2020 Summer Kitchen Knife Kith

Solid advice dude, thank you.

26c3 doesn’t etch like W2 or 1095. I haven’t found a recipe that I like yet. It seems to go from nothing to over etched in a blink. I’m probably going to experiment a lot more once we hire a therapist to take on some of my load in my real job.
 
26c3 doesn’t etch like W2 or 1095. I haven’t found a recipe that I like yet. It seems to go from nothing to over etched in a blink. I’m probably going to experiment a lot more once we hire a therapist to take on some of my load in my real job.
Yeah, I etched, then sanded with 1500, etched again, and ended up just about ruining it. I was more than a little disappointed. The steel wool lightened it up a little, I'm going to work on it up to the time it leaves the house, and hope the person that gets it doesn't hate it.
 
Mine is as done as it's going to be. I'm going to photograph it today and then post some pics for you guys.
 
Everyone, post pics of your finished knife today, if you haven’t done so yet. I will do the draw tomorrow morning.
 
Here's my submission. This is a 225mm gyuto made from 0.084" AEB-L. I chose to make a knife that's designed to be used, not a showpiece. As such I gave it a faceted convex grind with three faces. The finish on the blade is not up to my normal standards but time got the best of me. I think it looks great if you don't inspect it too carefully but the flaws are evident if you do look for them. I want whoever gets this knife to not treat it as a piece of art but as a tool to be used every day.

The handle is made from Madrone and African Blackwood using the hidden dowel method. It's secured with beeswax so it can be removed and reseated easily by adding just enough heat to melt the wax. The finish is Tru-Oil.

I sharpened it with a different edge that I'm experimenting with. For my own knives I've always brought them up to at least 3000 grit before stropping, and if I'm feeling motivated I'll polish the edge at 8000 grit before stropping. I like the knife to feel like a razor and just drop through food with minimal effort. The downside is that when the blade begins to loose the keen edge it just stops cutting because there are no micro-serrations to fall back on, especially in food like tomatoes or peppers. Feedback from some people I have using my knives was that they didn't like this. So Instead I've been experimenting with sharpening kitchen knives on a 400 grit stone with very light pressure to give a fine edge but with some tooth, then spend a fair bit of time on a leather strop charged with green chromium oxide compound. I've found this to be a pretty good edge for everyday use. The strop polishes the edge so it feels extremely sharp but the micro-serrations keep it cutting over time.

KRRmRI2.jpg


WyywEQt.jpg


YuSP8Aa.jpg
 
Here's my submission. This is a 225mm gyuto made from 0.084" AEB-L. I chose to make a knife that's designed to be used, not a showpiece. As such I gave it a faceted convex grind with three faces. The finish on the blade is not up to my normal standards but time got the best of me. I think it looks great if you don't inspect it too carefully but the flaws are evident if you do look for them. I want whoever gets this knife to not treat it as a piece of art but as a tool to be used every day.

The handle is made from Madrone and African Blackwood using the hidden dowel method. It's secured with beeswax so it can be removed and reseated easily by adding just enough heat to melt the wax. The finish is Tru-Oil.

I sharpened it with a different edge that I'm experimenting with. For my own knives I've always brought them up to at least 3000 grit before stropping, and if I'm feeling motivated I'll polish the edge at 8000 grit before stropping. I like the knife to feel like a razor and just drop through food with minimal effort. The downside is that when the blade begins to loose the keen edge it just stops cutting because there are no micro-serrations to fall back on, especially in food like tomatoes or peppers. Feedback from some people I have using my knives was that they didn't like this. So Instead I've been experimenting with sharpening kitchen knives on a 400 grit stone with very light pressure to give a fine edge but with some tooth, then spend a fair bit of time on a leather strop charged with green chromium oxide compound. I've found this to be a pretty good edge for everyday use. The strop polishes the edge so it feels extremely sharp but the micro-serrations keep it cutting over time.

KRRmRI2.jpg


WyywEQt.jpg


YuSP8Aa.jpg
Beautiful work!!!
 
Here's my submission.
It's a simple 5 incher, a size I use often at home when I'm preparing something simple. I have had the opportunity to use some iterations of my kitchen knives, and I've developed some preferences.
First, I really like the convenience of stainless. This one is CPM154, with sub-zero treatment, and it measured at 61RC.
Second, polished finishes don't last at all. I've been experimenting with a few different finishes, and this is my latest. It's first polished to 600, and then blasted to a satin finish with glass beads at low pressure. It will still show use, but it lasts longer than polished.

Third, I've gone a full circle with the handle shape. As most, I started with very blocky handles, mostly two dimensional. I evolved into very contoured, 3d shapes, with finger notches. But I discovered that a heavily "ergonomic" handle is a single grip handle, and in the kitchen I tend to change the grip depending on what I'm doing. My latest style is for generally square profiles, but with relatively thin scales, and continuous profile curvature so they don't look "squarish".

The handle is maple burl, first stabilized, and then, as a final pass once finished, soaked in low viscosity epoxy, and bloated dry. It still retains the original wood texture, while being quite waterproof, and ensuring a very thorough sealing with the tang.

2gbIeaM.jpg


Cheers,
Alex
 
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Mine is finished as well. Working to get pictures up ASAP.
This is my standard 8.5-inch gyuto design. It is 26c3 steel hardened to 62rc. The handle is a natural canvas micarta frame handle with a micarta pin. The blade has a mustard/vinegar etch finish to give the knife some character. The blade was finished to a65 trizact off the grinder followed by a fine surface conditioning belt. I intentionally left the blade at that finish as I see this as a durable, hard use knife.
xae1Y65.jpg

9Hi26FF.jpg

rEM9RSn.jpg
 
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Thisis the list of people completing knives this stunner:

TheEdge01
Kmf600
CallumRD1
Gammarad
Skiller1nc

Plus mine which will be finished when I’m feeling better. I will send mine to one of the four members after a random draw who finished once completed.

Can the four of you either PM me (or email at wjkrywko at gmail dot com) your mailing info.

did I miss anyone? I’ll leave this one more day to make sure I didn’t miss anyone. I’ll do the draw either tomorrow evening or Friday morning.

The submissions look great.
 
I am in! just have to sharpen. will post pics tonight. 15n20 with box elder Burl and wenge.
 

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I’ve done the draw, and will send out shipping info tonight. When you mail your knife, include a note with the specs, and let the recipient know if you would like feedback on the forum, or in private. Let me know tomorrow if you did not receive your shipping info.
 
Sorry, I can’t shake my headache. I’ll send the emails tomorrow morning. Everything is blurry. This flu is really keeping me down. Sorry guys.
 
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