# Gallery of Past and Current Work



## MSicardCutlery

First thing up, my very first gyuto. 240x45, W2, ebony, brass, and some pyritic serpentine/quartz as a spacer


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## ian

Your first gyuto was a honyaki? Props


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## MSicardCutlery

ian said:


> Your first gyuto was a honyaki? Props



Thanks, but I had made a few knives with hamons before that one....as well as many knife shaped objects that became pieces of knife shaped objects in the quench before those 

Something about that "tink" curdles my blood


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## MSicardCutlery

These two are basically identical. Both 240x45, in mirror polished AEB-L with lapis lazuli. One has stainless and ebony while the other is brass and amboyna burl.


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## MSicardCutlery

My first good damascus blade, a carving knife made from 29 layers of steel twisted 8 times. It was a combo of old sawmill blade (15n20), some high tensile steel strapping (1026 or 1045, I calculated the overall carbon content assuming it was 1026), and some commercial 1095 flat bar. The spacers are brass and nickel, and the handle is stabilized maple burl. The final carbon content of the billet should have landed between .70% and .75%. Tempered to 350f it would still skate a 63hrc file. The final blade length was around 10".

This was done before I had a press and I did the entirety of the welding and drawing by hand.


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## MSicardCutlery

A really old friend of mine got me to make a knife for his mother recently. It's a 50mmx240mm gyuto made from AEB-L and stabilized purple heart.


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## MSicardCutlery

My most current project. I haven't done a batch of more than 3 knives in a while. These are all 52100. The more I use 52100 that more I like it, it's a remarkably well balanced steel for its simplicity. It's easy to grind and sharpen, it gets really hard, and it's quite tough for a hypereutectoid low alloy steel. 

These will be my first ever bunka, and my first suji in over a year. I Still remember how many times I got cut on the first one I made, it was a 260, or a 265, and narrow, 38mm with a fast taper, it was needle like. There wasn't much blade to hold on to and it seemed for a while like I couldn't pick it up without bleeding. It was a record for me, 7-8 cuts I think, still the customer was happy, and he swears he's never had a sharper or more effortlessly cutting knife in his life, so all in all it was worth it.


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## M1k3

I agree. I think 52100 is a really good simpler carbon steel.


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## timebard

Are you planning to do any work with thicker stock? I like the look of the simple AEBL/52100 blades you're producing but I'm not really picking up laser/lightweight gyutos these days. Just curious and good luck with this batch!


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## MSicardCutlery

Not immediately, mostly just because I have stock for another....2 dozen or so blades at .093" before I need to make another order of steel. Just out of curiosity, what do you envision by thicker, 3mm, 5mm at the neck? Full taper to laser-like dimensions at the tip (<1mm @1cm and so on), or more robust blades? 

And thanks, it's coming along swimmingly.


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## timebard

MSicardCutlery said:


> Not immediately, mostly just because I have stock for another....2 dozen or so blades at .093" before I need to make another order of steel. Just out of curiosity, what do you envision by thicker, 3mm, 5mm at the neck? Full taper to laser-like dimensions at the tip (<1mm @1cm and so on), or more robust blades?
> 
> And thanks, it's coming along swimmingly.



Good question. I just measured several of my favorite 210-240 gyutos (Kippington, Dalman, Kono MM, Spare, Yoshikane) and they're very consistently right in the 3 to 3.5mm range above the heel, and about 3.25 to 4.25mm out of the handle. Below 3mm I tend to find most knives too light and insubstantial to cut as aggressively as heavier but thin behind the edge midweights.

I definitely prefer some distal taper, but I think there's a place for both intense taper to a really thin tip (think <0.75mm at 1cm) and more moderate taper (1-1.25mm at same) that still works reasonably well for fine work but are sturdier. The Shihan I had a little while ago was a good example of the latter--not a super thin tip but also not thick and wedgy like a Toyama, for example.


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## MSicardCutlery

timebard said:


> Good question. I just measured several of my favorite 210-240 gyutos (Kippington, Dalman, Kono MM, Spare, Yoshikane) and they're very consistently right in the 3 to 3.5mm range above the heel, and about 3.25 to 4.25mm out of the handle. Below 3mm I tend to find most knives too light and insubstantial to cut as aggressively as heavier but thin behind the edge midweights.
> 
> I definitely prefer some distal taper, but I think there's a place for both intense taper to a really thin tip (think <0.75mm at 1cm) and more moderate taper (1-1.25mm at same) that still works reasonably well for fine work but are sturdier. The Shihan I had a little while ago was a good example of the latter--not a super thin tip but also not thick and wedgy like a Toyama, for example.



