# American Knives



## Paul6001 (Nov 15, 2019)

I’m a newbie to the knife world. As of two months ago, I’d never heard of an American knife maker. As of a month ago, I’d heard of Bob Kramer, mostly because of the wild prices he got for some of his knives. As of now, I’m no expert, but I know a few names, including the esteemed Dave Martell, of course. 

Just now, I’m paging through the Home Butcher site, home to a large selection of American knives. Lot of great looking knives, most of whom are made to the highest standards, I’m sure. But, generally speaking, they are crazy expensive. The average prices easily exceed those charged by even the most respected Japanese makers. I’m reticent to name a specific American, but a non-scientific survey shows that virtually every American on the Home Butcher site charges more—a lot more—than Fujiwara Teruyasu, a maker known for charging more than pretty much every one else in Japan. 

My second reaction: these American makers are laboring in obscurity. Outside of this forum, no one has ever heard of them. I’m guessing that people like Delbert Ealy, Gilbert McCann, and Salem Straub—to pick some names at random—are making terrific knives. But I’ve never seen one of their products. I don’t know if he wants to be more popular, but maybe if Straub wasn’t charging $1,375 for a 240mm chefs knife . . .


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## RDalman (Nov 15, 2019)

It's a bad idea to generalize, but I think many makers do not want to be compared to the japanese knife production and measured by this forums standards, so they stay away from here. 

I believe if you talk around to people in private you might get more info on specific makers and what is what. Some probably do stay at "art" mostly and don't put too much effort in functionality.


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## valgard (Nov 15, 2019)

A lot of western makers get much more exposure from instagram than the forum actually.


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## Dendrobatez (Nov 15, 2019)

Valgard is pretty spot on, instagram seems to be a good spot for american makers to show their work. There's plenty of makers in america with decent prices too. The artful expensive knifes are what brings the views in but like I said there's plenty of good Smith's with affordable prices out there.


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## daddy yo yo (Nov 15, 2019)

I guess most „Western“ makers (I don’t want to limit this statement to only Americans) use Instagram nowadays much more than any other platform...


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## madelinez (Nov 15, 2019)

I find most full-time western makers tend to focus on higher quality knives with more attention to small cosmetic details. There are a lot of really good Japanese knifemakers that make great knives (functionally) for $300-450. Typically though they don't go the final mile (that honestly probably takes more time than the rest of the process) so what you get is functionally a good knife with a number of small defects. They also generally produce a very small range of knives and push these out in volume. The only functional thing that you miss out on in my opinion is the more time consuming grinds like convex to help with food release. Or occasionally with some makers a less than ideal profile where you'll get accordion vegetables. These are all broad generalizations and of course there are a few Japanese makers that focus in the higher quality region.

Western makers seem to offer a way greater range of steels, profiles, grinds and generally offer some quirky stuff. They also tend to start at the medium end of the price bracket going all the way up to the insane end and the quality generally mirrors this. The customer service and flexibility also tends to be excellent. I love my relatively cheaper Japanese knives but it can be a nice experience dealing with a western maker. The price might seem obscene but the amount of labor (and throw-away failures) that goes into creating unique knives is significant, additionally things like making their own Damascus, san mai or integrals all take a lot of time compared to the pre-made stuff a lot of Japanese smiths use. 

I suspect the reason they don't get more attention is simply because most people don't want to spend that kind of money.


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## madelinez (Nov 15, 2019)

Oh and of course the most well known Japanese makers are actually small teams. If you've ever seen photos/videos of Takeda's workshop it operates more like a factory production line than what most people probably realise. They'll create 30 210mm gyutos at the same time, one guy will do the forging, another will grind, another will sharpen, another will attach the handles. When you can create 20x as many knives, you're selling to 20x as many people and you're going to be far more widely known.


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## Xenif (Nov 15, 2019)

Here are two examples of American Knives (actually both New York) 100 years apart. Don't think America ever stop making knives, just how we perceives knives, theirs ergo/economics have changed.





Bonus points if you can name the plane


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## Interapid101 (Nov 15, 2019)

Looks like a P-51A.

