# damascus blanks?



## cazten (Jan 15, 2012)

Does anyone know where you can get some reasonably priced Damascus knife blanks for kitchen style knives? Im not looking for any specific cut just kitchen cutlery in general. Everything i find seems to be pocket knife blanks.


----------



## WillC (Jan 15, 2012)

Randy, of this Parish, (HHH) sells larger blanks for kitchen knives. Very good prices too imho . Devin of course also sells a range of fabulous damascus in a range of materials. I think Delbert Ealy sells billets too. Welcome to the forum btw:biggrin:


----------



## Marko Tsourkan (Jan 15, 2012)

Devin Thomas damascus is probably the cleanest you will find anywhere, both in carbon and stainless. 
http://www.devinthomas.com/


----------



## Eamon Burke (Jan 15, 2012)

Wait, are you looking for thin barstock or precut knife blanks?


----------



## cazten (Jan 15, 2012)

pre-cut knife blanks. So the only thing Ill be needing to do is fabricate a handle and put on the final edge. I can etch it at well. Fabricating something out of a billet is far out of my realm.


----------



## El Pescador (Jan 15, 2012)

Del Ealy has told me he's put together a blank for a customer in the past.


----------



## Andrew H (Jan 15, 2012)

cazten said:


> pre-cut knife blanks. So the only thing Ill be needing to do is fabricate a handle and put on the final edge. I can etch it at well. Fabricating something out of a billet is far out of my realm.



If you want the knife to perform well you will also need to grind in a taper and grind the blade face. I'm sure you could work something out with a maker here for them to do this work and leave the handle off.


----------



## tk59 (Jan 15, 2012)

Andrew H said:


> If you want the knife to perform well you will also need to grind in a taper and grind the blade face. I'm sure you could work something out with a maker here for them to do this work and leave the handle off.


 Yeah. You really can't call a knife-shaped bar with an edge a kitchen knife. What you're looking for is an unsharpened blade sans handle.


----------



## cazten (Jan 15, 2012)

tk59 said:


> Yeah. You really can't call a knife-shaped bar with an edge a kitchen knife. What you're looking for is an unsharpened blade sans handle.



Correct, thats why I said I only wanted to apply a final edge and handle. I guess thats not a "blank" then 

Im actually talking with HHH right now about a kiritsuke Gyuto- in carbon steel, his damascus was to much for me.


----------



## tk59 (Jan 16, 2012)

Ah. What kind of steel are you looking at?


----------



## Taz575 (Jan 16, 2012)

Jantz Supply sells VG-10 core, SS damascus blades that are fully ground, heat treated, finished, etc; they just need the handles attached. I've used a few of their paring knife blanks (3", 4 5/8" and 5 1/8") and they were pretty nice. They take and hold a nice edge and look great. 

I would love to see some makers on here offer some blades where we would just need to add the handles and sharpen them, maybe in O-1 with a satin belt finish? I enjoy doing my own handles on the knives, but it's a challenge to find good kitchen knife blades! There are only 2 I like, but they are limited in terms of sizes/styles.


----------



## Eamon Burke (Jan 16, 2012)

Considering most knives come ootb unsharp, you just want a knife with no handle, really. Just knock the old handle off!

Not to be snarky, but for kitchen knives there isn't a point where it becomes simple to make/put together, honestly.


----------



## tk59 (Jan 16, 2012)

Yup. You can go with a Japanese blade and knock off the handle. A lot of us here have done it. Carter also makes his lower end knives with basic handles that you won't feel bad about discarding. You can ask for them to come unsharpened sometimes. I'll be curious to know what route you decide to take and how things turn out.


----------



## Taz575 (Jan 16, 2012)

Most of us don't have access to heat treating equipment where we can be consistent and accurate with it. I tried making my own knives years ago and doing the heat treat with carbon steels, but I didn't have the right stuff and most failed. It takes a lot of practice to do it properly and to have very good control over the variables, which puts a top notch heat treatment out of the hands of most of us unless we send it out to someone. They we have to be careful with the thickness and do a good bit of grinding after it's hardened and not ruin the temper on the hard edges. 