Hey thanks for the detailed reply, a little information goes a long way for me right now. I had no idea people were even interested in thicker knives, most of the posts I've seen talk only about lasers. I'll definitely keep this in mind whenever I get around to drawing down some of the O1 stock I have, and this oroshigane knife I started...eesh...3 years ago.


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## M1k3

MSicardCutlery said:


> Hey thanks for the detailed reply, a little information goes a long way for me right now. I had no idea people were even interested in thicker knives, most of the posts I've seen talk only about lasers. I'll definitely keep this in mind whenever I get around to drawing down some of the O1 stock I have, and this oroshigane knife I started...eesh...3 years ago.


Lasers can be cool. But the thin spine at the pinch grip can get uncomfortable, especially for those that work in restaurants. And for some ingredients, having some weight to it can help, especially when cutting a lot of it.

We all have our own preferences though.


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## timebard

MSicardCutlery said:


> Hey thanks for the detailed reply, a little information goes a long way for me right now. I had no idea people were even interested in thicker knives, most of the posts I've seen talk only about lasers. I'll definitely keep this in mind whenever I get around to drawing down some of the O1 stock I have, and this oroshigane knife I started...eesh...3 years ago.





M1k3 said:


> Lasers can be cool. But the thin spine at the pinch grip can get uncomfortable, especially for those that work in restaurants. And for some ingredients, having some weight to it can help, especially when cutting a lot of it.
> 
> We all have our own preferences though.



Definitely worth emphasizing that all of this is a matter of preference. Some people love lasers and thin midweights, some people want big beefy workhorses, some people like stuff in the middle or a little bit of all the above.

It can hard to tell what's most popular vs what just gets attention, but if you spend some time watching what moves fast/commands high prices on BST, I think you'll see heavier/ workhorse knives (or the thick heel/thin tip hybrid style a la Mazaki, Kamon etc) are well represented in the most in-demand segment.


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## MSicardCutlery

This is very interesting to hear. Thank you gentlemen, you've shown me some interesting avenues worthy of exploration.


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## MSicardCutlery

Ages ago, or seemingly now, (April 2019) I started working on a hearth steel knife. The process for making hearth steel is not unlike that of bloomery steel, but it's usually a smaller enterprise, and done with either scraps of steel, or chunks of bloomery iron instead of ore. The Japanese did this to carburize steel and turn tamahagane into oroshigane for use in blades.

This stack is much higher than it needs to be but it worked, and turned a bunch of plugs from an industrial hole puncher into a blistering mass of carburized steel.





That's the end reult of the smelt sitting on a 175lb anvil next to my old 4lb hammer. A massive thing, I needed to make a set of tongs especially for it. It weighed almost 10 lbs, and lost about 4 lbs by the time I got it consolidated.






The consolidated mass. It took ages to work it down, and working steel like this is like trying to manipulate hot shorting copper or lead, it just wants to crumble and crack. It has to be babied a lot at first, but eventually it starts to act like steel. The plus side is it welds very easily so fixing breaks isn't too hard.

Keep in mind I was doing all this by had at the time, and that's at least a 6lb block of steel. I remember one arming an 8lb sledge for a while to try and get it to move, but eventually ended up cutting it in half, and then halving one of the halves to work by hand. After that I put the project on hiatus for a while.





Last December a 30ton press arrived in my shop so I resumed working on it. I realized that my initial melt was way too high in carbon, probably near 2% so I made another smaller melt to make a lower carbon mass to integrate into the first and work things down to a saner range, and started refining the steel. In order from the top, is the low carbon billet, and two high carbon billets. The top two have had 6 folds, the bottom only two. After 4 more folds I'll integrate them all together and fold them another 4-6 times, possibly cut and stack them 3 at a time, for a total layer count in the 8k-20k range.

Originally the plan was to make a proper tanto with this steel, but the way things have been going I may use it to make a gyuto or a suji if I have enough steel. It if turns out to be too low in carbon by the end for either I'll probably use it as cladding around a shallow hardening steel core, most likely W2.


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## Naftoor

Whoa, that’s gonna make one helluva impressive blade when done!


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## MSicardCutlery

Naftoor said:


> Whoa, that’s gonna make one helluva impressive blade when done!



I hope so. There's so much that can go wrong at every stage with blade material like this.


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## HumbleHomeCook

M1k3 said:


> Lasers can be cool. But the thin spine at the pinch grip can get uncomfortable, especially for those that work in restaurants. And for some ingredients, having some weight to it can help, especially when cutting a lot of it.
> 
> We all have our own preferences though.



