# Haslinger 10" chefs



## JKerr (Jun 24, 2012)

Initially I was gonna stick this post into the " haslinger teaser" thread, but I thought this might be more appropriate.

I just took custody of one of Thomas' knives, a 10" chefs in s35vn and so far, I'm impressed. Here's some initial thoughts:

The steel for starts, sharpened ALOT easier than I was expecting, I used GS 500, 1k, 4k and a kitayama and it took about 15mins to put a steeper bevel on it and get it to shaving sharp. Burrs came up fast and left with a few passes. I'll agree with Jon that the steel has a "toothy" quality to it; kinda hard to explain unless you have it in hand. Obviously I can't comment on retention as of yet, but after I've put it through the paces at work for a couple weeks I'll post further thoughts.

Handle is great. Recently, I've become a fan of western handles and I'm really warming to the bolsterless style (like Harner, Randy's offering at Butcher and Baker and Haslinger's of course). Very comfortable, tang and pins are completely flush and the selected wood is stunning (curly koa).

Profile: This is something you'll love of hate. I'm a fan, though at the moment, I rotate a Sab nogent, an azuma minamoto gyuto, a TC blades gyuto, occasionally the odd bit of Sugimoto #6 and as of next week, Thomas' work. These knives couldn't be more different from each other. Sab= typical french; narrow (height), thick w/ good taper, jack of all trades; TC, actually quite french in profile, but single bevel, very thick, a real tank and best for protein or thin slices on veg (a la usuba), otherwise it's just plain awful on hard veg; AMM gyuto has a very flat profile and narrow blade (40mm) which lends to push cuts and slicing protein, really too narrow to pinch so I reckon it doesn't suit hard veg; as for the sugimoto #6, I don't really need to say anything. The point is, I'm probably not particularly great at push cutting, chopping, rocking, slicing but I believe I'm proficient at most of these techniques so I don't really have a preference. I like to think I can pick up just about any style of knife and get the job done. If you love flat profiles (Takeda, Saji, AMM etc...) and are content, then I can pretty much guarantee you will hate this knife. I'd say, it's kinda like someone smashed a germen and french knife together, the back half is pretty much flat then it's got a fat ol' belly to the tip, though at the same time the spine drops significantly so the tip isn't _too_ high and is a lot more nimble than the likes found on your typical german profiles (shun I suppose would be the infamous comparison). Much more like an antique sab at the tip; thin, narrow and VERY flexible. 

To touch on the issues in the pass around thread. A few mentioned the height of the blade was awkward. I think this may be relevant to the 8" chefs, mine is 54mm from heel to spine with the handle taking up 26mm which I feel offers plenty of clearance, I can comfortably pinch grip this, though I often switch grips depending on the task at hand. I'm not too sure what the standard height is on most knives out these, but this would definitely be one of my tallest (sugimoto CM might just be taller).
Steel: As mentioned, I'm impressed. Easy to grind, easy to deburr, I'll comment on retention further down the line.
Geometry: I'd agree with everyone on this point. It cuts well, but food just loves to stick to this blade. Doesn't bother me on most veg, but I cut a few potatoes for fondants and they really stuck bad, kinda like when you cut cold butter and it's hard enough to remove from the blade that the best option is to kinda slide and twist it off. There's more than enough steel so convex it so maybe I'll give that a try.

At the moment, I'm actually really excited at the prospect of putting this knife through it's paces at work cause I know it's gonna do some things well and I look forward to seeing what it'll struggle on. How could it be better just from initial impressions? Better food release for sure and I'm being greedy with this one, but it'd be nice if it came with a sheath of some sort (leather, rubber, whatever); although, judging from his handles, TH is obviously pretty good with wood working :whistling:

I'll try to get some pics up quick-smart.

Cheers,
Josh


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## JKerr (Jun 24, 2012)




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## chinacats (Jun 24, 2012)

Looks nice, thanks for the initial review, looking forward to a follow-up on the edge retention.


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## Eamon Burke (Jun 24, 2012)

Is the flat portion of that blade actually flat?


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## El Pescador (Jun 24, 2012)

Thanks for the review. It looks like you'd have to hold the knife upside down for any tip work. It just seems awkward. Keep us posted on how that works.


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## Crothcipt (Jun 24, 2012)

Nice review. I agree with the tip being looking like it is in a odd place.


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## JKerr (Jun 25, 2012)

> Is the flat portion of that blade actually flat?



Yeah, it's dead flat for about the first 6", before the belly starts.


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## JKerr (Jul 1, 2012)

Some thoughts after the first week.

Steel: Haven't touched up the edge since my initial sharpening and I'm pretty chuffed. Best retention of any steel I've used so far. We had a pretty big week with only myself and the head chef so it got a lot of board time, I'll mention that the boards at my work are cheapo plastic that feels rock solid, don't know what brand they are but they feel harder than most boards I've worked with previously.
It still _just_ shaves in places, but still looks good. No chipping so I may try and push the edge a little steeper.

Profile:
Definitely a weird one. Like I said in the OP, you'll either like it or hate it. I'm comfortable with it now, and it's not as awkward as it looks. The high tip is actually quite workable, personally though, I think it does have too much belly too late. I'd like it to be more like the sab, shorter flat area with a more gradual curve; probably facilitate slicing better too.

Geometry:
Although it looks kinda fat behind the edge, I actually think it cuts brilliantly. no problem splitting cabbage, hard cheeses, potatoes etc.. Sticktion on some foods was pretty bad though, especially potatoes which just didn't want to come off. So definitely an issue which needs to be addressed and if you work in a very high volume kitchen where you'll be cutting boxes and boxes of starchy veg, you wouldn't want this to be your go to knife, the food release issue does effect efficiency.

Ergonomics:
I'm loving this handle, super comfy, seamlessly finished and looks pretty neat too. Good size for my handles too. Spine and choil need to be smoothed out. They're not bad at the moment, but they're not great either.

So all up. I'm happy and for what I paid, I reckon it was a bargain. I think if TH were to address the food release issue and maybe makes a few subtle changes to the profile, alot of people here would love his knives. Especially those who work in commercial kitchens who, like me, don't have enough free time in the week to sharpen more than once. The steel is a little "toothy", but it cuts well, holds it's edge and still cuts well at the end of the week. If you have a preference towards super fine, stupidly sharp edges, probably not the best option for you.

Cheers,
Josh


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