Starting a 100% Made in USA Production Cooking Knife Company - Would Love some Feedback

What is your prefered handle material?

  • Stabilized Wood

    Votes: 25 43.1%
  • G10

    Votes: 18 31.0%
  • Micarta (linen)

    Votes: 9 15.5%
  • Micarta (paper)

    Votes: 6 10.3%
  • Richlite

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    58
Joined
Mar 26, 2018
Messages
36
Hey guys!

I'm trying to find out what your preference is re: knife handle materials for kitchen knives. I'm especially interested materials that can be CNC cut rather than animal horns/bones etc because they aren't sufficiently standardized to be CNC'ed
So, with that, if you were in the market for a cooking knife (chef, santoku, bread, paring, etc), would you prefer your handles to be made from:
1- Stabilized wood
2- G10
3- Micarta
4- Richlite (environmentally friendly)
I've included a poll so you can vote, if you want. I'll publish the anonymous results if you guys want me to.
Thanks so much!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hi! If you'd like to market your knives here my preference would be for you to purchase the proper membership level to do so and support this forum!
 
Hey Insipid Moniker. I thought (incorrectly) that bladeforums was totally free. Did not realize there were different levels of membership! Looking at Platinum vs. Knifemaker levels - they seem quite similar. Any suggestions?

P.S. The knives are NOT for sale yet, and are still pre-production. Truly just wanted to get opinions on handle materials. Am not marketing anything.
 
Hey Insipid Moniker. I thought (incorrectly) that bladeforums was totally free. Did not realize there were different levels of membership! Looking at Platinum vs. Knifemaker levels - they seem quite similar. Any suggestions?

P.S. The knives are NOT for sale yet, and are still pre-production. Truly just wanted to get opinions on handle materials. Am not marketing anything.
I would guess a knifemaker or dealer membership would be best, but the people most qualified to let you know would be the mod staff! They're really helpful!

As for my knife handle preference, I'm very partial to linen micarta. Looking forward to seeing your knives and good luck!

Oh, also I'll see if I can notify the mods that you have some questions. :)
 
A knife maker membership is appropriate if you are selling or promoting your company. If you omit your company name and contact information, and don't let on that you are a knife company in your posts, you can ask questions about opinions as a registered member. I'll tweak the wording of your opening post to demonstrate.
 
I'm good with stabilized wood.
 
I just cast a vote for G-10. Because most of the Spyderco knives that I do a lot of hard work with are G-10 handled and they seem to do quite well for the most part. But I could live with just about anything you have in the overall selection you put up. A USA made knife company always gets my interest. I wish you extremely well in your ventures and hope your dream comes to fruition.

Also with all the culinary knives I have that are not Spyderco and I'm speaking of J.A. Henckel in particular>> most of those have some type of black polymer type handle that I find is easy to clean and maintain and I wouldn't mind seeing something like that.

My other Spyderco knives I use in the kitchen and for field dressing and game processing have FRN ( fiberglass, reinforced nylon) handles and I forget what type of polymer handle the Spyderco models K-04 & K-05 have but they are nice as well.

I'm just not as particular on handle materials like many of my Brethren here at BF are>> just as long as they are relatively easy to clean, maintain and keep sanitary and have good purchase/grip I'll be fine with them. Good luck and please keep us posted. >>> JD
 
I just cast a vote for G-10. Because most of the Spyderco knives that I do a lot of hard work with are G-10 handled and they seem to do quite well for the most part. But I could live with just about anything you have in the overall selection you put up. A USA made knife company always gets my interest. I wish you extremely well in your ventures and hope your dream comes to fruition.

Also with all the culinary knives I have that are not Spyderco and I'm speaking of J.A. Henckel in particular>> most of those have some type of black polymer type handle that I find is easy to clean and maintain and I wouldn't mind seeing something like that.

My other Spyderco knives I use in the kitchen and for field dressing and game processing have FRN ( fiberglass, reinforced nylon) handles and I forget what type of polymer handle the Spyderco models K-04 & K-05 have but they are nice as well.