Continuing with this thought... I'm not convinced that laser performance needs to equal bulimic spines. Surely Yoshikane delivers outstanding slicing while retaining a thicker top side. My Watanabe Pro is thick out of the handle as is an Ittetsu X-Hammer (SHARP's house brand so not sure of the actual maker) that comes out of the handle with almost a flat shelf before tapering off.

I think if you can find a balance of thicker at the handle area for comfort but still tapering enough to give that laser-like performance, that is a sweet spot for many folks.


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## MSicardCutlery

HumbleHomeCook said:


> Continuing with this thought... I'm not convinced that laser performance needs to equal bulimic spines.




I've wondered this myself. It seems there's a point at which the weigh reduction from a thinner spine begins to impact the handling characteristics of the knife such as to make it feel like it requires more effort to use. I think there's probably a case to be made for "felt" laser-likeness vs perhaps a repeatably measurable amount of force required to complete a given cut in much the same way there is "felt" recoil, vs the actual calculable recoil of a given firearm.


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## M1k3

MSicardCutlery said:


> I've wondered this myself. It seems there's a point at which the weigh reduction from a thinner spine begins to impact the handling characteristics of the knife such as to make it feel like it requires more effort to use. I think there's probably a case to be made for "felt" laser-likeness vs perhaps a repeatably measurable amount of force required to complete a given cut in much the same way there is "felt" recoil, vs the actual calculable recoil of a given firearm.


Super flat beveled lasers also tend to have high friction on dense foods. Increasing the pressure needed to cut.


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## MSicardCutlery

I recently finished this as a semi custom for one of our members here. Stabilized purple heart on a 2k hand finished 280mm sujihiki made from 52100. I wish I'd taken a closeup of the colors on the neck before I wrapped it up.


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## Delat

MSicardCutlery said:


> I've wondered this myself. It seems there's a point at which the weigh reduction from a thinner spine begins to impact the handling characteristics of the knife such as to make it feel like it requires more effort to use. I think there's probably a case to be made for "felt" laser-likeness vs perhaps a repeatably measurable amount of force required to complete a given cut in much the same way there is "felt" recoil, vs the actual calculable recoil of a given firearm.



I think I’m probably like a lot of others in that I initially gravitated towards traditional thin lasers, like Shibata, Yu Kurosaki. These days I like a bit thicker spine with a little more weight, but still want the laser-like feel through food. I get this from knives that are a bit thicker at the neck, like my Kamon is around 5-6mm, I think my Birgersson and Markin are in the 3-4mm range. In fact I think all my knives from Western smiths are >3mm at the heel. But then most all of them hit around 2mm by mid-spine, and 1mm or less by 1” from the tip. 

You get a little more robust feeling in the back 1/3 of the blade along with a comfortable grip, while the front 2/3rds that I use 95% of the time slices effortlessly (assuming they’re thin enough behind the edge). My “lasers” all weigh in <145g, while these “hybrid” Westerners are usually >170g. 

For small jobs, say less than 15 mins of cutting, I’m grabbing a 180mm laser or nakiri. For anything bigger I’m reaching for one of the Westerners with a little more heft and length.


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## MSicardCutlery

Delat said:


> I think I’m probably like a lot of others in that I initially gravitated towards traditional thin lasers, like Shibata, Yu Kurosaki. These days I like a bit thicker spine with a little more weight, but still want the laser-like feel through food. I get this from knives that are a bit thicker at the neck, like my Kamon is around 5-6mm, I think my Birgersson and Markin are in the 3-4mm range. In fact I think all my knives from Western smiths are >3mm at the heel. But then most all of them hit around 2mm by mid-spine, and 1mm or less by 1” from the tip.
> 
> You get a little more robust feeling in the back 1/3 of the blade along with a comfortable grip, while the front 2/3rds that I use 95% of the time slices effortlessly (assuming they’re thin enough behind the edge). My “lasers” all weigh in <145g, while these “hybrid” Westerners are usually >170g.
> 
> For small jobs, say less than 15 mins of cutting, I’m grabbing a 180mm laser or nakiri. For anything bigger I’m reaching for one of the Westerners with a little more heft and length.




Hearing this over and again completely blows my mind when I look back. All I kept reading on forums years ago was that even 3mm was excessive at the heel, I even had one of my blades referred to as "chonky" because it was 3mm at the heel and was told that stock should not be thicker than .100" to start....my how things change. This certainly compels me to make a few forged blades and experiment with tapers.


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## MSicardCutlery

Here's those three bars of folded steel consolidated into one. 









Even through the crust and scale you can get some intimations of what the pattern underneath looks like. It's currently sitting at 256 layers...if you don't count the ones that have scaled off, and it will get two more restacking's of 3 for a final layer count of about 2300. 

