
2. Kikuichi
3. Masakage
4. Richmond (select models, specifically the Laser and Addict...great quality and very good steels, but also affordable pricing)
5. Hiromoto (select models)

There are a few other really good names I could not mention which are also deserving of being on this list...

and honorable mention to Yamashin (for a budget line that doesn't suck)

 

[somber]

If what we are talking about is actual performance in the kitchen and longevity (with cosmetics and marketing aside):

You're saying that the previous knifemakers (not mass-production companies who churn out thousands of knives a year) lack longevity and actual performance? I think the phrase, "you don't know what you don't know" is applicable here, especially if you think Richmond knives rank among names like Bob Kramer, Murray Carter, or Michael Rader.

 

[stereo.pete]

... ...

 

[pnsxyr]

You're saying that the previous knifemakers (not mass-production companies who churn out thousands of knives a year) lack longevity and actual performance? I think the phrase, "you don't know what you don't know" is applicable here, especially if you think Richmond knives rank among names like Bob Kramer, Murray Carter, or Michael Rader.

Sorry you dislike my opinion or if my opinion was interpreted as me making a statement in definitive terms...the OP said "your list" and I made a list with 5 based on my own personal reasoning. I'm not claiming to be the authority on chef knives...I have my own opinions from my own personal experience and figured the question would imply any response was based on personal opinion rather than fact?

I mentioned in another post there are tons of customs of amazing quality and performance...I probably should have here and perhaps noted that since I am on a limited budget, I have not had the privilege of personally owning or evaluating a knife from every esteemed maker of kitchen knives (although hopefully one day that will change). Based on the phrase of, "you don't know what you don't know", wouldn't that apply to every single response in this thread by every single individual who has not owned a kitchen knife from every single maker in business?


And as for your list of...

Top 5 KITCHEN KNIFE MAKERS ---

Murray Carter
Bob Kramer
Kenichi Shiraki
Bill Burke
Michael Rader

...not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to afford to own or use knives in classes as such. Perhaps it is a great list and those knives are 100% better than every single knife in my list. Still, I would prefer to believe that my personal opinions are not completely invalid because I am not necessarily at that same level of ownership as others on this forum.

+1...million

PNSXYR's post represents an example of why you shouldn't believe everything you read on the interwebs.

Who would make it to your list?

Thanks for the warm welcome

 

[somber]

Sorry you dislike my opinion or if my opinion was interpreted as me making a statement in definitive terms...the OP said "your list" and I made a list with 5 based on my own personal reasoning.

Yes, I took your statements as definitive, if you didn't mean it as such, sorry.

I mentioned in another post there are tons of customs of amazing quality and performance...I probably should have here and perhaps noted that since I am on a limited budget...

I can understand this; when you can only afford Honda Civics, a Civic SI is an amazing car.

Based on the phrase of, "you don't know what you don't know", wouldn't that apply to every single response in this thread by every single individual who has not owned a kitchen knife from every single maker in business?

Yes, ignorance doesn't discriminate.

Thanks for the warm welcome

Welcome to the forums.

 

[pnsxyr]

Yes, I took your statements as definitive, if you didn't mean it as such, sorry.

I can understand this; when you can only afford Honda Civics, a Civic SI is an amazing car.

Welcome to the forums.

I did not intend my statement to be read as me saying that in a definitive sense or any sense beyond my own personal opinion and I apologize for not wording my original post better. I'd rather post an actual source to speak on fact that has more concrete evidence beyond my own personal thought and personal preferences.

I also should have specified "production" or "more common" in my original post because my take is based on what I have personally shopped and used and what personally comes to mind when I think of, "kitchen knives"...while a $65 Richmond or Kikuichi carbon gyuto will not give the performance of a knife costing multiple times more, I guess I look at them as excellent knives relative to other mainstream items, and a large portion of my like for them is the affordability for average consumers whom may be unable to purchase something more expensive. While perhaps in a thread where price is supposed to limitless I should have thought differently but affordability is something I look at as a component of performance. And while some people may not like Richmond, my Carbon Addict 52100 has been an excellent performer for the price and I absolutely love it.

I have done very little with custom knives and so the the thought of makers and such simply wasn't something that even went through my mind to be completely honest...and while I should have noted that, hopefully this clarifies my personal line of reasoning, correct or incorrect as it may be.

Welcome to the forums.

And thank you.

 

[somber]

I completely understand where you're coming from. Perspective is all relative to experience, and I've been where you're at now. Whatever satisfaction you receive from the relatively inexpensive knives you use now, for a minor investment relative to the life of the knife and use it will receive, I can tell you you will receive that much more satisfaction when purchasing from any of the makers I listed. While some of the knifemakers create knives that sell for thousands of dollars, some produce knives that really are relatively inexpensive.

 

[stereo.pete]

pnsxyr,

I took you for a shill with the list you provided as they can all be found on one particular retailers website. You also made the statement "If what we are talking about is actual performance in the kitchen and longevity (with cosmetics and marketing aside):", which implies, at least to me that the other makers mentioned throughout this post use cosmetics and marketing to add value versus performance. Hence the reason you received the response that I gave you.