I'm just not as particular on handle materials like many of my Brethren here at BF are>> just as long as they are relatively easy to clean, maintain and keep sanitary and have good purchase/grip I'll be fine with them. Good luck and please keep us posted. >>> JD

Thanks for your feedback JD! Incredibly appreciative. We're very focused on ensuring that the knives are as bomb-proof as possible. Given how varied the responses are (poll pretty evenly split between G10, stabilized wood, and micarta), and the fact that there is almost no difference in our ability to shape the handles, we'll probably push out several options. Rivets will all be flush with the scales, and they are all highly sanitary. Looking forward to getting this up and running soon!
 
Many mainstream commercial kitchen knives from the well-known brands use POM (Polyoxymethylene), which I didn't see mentioned in your poll.

Whatever you go with needs to be able to handle a kitchen environment. Being left sitting in water overnight, the heat and detergents from a dishwasher, etc. Even though it's a bad idea to machine-wash kitchen knives, people will do it.

Also, whatever you use should not put off toxic fumes if the handle comes in contact with active burners on a stove. It may ruin the handles and damage the knife, but you don't want it also killing or sickening customers or their pets.

Be careful with your branding. If you stick with "Artisan & Revere" you may run into some discussions with the folks at Corelle Brands, who own the Revere / Revereware brand names as well as Chicago Cutlery.
 
My vote would be G-10, Wood, or Linen Micarta they are the ones I find best suited to regular kitchen use.
 
I vote for g10 because its the least common on the kitchen knives I've looked at that interest me recently. I will say I havent been actively looking at culinary blade offerings, so they may be more common. On production stuff it is pretty uncommon for me to see, so it seems fun to change that. Plus the colors available open up many different looks without difference in manufacturing or pricing being very noticeable.
Also from a manufacturing viewpoint, since g10 is the only one of these materials that actually has a 'standard' resin/fiber/cure process recipie, then it would be the most consistent across the most suppliers.

Maybe I'm off about that, but it seems logical. Probably not anything that would make a difference unless your scale gets pretty massive.
 
Many mainstream commercial kitchen knives from the well-known brands use POM (Polyoxymethylene), which I didn't see mentioned in your poll.

Whatever you go with needs to be able to handle a kitchen environment. Being left sitting in water overnight, the heat and detergents from a dishwasher, etc. Even though it's a bad idea to machine-wash kitchen knives, people will do it.

Also, whatever you use should not put off toxic fumes if the handle comes in contact with active burners on a stove. It may ruin the handles and damage the knife, but you don't want it also killing or sickening customers or their pets.

Be careful with your branding. If you stick with "Artisan & Revere" you may run into some discussions with the folks at Corelle Brands, who own the Revere / Revereware brand names as well as Chicago Cutlery.

John, a lot of really fantastic points! Thank you so much!
All of the above materials should be able to handle (pun unintentional) the abuse of a professional or home kitchen, with the exception of one: stabilized wood. That's according to several scale suppliers I've spoke with. G10, richlite and micarta are all essentially bombproof and stable.
Branding is a good point. I'll have my attorney look into it, but I think we're safe. Oneida, for instance has a line called "Oneida Paul Revere". It is def worth looking into further though.
Re: POM - it's extremely inexpensive, which is why it is so prevalent in German and cheap Chinese cutlery. I'm curious if you find it to be somewhat "cheap" feeling? For instance, Wusthof uses it on their classic line, which I own a full set of, and if you take off the red trident logo, it just looks and feels like something Dexter would use. However, if others totally disagree, PLEASE let me know - maybe I'm totally off on this point. I'm not a professional chef, but many chefs I've spoken with like to have their knives be sleek and not too grippy so they can rapidly change grips. Maybe we'll redo the poll in a week?
Just so you get a bit more insight into my thinking, this is NOT a cost cutting exercise for me, and I'm not a fan of minimalism. I want my products to be functional, highly ergonomic, and beautiful. I love Michael Zieba and Joel Bukiewicz knives for various reasons, and like theirs, I want my production knives to be artisanal quality, but at a fraction of the cost.
 