I had wanted to go higher, but it isn't apparent to me that there's much merit in doing so. At the point where the individual layers are .0002" thick, the carbon will have completely evened out, and unless I have a bad section of weld to move away from the edge, it's just going to cut down on the amount of steel I have to use and the amount of carbon I have in it. This would also work out to about 2*11 folds in the traditional system, in which, as I hear it, 12 folds seems to be the point of diminishing returns. 

Assuming it still sparks well enough, I'll draw it out into a gyuto or a suji, and clay harden it to see what kind of hamon I can coax out of it. If it looks like the carbon content has fallen below the .8% mark, I'll turn this into cladding for a chunk of W2 tool steel and do basically the same thing but as san mai.


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## MSicardCutlery

5/7 completed 52100 knives I started a couple weeks back. I never got to take a picture of the lot, the suji went fast. Still not a bad class photo.


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## HansCaravan

MSicardCutlery said:


> Hearing this over and again completely blows my mind when I look back. All I kept reading on forums years ago was that even 3mm was excessive at the heel, I even had one of my blades referred to as "chonky" because it was 3mm at the heel and was told that stock should not be thicker than .100" to start....my how things change. This certainly compels me to make a few forged blades and experiment with tapers.



Yeah, I was pretty interested in one of your earlier gyutos in W2 until I saw how much flex the blade had. Having a moderately thick spine for a pinch grip tends to give a better balance (in my opinion) but also more comfort/confidence for attacking dense foods.


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## MSicardCutlery

I definitely see it helping balance. I'm 3/4 of the way done a 210x50, that tapers from 4.5, to 3.5, to 1.5. I thought it would be really wedgy, but frankly I'm quite impressed with how it cuts. I have some theories about the dynamics of cutting I need to explore more thoroughly now. I'll probably never go quite that thick at the neck again on such a short blade, but this has been instructive.


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## MSicardCutlery

The aforementioned blade. It has happily found itself a home.

My impression is that the spine thickness at the spine, doesn't matter so much, so long as the knife is thin enough at the edge and tip/tapered smoothly enough to initiate and maintain a cut smoothly, and provided there is sufficient convexity to peel the food away from the blade face before it starts to drag. I also suspect that the heavier the grind bias, the thicker the blade can be before it starts feeling like it's wedging. Of course the proportions have to be kept within reason, but this is all very interesting to me.


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## PeopleoftheSun

That’s a gorgeous knife brother!


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## MSicardCutlery

Thank you very much!


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## MSicardCutlery

Just off the truck. I'm looking forward playing with this stuff...


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## MSicardCutlery

A little group photo of my first MagnaCut knives. Bottom to top, a complete 240 gyuto, a 210mm custom for one of our members, that's fresh off the grinder with a very rough looking 300 grit finish. A heat treated 240mm blank destined to become a left handed knife, and a heat treated 290mm blank. 

I like this steel, it grinds fairly easily, and frankly it's just well balanced across the board.


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## MSicardCutlery

The completed 210mm MagnaCut gyuto. Burned cherry, and a 1200 grit hand finish...which I may never do again on MagnaCut. The 320 and 600 grit weren't so bad, but at 1200 grit this got just a little ridiculous. I'm never underestimating a new high alloy steel again. Otherwise, a straightforward project, a fairly thin knife with good balance and decent food release, the new owner should be very happy with it.


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## Terryy

What a pleasure to see how you create these blades! These works are really impressive!


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## MSicardCutlery

Thank you!


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## MSicardCutlery

Next up....fresh out of heat treat

An unprofiled O1 225mm gyuto, two 52100 225mm gyuto, a 175mm 52100 nakiri, and what should turn into a 250-270mm O1 gyuto (once its profiled) that sort of got away from me while I was drawing it down. I still have two pieces of MagnaCut to process, but one of them may or may not be spoken for, so I'll take a short break from those and knock these guys out. If I try to finish another high alloy blade right now, I swear my elbows are going to unionize on me.


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## MSicardCutlery

Well, here's one for the books....an auto hamon in O1 tool steel. Occasionally you see auto hamons (a hamon produced without the use of clay) occur in thicker blades made of a shallow hardening steel, or sometimes when a maker (usually accidentally) has his temperature just right. I've never seen one in a deep hardening steel like O1 before though. I knew that hamons could be formed in deeper hardening steels like 52100, O1 and 5160, but I never suspected that they could auto hamon. It surprises me especially given that is was quenched in warm Parks 50, which is a fast quenching oil, and O1 only needs a slow oil, I've even heard that it will air harden in thin cross sections. 

