martinhuber
Maker of Knives, lover of Rectangles
Thank you so much!I must reiterate my love for Martin's handles as well
Happy you like the B&B <3
Thank you so much!I must reiterate my love for Martin's handles as well
We made the birch (nonbark) version for people who disslike the birchbark...i know i dont understand either why somebody doesnt like it..I still think it's a missed opportunity that there's a Birch bark bolster version and a curly birch wood version, but not a double birch version. It's B&B! BIRCH & BIRCH!
Congrats!This is a late feedback post.
First, I want to thank @Gshep91 for allowing me to participate in this pass-around.
Second, I want to thank @Malcolm Johnson & @SwampDonkey for their excellent communication and availability.
Now, let’s get on the knife.
Knife is nimble and fun to use. Thin behind the edge with a zero grind. I did not touch the edge and I did not polish. Just a quick strop on leather. It was bad timing for me. Received the knife when my son was born and since then have not had much time to even cook or play with knives. Wish I had more free time to play with it. I liked the material of the handle and the steel was good.
Overall it is very similar to my Eddysworks in the sense of the fingernotch, steel, and feel. Just a bit lighter. Everyone’s taste is different, but I am leaning more and more toward workhorses which are heavier knives. And this was the only thing that didn’t stick with me with this knife. I also have a Yoshikane 180 mm Gyuto that’s on the light side and has not seen much use. But that’s me! The knife is well constructed with a good F&F and the handle is comfy with good material. D shape was fine for me. Fingernotch it's true that u lose some mm on the heel when using the knife, but it didn't bother me at all.
I prepped only 2-3 meals with it and the knife served the purpose well.
Again, thanks, everyone!
For those interested in the 250:
Mine came in, with the best packaging I've seen on a knife. Very much gives you the impression you purchased a high quality product. The knife's edge is 254x55mm and weighs 195 g.
It basically addresses any gripes I had with the 230. Nice forward balance, making the knife feel a little more substantial than the weight would have you think, strong distal taper, rounded and comfortable choil/spine, and a deliciously sized ~flat spot for push cutters and choppers. It isn't purely flat as shown in pics below and doesn't have a hard stop like a Yoshikane, so you can still rock if you like but this knife seems more geared towards pushers (good!). Excellent factory edge, cleanly sliced paper towels and occasionally wants to bite into my cutting board. The extra length/larger "flat" spot negates my beef with the finger notch and it is now back to being a comfy positive. I must reiterate my love for Martin's handles as well.
I haven't been able to cut with it a whole lot and won't until Thanksgiving, but the 250 feels more confident and less delicate than the 230, which wasn't delicate in its own right per se, but I was inclined to be more conscious of my cuts/technique rather than drunkenly blasting through produce like a workhorse. The convex grind feels fairly subtle, though I've only been side by side testing with a heavily convex Okubo workhorse so I need to spot check against a few other knives. Silent, smooth cutting on big carrots, and excellent on onions, but I noticed some stiction on butternut squash. Playing with technique helped but I ran out of squash before I had unlocked the cheat code. Definitely better food release than my Yoshikane 240. All in all it reminds me a lot of a Kochi 240 but I like the profile, balance, and weight better on the B&B. Doesn't feel as delicate as the Kochi or Yoshi.
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This is a late feedback post.
First, I want to thank @Gshep91 for allowing me to participate in this pass-around.
Second, I want to thank @Malcolm Johnson & @SwampDonkey for their excellent communication and availability.
Now, let’s get on the knife.
Knife is nimble and fun to use. Thin behind the edge with a zero grind. I did not touch the edge and I did not polish. Just a quick strop on leather. It was bad timing for me. Received the knife when my son was born and since then have not had much time to even cook or play with knives. Wish I had more free time to play with it. I liked the material of the handle and the steel was good.