+1 on the Instagram presence for knifemakers. Prices can be all over the place. Do not use the retail prices of Homebutcher.com as representative of prices you could find from other retailers or especially from the makers directly.


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## Jaszer13 (Nov 15, 2019)

American Makers are all (for the most part) handmade and small batch forged. The attention to detail is much greater than most run of the mill Japanese knives IE; Masamoto, Tanaka, Shigefusa ...etc where you would pay $300-$500 for a mass produced knife. 

Most American makers are making unique knives with unique profiles every time. Very rarely do I see American makers make the same knife over and over again. For the 1K mark, most of the time you will be able to customize your knife and pick the handle material, geometry and even metal blend. 

I do although agree with you that sometimes American Makers demand a much higher premium when they build more notoriety. IE: Hazenberg used to sell his knives for $300-$500, try to get one from his auction and you are looking at $2K, same goes for Fell Knives and a few others.

If you are looking for a good custom american knife, my recommendation would be HSC///or Gambler Customs. You can get a great knife for under the $500 mark.


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## bahamaroot (Nov 15, 2019)

Paul6001 said:


> ...As of two months ago, I’d never heard of an American knife maker...


A very good American maker in right your neck of the woods --> Marko Tsourkan. Excellent prices for the quality of knife he produces too.


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## Corradobrit1 (Nov 15, 2019)

bahamaroot said:


> A very good American maker in right your neck of the woods --> Marko Tsourkan. Excellent prices for the quality of knife he produces too.


Yes, looking forward to putting one of his 230WH against my Kato's when it arrives in a few days.


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## Paul6001 (Nov 15, 2019)

One difference that's immediately obvious is the handles. Western makers clearly put more thought, time and effort into handles than the Japanese do. Most top of the line Japanese makers put relatively straightforward ho-wood handles on even their top models. Americans, on the other hand, see the handle as a chance to create art or to show off a bit.

(It hardly needs saying at this point, and so far this thread has been surprisingly free of P.C. hawks, but there are obviously exceptions to the generalities being used.)


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## Corradobrit1 (Nov 15, 2019)

Jaszer13 said:


> Most American makers are making unique knives with unique profiles every time. Very rarely do I see American makers make the same knife over and over again. For the 1K mark, most of the time you will be able to customize your knife and pick the handle material, geometry and even metal blend.
> .


Things are changing. Several makers, in order to make a viable living, are switching from unique limited edition or custom design knives to more standardized offerings eg Tsourkan, Catcheside, Dalman, Kamen, Xerxes to name a few. Other's have decided to leave the game altogether figuring the economics no longer make sense for them.


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## Paul6001 (Nov 15, 2019)

There may be trouble ahead on the Instagram front. The same 14-year old daughter who mocked me for using Facebook—"only old people use that"—tells me that the action has moved from Instagram to TikTok. I have no idea what's on TikTok but you need to get up pretty early to keep up with social media.


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## Paul6001 (Nov 15, 2019)

I


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## Paul6001 (Nov 16, 2019)

Those Marko Tsourkan knives are gorgeous albeit a little thick for my tastes. His site lists everything as sold out. Is he taking custom orders?

The question of buying another knife brings me to the precipice. I'm facing a crisis. I have all the knives I need. But I want more Do I become a collector?

A little background: My entry into the knife world was brought about by two things that coincidentally happened about the same time. First, I took a bad knee injury in a car accident in Mexico. (Fractured tibial plateau. Don't let this happen to you.) No weight bearing on my left leg for three months. I've got crutches, but it's essentially three months on my ass. Plenty of spare time to spend pointlessly on the internet.

Second, a chunk of the handle broke off my trusty Wusthof classic chef's knife, a faithful companion for almost two decades. After a period of mourning, I was ready to replace it with the same thing. After all, this is the best knife in the world, right? Isn't it what all the pros use? But before I could click buy, I remembered something Anthony Bourdain once said about Global knives.