I would leave it as is and finish the knife just because it's such an anomaly, but it looks like there were a couple of spots where the edge didn't harden, so I've got to re-heat treat this one. Good thing the edge is still fairly thick, It has good odds of survival.


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## pentryumf

Well, I for one am in a trance like state, after having spent a few hours playing with one of your M4 240’s. Such great work with steel choice and heat teeat. I want to ask if you have done smaller blades like steak knives? 
Also very sweet quartz spacers!!
P.S. I let a friend use the knife you made me, there was some negotiating for right price before I said no way it’s one of a kind!


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## MSicardCutlery

pentryumf said:


> Well, I for one am in a trance like state, after having spent a few hours playing with one of your M4 240’s. Such great work with steel choice and heat teeat. I want to ask if you have done smaller blades like steak knives?
> Also very sweet quartz spacers!!
> P.S. I let a friend use the knife you made me, there was some negotiating for right price before I said no way it’s one of a kind!


I'm very happy you're so enamored with that knife! It's very encouraging to hear my work is well received, and a little flattering to hear that someone tried to poach off of you. I may have to make more with that taper profile, which if I'm being honest was almost completely accidental. I had some deep peen marks to remove from straightening, and well, that's basically how that taper came to be. 

I haven't done smaller blades really, though I have done a retrofit for a folding knife once. I would give steak knives a shot, but it's really hard to tell what direction to take when I decide I want to try a new blade style. Not seeing many of a given style up for grabs could mean that there just isn't any interest in them as easily as it could that the people who have them like them so much they never sell them. It's for that reason I stick primarily to gyutos. 

Personally, if I were doing smaller, low impact knives like steak knives, I might be tempted to try some ridiculously high wearing steel like S90V or 10V. I think steels like that would excel in that sort of application. 

And those stone spacers have to be some of my favourite pieces of work, though it's a real pain to use them. I have to cut the stone and metal simultaneously on a diamond disk, which isn't so bad, but the wood really likes to gum it up, and the heat generated can make to epoxy fail completely so it's a very slow and careful process. And then finishing them so everything is flush fit is another challenge, since the wood, metal and stone all abrade at drastically different rates. The results though, oh they're gorgeous. I got my hands on some tiger iron to use for exactly those kinds of spacers, but I've been so busy I just haven't had to time to put one of those knives together. They're very labor intensive.


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## HumbleHomeCook

MSicardCutlery said:


> I'm very happy you're so enamored with that knife! It's very encouraging to hear my work is well received, and a little flattering to hear that someone tried to poach off of you. I may have to make more with that taper profile, which if I'm being honest was almost completely accidental. I had some deep peen marks to remove from straightening, and well, that's basically how that taper came to be.
> 
> I haven't done smaller blades really, though I have done a retrofit for a folding knife once. I would give steak knives a shot, but it's really hard to tell what direction to take when I decide I want to try a new blade style. Not seeing many of a given style up for grabs could mean that there just isn't any interest in them as easily as it could that the people who have them like them so much they never sell them. It's for that reason I stick primarily to gyutos.
> 
> Personally, if I were doing smaller, low impact knives like steak knives, I might be tempted to try some ridiculously high wearing steel like S90V or 10V. I think steels like that would excel in that sort of application.
> 
> And those stone spacers have to be some of my favourite pieces of work, though it's a real pain to use them. I have to cut the stone and metal simultaneously on a diamond disk, which isn't so bad, but the wood really likes to gum it up, and the heat generated can make to epoxy fail completely so it's a very slow and careful process. And then finishing them so everything is flush fit is another challenge, since the wood, metal and stone all abrade at drastically different rates. The results though, oh they're gorgeous. I got my hands on some tiger iron to use for exactly those kinds of spacers, but I've been so busy I just haven't had to time to put one of those knives together. They're very labor intensive.



K390 steak knives!


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## MSicardCutlery

Or that. Finding it isn't as easy as the other two though.


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## MSicardCutlery

This week's projects. A 52100 honesuki for one of our own, the same O1 gyuto I had to re-heat treat last weekend, 2x 240mmX55mm gyuto, and 2x sujihiki, all from AEB-L.






I'm experimenting with a new grind on these gyuto. After hearing how elated @pentryumf is with his M4 laser I've been compelled to replicate the grind. I just wanted to adjust it to try to maximize food release, which isn't so easy to accomplish with a thin blade, but I have a theory that I'm going to try out. This blade is just rough ground so far out to 300 grit, hand finishing comes next.