As for buying a knife and rehandling it, yes, that is an option, but then you are limited to what is available! I am looking for an either all carbon or carbon core and SS clad Nakiri with a 7" blade and a western style handle, no bolster. I haven't found that blade anywhere yet except for the Fujiwara Terayasu Maboroshi no Meito, but it has a bolster and is pretty pricey! 

For me, getting a blade w/o the handles, a la kit form, and assembling it is a ton of fun. Grinding and heat treating and polishing the blades, well, that isn't really fun for me!


----------



## ajhuff (Jan 16, 2012)

Sounds reasonable to me!

-AJ


----------



## tk59 (Jan 16, 2012)

Who said anything about heat treating?

I'm pretty sure there are several nice options for a carbon steel nakiri as long as you're not married to the exact 7" mark that is commonly used by german mass producers. Most Japanese are closer to 6.5".

http://www.epicedge.com/shopexd.asp?id=324
http://www.japaneseknifeimports.com/kitchen-knives-by-type/nakiri/yoshihiro-165mm-skd-nakiri.html
http://www.cutleryandmore.com/tojiro-hammered-black/carbon-steel-nakiri-knife-p115464
http://www.japaneseknifeimports.com/kitchen-knives-by-type/nakiri/zakuri-165mm-blue-1-nakiri.html


http://www.cutleryandmore.com/tojiro-hammered-black/carbon-steel-nakiri-knife-p115464


----------



## cazten (Jan 16, 2012)

Yeah let's be clear here since people seem to be taking it all over the map. I'm looking for pre-made finished blades. Ground out to shape, hardened, ect ect ect ect. I have 2 simple tasks I wish to add to it
1. A final edge.
2. A custom handle.

Maybe a coating or finish on the blade its' self if it's applicable. 

If it requires more than those 2 or 3 tasks above then it's not wht I'm looking for. I'm not trying to self heat treat glowing hot steel into buckets of oil :bigeek:

I'm a hair away from pulling the trigger on a HHH k-tip gyuto blade. Carbon steel, not Damascus. What do you guys think of his blades?


----------



## tk59 (Jan 16, 2012)

He hasn't been making kitchen knives here long enough to have a reputation. Based on what I've seen here up to this point, I'd say they aren't "bad" knives. I'm going to be seeing a couple of them, in person for the first time, possibly tomorrow.


----------



## Eamon Burke (Jan 16, 2012)

Right, you are saying you want to put a nice custom handle on it and sharpen it yourself. Most kitchen knives that aren't high-end customs come with plain-jane handles and are sharpened as basically as possible, to appease the masses. So you are really just in the market for a knife. It is not only common, but often standard procedure, that when you buy a knife you like, you sharpen it just how you like it and get some new pants for it.

This is good news for you, what I'm saying is that 99% of all knives fit this bill.


----------



## Lefty (Jan 17, 2012)

If you just want a "customizable" knife, I'd go with a Carter SFGZ and make your own handle (like many of us have). You can even polish it up, going at it with 200, 400, 800, 1500 grit wet dry. One thing you really won't NEED to do is resharpen it. Murray puts what has become my standard for an edge on your new knife. Personally, if I can replicate what comes from him, I know my edge is how I want it. 
One thing I will mention, as well...TK has incredibly high standards, and doesn't give any maker the benefit of the doubt (even Devin Thomas!!!), so understand when he says HHH makes "not bad" knives, that is purely because he hasn't experienced one himself and he is going based on everyone else's opinion. To be honest, Randy has very quickly gained favour with many members, and is generally seen as a great up and coming maker. *Tinh, I'm not knocking you in the slightest, by the way.*


----------



## ajhuff (Jan 17, 2012)

I understand where you are coming from Caz. It's more rewarding to make something from a blank than to modify a knife that you bought even if it's basically the same thing and the difference is mental. Follow your own path and pull the trigger with Randy. He won't do you wrong and you'll be much more satisfied.


----------



## cazten (Jan 17, 2012)

I just pulled the trigger on a premade blank from Randy. I thought his designs looked cool and its kinda neat to actually have a hand crafted custom altered design you cant buy off a shelf.

I'd definitely say to anyone one here if your considering an order with him he is a top notch A+ guy to work with. Probably the best online transaction I've ever made, and I've made alot.


----------



## Lefty (Jan 17, 2012)

He is pretty awesome! We chit chat occasionally, and I don't even own one of his knives! Haha


----------