Just on a whim, I did a little looking around for Global. The rest is history. And so Japanese knives became the latest material good in which my taste far exceeds my budget. First, I bought a used Shun gyuto off eBay for $80 to replace the Wusthof. So far so good. The damascus steel, something I'd never seen before, was gorgeous. So gorgeous, in fact, that soon a Shun santuko entered the picture. Both knives were terrific. (I assume their new owners are enjoying them now.)

You see, the gyotu was dull and I had a very hard time sharpening it. (My first attempt to sharpen a knife. Obviously my fault, not the knife.) And while it's a perfectly fine knife, it clearly wasn't going to win me any points in the KKF world. (Although KKF members quickly told me how to patch up the gyuto that I had destroyed on the whetstones so I couod recover something on resale.) Plus the santuko seemed to be pointless, pretty much the same thing as the gyotu. I stepped back and reevaluated.

By this point, Jon Broida was becoming something of a celebrity of sorts in my house. He faithfully and thoughtfully replied to all of my ridiculous emails. Korin and Yanagi are near me but they might as well have been on Mars for all the chance I had of getting to them. But with the internet supplying infinite information, I was ready to operate from home.

I started with a gyotu, my most basic need. A 210mm Waiku to be exact. Orgasmic. Enthralling. My sharpening skills were improving and I was no longer just cutting regular paper but magazine paper specifically.

I got a neat damascus paring knife—with a stainless handle, very cool—for $3 on eBay. I though about getting a petty but I always liked the Wusthof boning knife that I had used in that utility role. Same with the bread knife. Picked up a Tojiro nashiki from CKTG and a vintage deba from eBay with a great patina. (After a couple of weeks, I shined up the deba and began my hardest sharpening job to date.) A 1,000/6,000 sharpening stone and a leather strop.


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## Paul6001 (Nov 16, 2019)

And that's it. That's all I need. That's all any home cook could possibly need. More. I could probably get by with just a gyotu. From here on out, it's hard—maybe impossible—to justify any purchase. A $1,200 Masamoto yanagi is not exactly a necessity. I've never cut a piece of sashimi in my life and I'd probably be too scared to use it, anyway. There's an infinite number of stones, but to be honest, I really don't feel the need to get a 3,000 to fit between my 1,000 and my 6,000. There's nothing that I have that falls short in terms of performance. I'm stuck.

Should I learn to make my own knives? I should check with the neighbors downstairs but my Brooklyn brownstone isn't the ideal location. I've tried raising the subject with a few friends but they either patronize me or tell me that I'm crazy. I'm going to take a sharpening class at Korin but that's lasts only a couple of hours. 

I'm nearing the end of my period of solitary confinement and, once I'm released, I'll have a life again and my compulsion to do something knife-related might get lost in the traffic. For the moment, though, I'm jonesing. I'm jonesing something bad. I need a fix, man, I need to score.


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## DevinT (Nov 16, 2019)

You have much to learn grasshopper. 

Hoss


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## labor of love (Nov 16, 2019)

If I were you I’d do a lot of looking around on Instagram. There’s so many styles, levels of quality, different handle types, different steel types, levels of experience from different makers...just start following bladesmiths whose work looks appealing to you.


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## HSC /// Knives (Nov 16, 2019)

Jaszer13 said:


> American Makers are all (for the most part) handmade and small batch forged. The attention to detail is much greater than most run of the mill Japanese knives IE; Masamoto, Tanaka, Shigefusa ...etc where you would pay $300-$500 for a mass produced knife.
> 
> Most American makers are making unique knives with unique profiles every time. Very rarely do I see American makers make the same knife over and over again. For the 1K mark, most of the time you will be able to customize your knife and pick the handle material, geometry and even metal blend.
> 
> ...



thank you very much 



Paul6001 said:


> Just now, I’m paging through the Home Butcher site, home to a large selection of American knives. Lot of great looking knives, most of whom are made to the highest standards, I’m sure. But, generally speaking, they are crazy expensive. The average prices easily exceed those charged by even the most respected Japanese makers. I’m reticent to name a specific American, but a non-scientific survey shows that virtually every American on the Home Butcher site charges more—a lot more—than Fujiwara Teruyasu, a maker known for charging more than pretty much every one else in Japan.



in short, the USA is not a cheap country to live in...and it takes many hours to make a one off knife even in small batches


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## Chuckles (Nov 16, 2019)

It’s easy. Just buy a bunch of knives from BST on this site. Use them some and then sell them for a minimal loss. Repeat. It’s fun. And you can liquidate quickly when you have to.