I am not a professional chef nor even an especially skilled home cook, though I do have some basic knowledge and preferences for kitchen knives. My knife needs for the rest of my life are already covered, so I am not personally in the market for new ones.

I have a couple of kitchen knives with handles made from linen micarta, one with POM, a couple with ABS resin, some with resin-infused Pakkawood of different types, and one with tagayasan ironwood. These are all just regular production knives, no customs.

I only mentioned POM as an option you left off. That may have been intentional. I am just a casual poster making a couple of comments from a layman's perspective.
 
ArtisanRevere ArtisanRevere is your intended market professional chefs or home kitchen cutlery? While there will often be similarities there are going to be some diversions from one to the other.
 
@PirateSuelb - great question. The answer is: both. I want this knife to be comfortable for almost any user and almost every setting. I'm planning to use a high end PM steel that has great edge retention, wear resistance, and we're planning to harden to ~61-62Rc, so customers shouldn't have to resharpen as frequently as with traditional German, Swedish or Japanese steels. I've also spoken with a few rock-star handmade knife makers about their geometries, and we're learning from and borrowing from their best practices. I'm doing everything to ensure the knife will be able to take lots of abuse, but I think we'll also offer options re: handle materials. So those who have the luxury of washing and drying by hand, stabilized maple or cocobolo, etc. and for those who occasionally drop it into a dirty/wet sink or dishwasher - G10, micarta, and Richlite/Paperstone. Am I missing anything in terms of thinking about the professional kitchen?
 
I am not a professional chef nor even an especially skilled home cook, though I do have some basic knowledge and preferences for kitchen knives. My knife needs for the rest of my life are already covered, so I am not personally in the market for new ones.

I have a couple of kitchen knives with handles made from linen micarta, one with POM, a couple with ABS resin, some with resin-infused Pakkawood of different types, and one with tagayasan ironwood. These are all just regular production knives, no customs.

I only mentioned POM as an option you left off. That may have been intentional. I am just a casual poster making a couple of comments from a layman's perspective.
jc57 jc57 - Wow - awesome variety! By the way, it's super helpful to me to get the feedback. I deeply appreciate it. I'd love to hear what you think about those different handle materials: linen, POM, ABS, pakka, (haven't even heard of tagayasan ironwood, though I looked it up just now and it looks beautiful). Do you like the grippiness of one over the others?
 
I vote for g10 because its the least common on the kitchen knives I've looked at that interest me recently. I will say I havent been actively looking at culinary blade offerings, so they may be more common. On production stuff it is pretty uncommon for me to see, so it seems fun to change that. Plus the colors available open up many different looks without difference in manufacturing or pricing being very noticeable.
Also from a manufacturing viewpoint, since g10 is the only one of these materials that actually has a 'standard' resin/fiber/cure process recipie, then it would be the most consistent across the most suppliers.

Maybe I'm off about that, but it seems logical. Probably not anything that would make a difference unless your scale gets pretty massive.
AndreLinoge AndreLinoge , all great points. I'm meeting with my the manufacturer of my scales in 2 weeks and we're going to go over a ton of different options. G10 will be a big focus for sure. I appreciate your thoughts!
 
G10 is a top contender in my view of this as well due to the versatility of the material it can be finished rough or smooth is machinable and comes in numerous color options.
 
AndreLinoge AndreLinoge , all great points. I'm meeting with my the manufacturer of my scales in 2 weeks and we're going to go over a ton of different options. G10 will be a big focus for sure. I appreciate your thoughts!

There is one category you are forgetting. Natural rosewood.

Woods like cocobolo, kingwood and African blackwood are naturally dense, waterproof and beautiful. If you are intetested, please send me an email.
 
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