Something of an unequal taper on the blade. The inside face is cut with a straight taper, but the outside face is cut so that that rear half of the blade is tapered more aggressively than the front. How much of a difference will it make? I can't say for certain, but I get the feeling it will be negligible, except maybe on the hardest of veggies. Still I want to see what I can get. 

The current blade taper is 2.70mm @20mm back from the heel, 1.75mm @13cm, and .8mm @1cm., and it will probably lose another .15mm-.25mm during hand finishing. 





On the outside face of this blade I went with an almost fully convex grind. I'd like to see how it compares to a blade with the same taper that has a more abrupt 8-10mm of convexity, but a thinner pre-convex edge thickness.


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## pentryumf

MSicardCutlery said:


> This week's projects. A 52100 honesuki for one of our own, the same O1 gyuto I had to re-heat treat last weekend, 2x 240mmX55mm gyuto, and 2x sujihiki, all from AEB-L.
> 
> View attachment 183209
> 
> 
> I'm experimenting with a new grind on these gyuto. After hearing how elated @pentryumf is with his M4 laser I've been compelled to replicate the grind. I just wanted to adjust it to try to maximize food release, which isn't so easy to accomplish with a thin blade, but I have a theory that I'm going to try out. This blade is just rough ground so far out to 300 grit, hand finishing comes next.
> 
> View attachment 183210
> 
> 
> 
> Something of an unequal taper on the blade. The inside face is cut with a straight taper, but the outside face is cut so that that rear half of the blade is tapered more aggressively than the front. How much of a difference will it make? I can't say for certain, but I get the feeling it will be negligible, except maybe on the hardest of veggies. Still I want to see what I can get.
> 
> The current blade taper is 2.70mm @20mm back from the heel, 1.75mm @13cm, and .8mm @1cm., and it will probably lose another .15mm-.25mm during hand finishing.
> View attachment 183211
> 
> 
> On the outside face of this blade I went with an almost fully convex grind. I'd like to see how it compares to a blade with the same taper that has a more abrupt 8-10mm of convexity, but a thinner pre-convex edge thickness.
> View attachment 183212


It also helps that the feeling I had when first experiencing Crucibles REX CPM-M4 was not just a one off or my dellusions....which I admit can cause a bit of bias...
My feelings were based on ‘in hand feeling’ and on stones....which Mr.Dover stated on BF way back in ‘09. Probably not ‘RR’ anymore but possibly ‘flying B’.

It also helps that MSicard is a gifted maker.


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## Justinv

MSicardCutlery said:


> Personally, if I were doing smaller, low impact knives like steak knives, I might be tempted to try some ridiculously high wearing steel like S90V or 10V. I think steels like that would excel in that sort of application.



I think they would cut plates. I don’t think its wise to use high carbide steels on steak knives. I can’t recall the HRC on glass/ceramic, but I think its somewhere in the low 60’s and surely varies by product. Wood plates are another matter.


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## MSicardCutlery

pentryumf said:


> It also helps that the feeling I had when first experiencing Crucibles REX CPM-M4 was not just a one off or my dellusions....which I admit can cause a bit of bias...
> My feelings were based on ‘in hand feeling’ and on stones....which Mr.Dover stated on BF way back in ‘09. Probably not ‘RR’ anymore but possibly ‘flying B’.


That post was actually one of the ones I read that lead me to include CPM-M4 in that steel order. I'm still very impressed with how the edge feels and sharpens. It's very toothy and very crisp.


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## MSicardCutlery

Justinv said:


> I think they would cut plates. I don’t think its wise to use high carbide steels on steak knives.


I'm skeptical, but I think it's worth looking into. Wouldn't the enamel on the plate be more the concern than the composition of the plate itself though?


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## Justinv

So on a whim I tried scratching a Corelle bowl/plate with several knives and had no luck. I started at Blue 2 steel at HRC61 and ended with Rex121 steel at hrc67 with some SRS15 and Hap40 in the mix and saw no scratches.

I didn’t put that much pressure into the effort to avoid damaging blades but I am surprised at the results.


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## MSicardCutlery

Thanks undertaking that yourself! I haven't got any seriously high wear knives on hand at the moment. Good to get that cleared up.


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## Justinv

I also tried scratching a high quality ceramic plate with Hap40 steel at 65HRC and it didn’t scratch either.


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## Duukt

Ceramic and glass would be a lot harder than the 72HRC equivalent. Maybe some vanadium carbides might scratch them but plain steel knives, I doubt it.

You can also try scratching your phone screen with keys and other steels. You might scrape the oleophobic coating but on the glass itself, scratches aren't going to happen. Now sand on the other hand will tear it up.


----------



## MSicardCutlery

A rather large group photo of my last couple weeks of work.