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## Tim Rowland (Nov 16, 2019)

There are many "Western" custom makers that can be had for sub $500 with excellent FF. 
off the top of my head: 
Dan Eastland of Dogwood Customs
Nicholas Nichols
Joey Berry of J.B. Knifeworks
Kyle Daily of K.H. Daily Knives
Nafzger Forge
Jody Hale from Pie Cutlery
Ryan Pepper from 310 Knife Co.

If you delve into hobbyist western makers you can get a nice knife lower than that but will most likely have a longer wait time.


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## captaincaed (Nov 16, 2019)

Chuckles has a point. But if you start collecting, take my advice and don’t make a spreadsheet. You won’t want to know later.


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## Dendrobatez (Nov 16, 2019)

Lots for under $500
-Lewgriffin makes some beautiful s grinds
-Greg cimms has amazing fit and finish
-Federknives
-Orchard forge
-Knife science is making some decent knives especially for the price

It's already been mentioned but there's a lot of western makers who are starting production lines of knives too that are competing with pricing on more commonly available knives

Chuckles point is good too, I keep a knife fund in PayPal, when I run out of cash I sell knives so I can buy more


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## valgard (Nov 16, 2019)

Knife science? For real or are you being sarcastic?
That dude is a joke and can't even take constructive criticism without blocking whoever tried to help or critique his work (even on DM). And he doesn't understand basic geometry, let alone metallurgy, and he has the cheek to call himself 'science'.


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## Dendrobatez (Nov 16, 2019)

I have a 180 or 90 k-tip from him in W2 and its a great line knife, takes a lot of abuse and for the price I paid I dont mind abusing it. Grind wasnt bad, took 15 minutes on a 500grit to take it where I wanted. I dont disagree with you on your other points though


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## crockerculinary (Nov 16, 2019)

valgard said:


> Knife science? For real or are you being sarcastic?
> That dude is a joke and can't even take constructive criticism without blocking whoever tried to help or critique his work (even on DM). And he doesn't understand basic geometry, let alone metallurgy, and he has the cheek to call himself 'science'.


What are you talking about dude!? He is literally the greatest smith of our time, and the most expert knife expert ever ever. The whole of Japan’s knife community will run screaming like little girls when confronted by his greatness and the weight of his accomplishments. His work is completely flawless and I have a sneaking suspicion he may in fact be a god.


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## captaincaed (Nov 16, 2019)

Damn, apparently I missed the boat. Where can I go to find tales of his epic exploits?


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## valgard (Nov 16, 2019)

crockerculinary said:


> What are you talking about dude!? He is literally the greatest smith of our time, and the most expert knife expert ever ever. The whole of Japan’s knife community will run screaming like little girls when confronted by his greatness and the weight of his accomplishments. His work is completely flawless and I have a sneaking suspicion he may in fact be a god.


[emoji23]


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## valgard (Nov 16, 2019)

captaincaed said:


> Damn, apparently I missed the boat. Where can I go to find tales of his epic exploits?


He blocks and deletes most of the exchanges, and many of the most epic ones I know of happened through DM. But he's on IG, and before I was blocked he was a total trip, his rants were pretty good stand up comedy too.


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## M1k3 (Nov 16, 2019)

Hmm...