I'm a big fan of value based kitchen knives as well as high end customs. I'll simply say you need to explore beyond what that retailer has and begin checking out some new makers. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

regards,

Pete

 

[pnsxyr]

The main marketing I spoke to was advertising used by larger mainstream brands...I've not seen marketing with smaller brands, but I've purchased knives from television infomercials, from adds in Macy's or William and Sonoma, etc. under claims makers and salespeople made which ultimately turned out to be lacking truth, etc....I should have specified that but that is the only marketing I personally know of. But hopefully that does clarify that I did not intend to speak from a factual perspective but rather my own perspective of personal opinion.

While I understand you noting that there is one retailer that sells the brands I noted, all except one are sold by multiple retailers to my knowledge. As for my experience with the other brands, they have not come from that specific retailer as I found them for less elsewhere after extensive searching. That site was something I used reviews when limiting possible purchases as there are a lot of user reviews on the less-expensive products I own.

I will look into some of the other makers here as they sound very interesting...if I did get one, chances are it would have to be used (or a cosmetic blem, if custom makers sell such).

 

[jdm61]

Pete, I don't think that most people on here have any idea about the drama related to that particular retailer and his nemeses in the ktichen knife world.

pnsxyr,

I took you for a shill with the list you provided as they can all be found on one particular retailers website. You also made the statement "If what we are talking about is actual performance in the kitchen and longevity (with cosmetics and marketing aside):", which implies, at least to me that the other makers mentioned throughout this post use cosmetics and marketing to add value versus performance. Hence the reason you received the response that I gave you.

I'm a big fan of value based kitchen knives as well as high end customs. I'll simply say you need to explore beyond what that retailer has and begin checking out some new makers. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

regards,

Pete

 

[jdm61]

Knives like the Richmond Addict are NOT sold by multiple retailers as they are an OEM "house brand" of CKTG.

The main marketing I spoke to was advertising used by larger mainstream brands...I've not seen marketing with smaller brands, but I've purchased knives from television infomercials, from adds in Macy's or William and Sonoma, etc. under claims makers and salespeople made which ultimately turned out to be lacking truth, etc....I should have specified that but that is the only marketing I personally know of. But hopefully that does clarify that I did not intend to speak from a factual perspective but rather my own perspective of personal opinion.

While I understand you noting that there is one retailer that sells the brands I noted, all except one are sold by multiple retailers to my knowledge. As for my experience with the other brands, they have not come from that specific retailer as I found them for less elsewhere after extensive searching. That site was something I used reviews when limiting possible purchases as there are a lot of user reviews on the less-expensive products I own.

I will look into some of the other makers here as they sound very interesting...if I did get one, chances are it would have to be used (or a cosmetic blem, if custom makers sell such).

 

[pnsxyr]

Knives like the Richmond Addict are NOT sold by multiple retailers as they are an OEM "house brand" of CKTG.

While I understand you noting that there is one retailer that sells the brands I noted, all except one are sold by multiple retailers to my knowledge.

Richmond was the one I was referring to when I noted there being an exception...IIRC the name is from the owner of that particular company and while some of their work is done by outside companies, the brand is still them-only, for better, worse, or neutral.

Kono, Kikuichi, Masakage, and Hiromoto are available from multiple sellers. Kikuichi is available on Amazon, and Hiromoto have been available on Amazon.

IIRC, CTTG is the primary importer of Yamashin, but CTKG is not the only retailer that sells their products...

 

[jdm61]

Last time that i head, ALL of the work was done by outside companies, and more likely by one company, Lamson and Goodnow.

Richmond was the one I was referring to when I noted there being an exception...IIRC the name is from the owner of that particular company and while some of their work is done by outside companies, the brand is still them-only, for better, worse, or neutral.

Kono, Kikuichi, Masakage, and Hiromoto are available from multiple sellers. Kikuichi is available on Amazon, and Hiromoto have been available on Amazon.

IIRC, CTTG is the primary importer of Yamashin, but CTKG is not the only retailer that sells their products...

 

[kalaeb]

Not that it matters much, but I will say that my Richmond AS Laser ranked in my top five production knives.. They were manufactured in Japan, not by Lambson.

 

[Michael Rader]

Good question. I like a few of the Japanese makers, as they make amazing knives at really good prices. As for American makers, I would want a #1) Devin Thomas knife then #2) Burke knife. #3) Lisch is getting there, but he is my friend, so I'm a bit biased there. I think I'd like a #4) Marko knife too. And, sTeven is right about the carbon steel knives, so until I get my line of stainless knives off the ground, I'd have to put myself at #5.
-M

 

[oivind_dahle]

Yo! Rader: started doing stainless yet?

 

[jdm61]

We don't want your head to swell up, so I will only compliment PART of your knives. You do make some of the coolest looking western style handles in the biz. :thumbup:

Good question. I like a few of the Japanese makers, as they make amazing knives at really good prices. As for American makers, I would want a #1) Devin Thomas knife then #2) Burke knife. #3) Lisch is getting there, but he is my friend, so I'm a bit biased there. I think I'd like a #4) Marko knife too. And, sTeven is right about the carbon steel knives, so until I get my line of stainless knives off the ground, I'd have to put myself at #5.
-M