----------



## HumbleHomeCook

Well now, where might that bottom honesuki be headed...


----------



## MSicardCutlery

HumbleHomeCook said:


> Well now, where might that bottom honesuki be headed...


Cinderblock test?


----------



## HumbleHomeCook

MSicardCutlery said:


> Cinderblock test?



Bad knife maker! Bad!


----------



## MSicardCutlery

I couldn't help myself.

One my favourite practical jokes is when I have someone around who knows little about knife making, to take a blade that's cracked in the quench, but not tell them it's a failure, then explain how hard and brittle an as quenched blade is, and how careful you need to be, and then in handing them an "example" of one, fumble as I pass it to them and watch the look of horror when it shatters completely on the concrete floor. Oh! It's priceless! And I explain it all after but for a few seconds, the jaw is on the ground.


----------



## HumbleHomeCook

I show my wife that picture and of course point out the bottom one. She says, yeah that's nice. Then, oooooooo that one with the black marks and brown handle is really pretty!


----------



## MSicardCutlery

Well, at least it wasn't her least favorite...?


----------



## MSicardCutlery

I've been experimenting with torrifying wood. It seems to create greater contrast in the grain and provide some depth of colour to otherwise fairly light woods. It really seems to work well with an oil finish too, torrifying and oil seem to be a good combo. I think I might just use it as a standard process with more common woods from here on out. 

These two are cherry


----------



## HumbleHomeCook

Matt, do you feel like it dries out the wood in any kind of detrimental way? Maybe brittle or something?

Sure like the looks!


----------



## MSicardCutlery

From what I understand, the temperature is low enough not to cause to wood to break down, if you take it up much higher it will though, and I don't even think I roasted those at the full 360f, 300f I think, while straightening a blade ......been fighting with this 270mm in MagnaCut for days....


----------



## HumbleHomeCook

MSicardCutlery said:


> From what I understand, the temperature is low enough not to cause to wood to break down, if you take it up much higher it will though, and I don't even think I roasted those at the full 360f, 300f I think, while straightening a blade ......*been fighting with this 270mm in MagnaCut for days....*



Warping?


----------



## MSicardCutlery

HumbleHomeCook said:


> Warping?


Yeah, post HT. One of the potential fruits of asymmetrical grinds on thin blades....it was dead straight when I started grinding it, buuuuut, it had warped at the tang during HT, which I took care of no problem, but after the blade warped I performed a shimmed temper to correct that, which worked....but the tang returned to it's old set, and so forth and so on with just enough variability to have had me convinced I would finally get them both at some point.


----------



## HumbleHomeCook

MSicardCutlery said:


> Yeah, post HT. One of the potential fruits of asymmetrical grinds on thin blades....it was dead straight when I started grinding it, buuuuut, it had warped at the tang during HT, which I took care of no problem, but after the blade warped I performed a shimmed temper to correct that, which worked....but the tang returned to it's old set, and so forth and so on with just enough variability to have had me convinced I would finally get them both at some point.



I've heard folks say that MagnaCut is very sensitive to the HT and prone to warping.


----------



## MSicardCutlery

It could be, but it hasn't been my experience. The PM steels are usually pretty stable, so far as I know. And it's an outright pussycat compared to AEB-L, that stuff loves to wander while you're grinding it.


----------



## MSicardCutlery

More MagnaCut and M4 just showed up. 








Not a terrible start....2x270mm suji in M4, 1x 125mm paring in MC, and 1 each a 180mm, a 200mm, a 205mm and a 210mm gyutos in MC. I picked up a medium scotchbrite belt with the order too. I'm going to give belt finishes a go. The normal steels like AEB-L and 52100 and such are fine to hand finish, but M4 at 65hrc takes ages, and to a lesser extent MC. I wouldn't mind if time were the only issue, but the handsanding motion and pressure just kills my elbows after a few hours. Tennis elbow really isn't fun.

Those MC blades are already hardened and I'm in the process of tempering them. 






There's still plenty of stock left. Enough M4 for a 250mm suji, or something smaller in the petty range, and enough MC for another 4-5 blades or so. So much for my big plans for damascus, but....maybe later in the summer. I have my heart set on getting some Apex Ultra as soon as it becomes available in North America, and I suspect it will take up a good bit of my time.


----------



## MSicardCutlery

For about a year I've been running my grinder off of a 3hp tefc motor, and the thing has never been a stellar piece of gear, but still a big step up from a single hp motor. It seemed to do pretty well at first, but quickly it became apparent that something was buggered. The start capacitor never worked properly, and while hand starting isn't much of a big deal, fanning the belt for thirty seconds became the norm. Then an extended warm up period where it wouldn't turn at full speed, then the recovery periods became longer and longer and longer....so I decided to blow it out. Take one end off, blowgun on the compressor, psst psst, a quick job, the coil looked like it had been way too hot at some point, there was a little bit of plastic melt. 