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## DitmasPork (Nov 16, 2019)

Paul6001 said:


> I’m a newbie to the knife world. As of two months ago, I’d never heard of an American knife maker. As of a month ago, I’d heard of Bob Kramer, mostly because of the wild prices he got for some of his knives. As of now, I’m no expert, but I know a few names, including the esteemed Dave Martell, of course.
> 
> Just now, I’m paging through the Home Butcher site, home to a large selection of American knives. Lot of great looking knives, most of whom are made to the highest standards, I’m sure. But, generally speaking, they are crazy expensive. The average prices easily exceed those charged by even the most respected Japanese makers. I’m reticent to name a specific American, but a non-scientific survey shows that virtually every American on the Home Butcher site charges more—a lot more—than Fujiwara Teruyasu, a maker known for charging more than pretty much every one else in Japan.
> 
> My second reaction: these American makers are laboring in obscurity. Outside of this forum, no one has ever heard of them. I’m guessing that people like Delbert Ealy, Gilbert McCann, and Salem Straub—to pick some names at random—are making terrific knives. But I’ve never seen one of their products. I don’t know if he wants to be more popular, but maybe if Straub wasn’t charging $1,375 for a 240mm chefs knife . . .



There're wonderful American makers producing fine J-style kitchen knives these days. IMO some of the very best are Marko Tsourkan, Shi Han, Comet, Halcyon Forge.

My Marko Tsourkan workhorse has become my undisputed go-to kitchen knife—like it more than my Kato.


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## captaincaed (Nov 16, 2019)

M1k3 said:


> Hmm...


You can't spell class without ....


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## danemonji (Nov 16, 2019)

I have a question about the knives which are made by western smiths...especially about the non san-mai (monolith) knives. Do they just cut the profile out of a steel plate sand it to shape and quench it? or do they forge it out of a billet and work out the shape and all? I would like to understand this forging process.


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## Barmoley (Nov 16, 2019)

danemonji said:


> I have a question about the knives which are made by western smiths...especially about the non san-mai (monolith) knives. Do they just cut the profile out of a steel plate sand it to shape and quench it? or do they forge it out of a billet and work out the shape and all? I would like to understand this forging process.



Both. Some forge some do stock removal, which what you described. Some use both methods.


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## Paul6001 (Nov 16, 2019)

I would have thought that narrative/tale of woe would have gotten a lot more play before everyone got back to grinds and steels. Maybe I should repost it in the new members area.


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## DitmasPork (Nov 16, 2019)

Paul6001 said:


> I’m a newbie to the knife world. As of two months ago, I’d never heard of an American knife maker. As of a month ago, I’d heard of Bob Kramer, mostly because of the wild prices he got for some of his knives. As of now, I’m no expert, but I know a few names, including the esteemed Dave Martell, of course.
> 
> Just now, I’m paging through the Home Butcher site, home to a large selection of American knives. Lot of great looking knives, most of whom are made to the highest standards, I’m sure. But, generally speaking, they are crazy expensive. The average prices easily exceed those charged by even the most respected Japanese makers. I’m reticent to name a specific American, but a non-scientific survey shows that virtually every American on the Home Butcher site charges more—a lot more—than Fujiwara Teruyasu, a maker known for charging more than pretty much every one else in Japan.
> 
> My second reaction: these American makers are laboring in obscurity. Outside of this forum, no one has ever heard of them. I’m guessing that people like Delbert Ealy, Gilbert McCann, and Salem Straub—to pick some names at random—are making terrific knives. But I’ve never seen one of their products. I don’t know if he wants to be more popular, but maybe if Straub wasn’t charging $1,375 for a 240mm chefs knife . . .



By the way, since you're in NYC, there're two local knife makers I know of, one is Marko Tsourkan, I've had two of his knives which I love.
https://www.tsourkanknives.com/

The other is Ruby Knives, which I know little about, but saw a few examples at a crafts fair in Brooklyn.
https://www.rubyknives.com/


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## valgard (Nov 16, 2019)

Back to topic. A Comet honyaki is a steal, just to use an example, you get lower price than most Japanese honyaki with much better fit and finish than almost any of them, better hamon and steel than most, better grind than most, better handle than all of them. The only thing he's not up to par is perhaps the narrative and folklore romance.


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## tgfencer (Nov 16, 2019)

Personally, I'd also make sure to pick someone who specializes in kitchen knives. A lot folks out there think they can make a good kitchen knife simply because they're adept at hunting or carving knives, but many of these end up being pretty mediocre.