Overall it is very similar to my Eddysworks in the sense of the fingernotch, steel, and feel. Just a bit lighter. Everyone’s taste is different, but I am leaning more and more toward workhorses which are heavier knives. And this was the only thing that didn’t stick with me with this knife. I also have a Yoshikane 180 mm Gyuto that’s on the light side and has not seen much use. But that’s me! The knife is well constructed with a good F&F and the handle is comfy with good material. D shape was fine for me. Fingernotch it's true that u lose some mm on the heel when using the knife, but it didn't bother me at all.
I prepped only 2-3 meals with it and the knife served the purpose well.
Again, thanks, everyone!
Thank you for the generous review and continued support. It's very nice to read that you have been following the evolution of this knife from its MCX beginnings. The Gen1 MCX is still one of my favourites at home also and Fredrik's super Damascus is some of the best around for sure.Review time!
Was able to use the knife a little bit over the past few days and I've been impressed with it each time. I have not sharpened it, just a couple passes on a plain leather strop. First job was a sweet potato and it made it through without hesitation. Very smooth pressure and no hitches. The next day I diced up an onion and again was impressed with the knife. Not sure when the edge was last refreshed, but still easily swiped through the onion horizontal cuts and the edge bit in nicely on the vertical cuts as well. Felt like there as a normal amount of food stiction when finishing the dice - no takeda like release, but no complaints either. Last prep was cutting up some broccoli and slicing up steak. The thin tip made quick work breaking down a couple heads of broccoli. Nice, easy, quick...exactly what I'm looking for when it's time to get dinner ready.
Overall thoughts:
This was my first knife having the excellent handle work from @martinhuber. The handle size is just right, provides a comfortable amount of space before the choil with the finger notch, f&f is smooth at every transition, and it looks good doing it. Really appreciate the craftsmanship that went in to this one!
This is the 5th knife from @Fredrik Spåre that I've had the pleasure of using . This reminded me most of the Gen1 MCX honyaki with the somewhat higher grind and taper down to a thin tip. I would say this is my 2nd favorite of the 5 I've tried falling only behind a Spare damascus that I really love. (The damascus is a thicker overall blade, but carries the grind up a little higher so it matches this on ease of cutting.) This feels like a knife that can be carried by the excellent grind even when the edge starts to fade. I don't envision it having trouble with anything you could throw at it in the normal course of cooking. It's comfortable in hand and nimble enough to prep the whole meal without having to switch blades if you wanted. Overall really impressed and had to fight off some strong temptation to snag one with the masur birch handles they have posted up on Modern Cooking right now.
Couple action shots attached and some next to my Damascus blade from Fredrik.
Thanks to @Gshep91 for the generosity of sharing such a fun knife. @rgar4012 I'll shoot you a pm to keep this thing moving!
Saw this review comparing the two different versions of this knife. I have the Masur handled 230 version, and I think the review is SPOT on with my experience using the knife. I put a steeper and larger edge on the microbevel and the edge is screaming sharp now. From what I see in web pictures of the two knives and in the video of the two knives, they appear different in grind. The Masur version isn’t ground as high and the lower shoulders impact the cutting. I get cracking on larger carrots much like the video. I find the lower shoulders help with separation. I’m not sure, but at some point, I might trying thinning down the shoulders. I haven’t had the knife long and I don’t want to rework it though, and I really don’t know if I really need it changed.
My concern with thinning is how involved the work would be time wise.
All that being said, I LOVE the handle and the knife is outstanding value wise.
Make some noise Canada!So it looks like this is at the second to last person in the US -
Is there anyone that commented they wanted to try it but their name isn’t on the list? Let me know ASAP.
Also there was some interest from a couple Canadians, if that is still the case then let me know as well and we can organize something up there. @KasumiJLA i know you were interested, anyone else?
Make some noise Canada!
ApexUltra in wrought is what I'm currently hyped on. Fredrik did a "new and old" gyuto a while back with X-hundred year old iron from a cathedral or something that looked pretty sweet.So, over the next few days the Birch & Bevel team will be meeting in Austria to do a little development work.
I thought I’d throw it out to you guys and see if you have any thoughts on either our mono steel or laminate?
Things you would like to see from us?
Perhaps a specific laminate?
A profile?
There are no bad suggestion and all are welcome
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