As for the knife science guy, I can't speak to the quality of his work, but I have many issues with his approach and attitude, among which is that he tries to pull himself and his business up by tearing other people down. Not someone I'd ever give any of my money to.


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## valgard (Nov 16, 2019)

tgfencer said:


> Personally, I'd also make sure to pick someone who specializes in kitchen knives. A lot folks out there think they can make a good kitchen knife simply because they're adept at hunting or carving knives, but many of these end up being pretty mediocre.



Saw a sword guy post an abomination he called a kitchen knife recently, and you have to be amused at the levels of confidence .


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## Xenif (Nov 16, 2019)

valgard said:


> Back to topic. A Comet honyaki is a steal, just to use an example, you get lower price than most Japanese honyaki with much better fit and finish than almost any of them, better hamon and steel than most, better grind than most, better handle than all of them. The only thing he's not up to par is perhaps the narrative and folklore romance.


Needs Kanji! 彗星 chisled on every knife


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## madelinez (Nov 16, 2019)

Wow just had a gander at the knife science guys Instagram, he scores highly on self confidence.


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## captaincaed (Nov 16, 2019)

madelinez said:


> Wow just had a gander at the knife science guys Instagram, he scores highly on self confidence.


When you hear him speak you throw up a little


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## mise_en_place (Nov 16, 2019)

Remember when everyone became a DJ in 2008?

I feel like it's getting there a little bit with custom knife makers.


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## NO ChoP! (Nov 17, 2019)

Isn't his finish like 120 grit?

And DJ No ChoP! does have a ring to it....


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## cheflife15 (Nov 17, 2019)

valgard said:


> He blocks and deletes most of the exchanges, and many of the most epic ones I know of happened through DM. But he's on IG, and before I was blocked he was a total trip, his rants were pretty good stand up comedy too.


Are his knives any good? Curious about the price too. Some are aesthetic but just by browsing his posts I dont want to buy anything.


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## Consequence (Mar 22, 2020)

valgard said:


> Knife science? For real or are you being sarcastic?
> That dude is a joke and can't even take constructive criticism without blocking whoever tried to help or critique his work (even on DM). And he doesn't understand basic geometry, let alone metallurgy, and he has the cheek to call himself 'science'.




Hi. I was just scrolling through his profile.

Could you share more about what he doesn't understand about geometry or metallurgy? 

So far based on what I'm seeing on his profile, his work looks pretty decent, maybe not scoring so high on finishing, but otherwise looks like nice knives. 

Maybe you could tell us more about your experience with this guy.


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## _THS_ (Mar 22, 2020)

Consequence said:


> Hi. I was just scrolling through his profile.
> 
> Could you share more about what he doesn't understand about geometry or metallurgy?
> 
> ...


He thinks the best possible geometry on a knife is full flat grind, saying a knife is a wedge and needs to have flat surface to work at it's best. Refuse any other opinion on the argument. Once is been pointed on the fact his knives are not thin at the edge (presenting a edge of at leas a mm or so), he started a war against another maker saying knives need to be ground edge to spine to be thin, a month after he started selling kurouchi knives. When he's been asked to show if his knives was nail flexible at the edge, he shown me a video of a filet knives being so thin at the spine it was almost whip like. 
Talking about metallurgy, he probably never read anything on the topic, explaining how forge welding is as easy as simply heat steel till it sizzles and then beat it up a bit. When asked about carbon migration he said that if a clad have .50% of carbon and the core 1%, the final edge will be at .75%, wich is fine for kitchen knives. Not sure if I need to explain what this means :')


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## madelinez (Mar 22, 2020)

From what I've seen he misuses basic knife-making terms and when people explain the meaning of the term to him he deletes the post and bans them. He's also trash talked other makers that actually know what they're doing. He might make semi-okay knives but he's a bit of a dick so I'd rather find another good value maker to be honest (there are plenty).

EDIT: That is as generous as I can be....


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## cheflife15 (Mar 22, 2020)

madelinez said:


> From what I've seen he misuses basic knife-making terms and when people explain the meaning of the term to him he deletes the post and bans them. He's also trash talked other makers that actually know what they're doing. He might make semi-okay knives but he's a bit of a dick so I'd rather find another good value maker to be honest (there are plenty).
> 
> EDIT: That is as generous as I can be....


This lol. I cant even listen to this guy talk. Hes condescending to say the least. Ill buy my knives from better makers.


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## Consequence (Mar 23, 2020)

madelinez said:


> From what I've seen he misuses basic knife-making terms and when people explain the meaning of the term to him he deletes the post and bans them. He's also trash talked other makers that actually know what they're doing. He might make semi-okay knives but he's a bit of a dick so I'd rather find another good value maker to be honest (there are plenty).
> 
> EDIT: That is as generous as I can be....



Any other good value makers to recommend?


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## madelinez (Mar 23, 2020)

Consequence said:


> Any other good value makers to recommend?



Kippington (can be messaged on this forum) is probably one of the cheaper custom makers while also making very high quality knives, with the Australian dollar at 0.58 USD he would be a bargain if you happen to be in the US.

If you're not interested in a custom you could look at hunter valley blades (slightly rougher finish but great performance), also quite cheap with the exchange rate.

Otherwise a standard forged geometry Catcheside isn't too expensive with the GBP:USD exchange rate, these have a great balance between food separation, food release and maintainability, less focus on the finish.


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## madelinez (Mar 23, 2020)

Oh and Andrei (can be messaged on this forum) is exceptionally good value, if you're after a typical carbon steel his knives are very cheap.


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## playero (Mar 23, 2020)

Paul6001 said:


> Those Marko Tsourkan knives are gorgeous albeit a little thick for my tastes. His site lists everything as sold out. Is he taking custom orders?
> 
> The question of buying another knife brings me to the precipice. I'm facing a crisis. I have all the knives I need. But I want more Do I become a collector?
> 
> ...


you can send your trusty knife for a rehandle and work over it will be better than new.


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## M1k3 (Mar 23, 2020)

@HSC /// Knives is another good one


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## captaincaed (Mar 24, 2020)

Looks like you can get solid Carter-style geometry in steels other than 'vanilla'
Not that vanilla isn't nice, but it's not the only flavor I want on my cone


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## labor of love (Mar 24, 2020)

captaincaed said:


> Looks like you can get solid Carter-style geometry in steels other than 'vanilla'
> Not that vanilla isn't nice, but it's not the only flavor I want on my cone


Lol what?


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## M1k3 (Mar 24, 2020)

I think he's comparing HSC to Carter Cutlery?


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## labor of love (Mar 24, 2020)

Okay, the Vanilla part confused me. Is white 1 vanilla?


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## Corradobrit1 (Mar 24, 2020)

labor of love said:


> Okay, the Vanilla part confused me. Is white 1 vanilla?


Well Carter is a bit of a one-trick pony at the moment, only offering W#1 core steel, at least for their regular production knives. Although I wouldn't equate that to vanilla. I think that better describes W#2


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## captaincaed (Mar 24, 2020)

White steel is vanilla. Blue steel is chocolate. Ginsan is strawberry. V2 is coconut based vegan chocolate (not quite chocolate, but very good in its own right if you don't compare it directly to chocolate). I'm not sure what HAP40 is in this metaphor, but ZDP is probably that crazy turmeric, saffron pistachio blend the local university district shop sells. You really don't want it every day, but once it a while it satisfies you like pickles and, well, ice cream.

Maxamet is clearly rocky road.

420 is a melted Blue Bunny single they hand out for the field trip like they're doing you some kind of favor. Comes with wooden tongue depressor. Mostly to help you vomit.


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## NO ChoP! (Mar 25, 2020)

VG10 is that Walmart brand that is oddly artificially thickened and doesn't melt when left out on the counter.

(*I have no idea what this means, just playing along.)


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## TSF415 (Mar 25, 2020)

Forget the ice cream.... who got the cool whhhhhhhhip


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## cheflife15 (Mar 25, 2020)

M1k3 said:


> @HSC /// Knives is another good one


This. I love my hsc gyuto. He was great to work work also. Its a win win in my book.


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