This motor had sat for many years, but was apparently never used, it had been part of an industrial dust collector. I plugged it back in and it started doing the same slow start up that it always has, and just as I'm lamenting having bothered even pulling it off the mounts, there's a poof noise and a puff of smoke. A little digging after everything cooled down revealed that the side mounted start capacitor blew up, and shot a load of hot plastic into the motor casing. So that's that.

For a reasonable price I found a new motor later that day, it should arrive Thursday or Friday, in the meantime I've been doing my round to it jobs, change the oil in the car, tidy the basement, etc....and I've decided to pump out a bunch of handles and get a leg up on things for when I can get back to work on blades. Here they are, drilled and tapered, next comes the faceting, they'll all be burned after as they're all red oak.


----------



## MSicardCutlery

Finally I'm back in action. I decided it was time to get a round to this billet I forged sometime last January, W2 tool steel core, 304SS clad san mai.


----------



## HumbleHomeCook

Glad you're running again!

I'd like to see more of your forged with KU work.


----------



## MSicardCutlery

This came in yesterday. It's been a long time since I've made any, so I have a little practicing do on some less valuable san-mai before I start playing with this stuff, but I'm really looking forward to seeing how it performs.


----------



## HumbleHomeCook

Very cool Matt. How many blades do you think you can get out of that bar?


----------



## MSicardCutlery

As san-mai, hopefully 9 or so.


----------



## HumbleHomeCook

Wow, cool!


----------



## MSicardCutlery

In preparation for making san-mai with Apex Ultra I decided to make a practice knife. With 7 months having passed since I last made san-mai I thought it would be a good idea to refresh myself on far less valuable steel. Initially I intended to just go with an O1 core and mild steel jacket, but after some consideration I decided to liven things up and place two small strips of 15n20 in between the mild steel and the core making it go-mai. 

The initial billet was comprised of 2 pieces of .25x6"x1.75" mild steel, 2 strips of .065"x6"x1.75" 15n20, and a ~.220"x6"x1.75" bar of O1 I had drawn down from drill rod last week.





Because of the chrome in the alloy, O1 does not like to forge weld even with a copious amount of fluxing, so I welded the seams of the billet to produce an airtight billet that requires no fluxing. Just quick passes over the seams at low temp with an arc welder. Big beads are prettier, but wholly unnecessary and only get ground out later anyways.






After a few cycles at welding heat just pressing the billet together I dialed back my forge and drew out the bar, then isolated the tang. At this point the bar is roughly .25/~6mm"x2.5"/~60mm. I could thin it down further, but I have two things to keep in mind. The first being that if there's a delamination, it would be good to have extra material along the edge so it can be ground out. The second being that having reduced the thickness of my bar from just under 7/8" to roughly 1/4", my bar of O1 in the middle which will form the cutting edge is now only roughly .075" thick, or just under 2 mm, and I have to account for any side to side deviation that occurred while drawing the bar edgewise.





A couple passes on the grinder reveal perfect welds and a well centered core


----------



## MSicardCutlery

A bunch of rough grinding later and the 15n20 layer in showing. It will only continue to get wider and move upwards as I thin the spine presently it's almost 15mm wide. 











The rough ground blade. I'll probably run the primary bevels right through the neck to cut as much weight as I can off of this one. Now for thermal cycling and hardening. There's really just one more critical juncture in this process; the quench. The core being O1 will through harden, but the jacket being largely mild steel will not. This could cause the whole blade to split straight down the core. My antidote will be edge quenching, or only submerging the first inch or in and a half of the edge into the quenchant. Wish me luck!


----------



## HumbleHomeCook

God luck Matt!

Very cool insight too.


----------



## MSicardCutlery

Nearly done the blade. Just completing the final polish.










Lots of grinding, but worth every minute.


----------



## HumbleHomeCook

That is going to turn out sweet!


----------



## deltaplex

Will there be any etching on this one?


----------



## MSicardCutlery

deltaplex said:


> Will there be any etching on this one?


Sort of but not exactly? I've given it the treatment I usually apply to my honyaki. Light etching cycles followed by scrubbing with loose abrasive. It greatly enhances the contrast without giving the blade an etched texture.


That "hamon" isn't really, it's a line formed where the decarb stopped. Not enough grinding on the core stock after forging, so there's something to remember for next time, but it won't impact the cutting ability of the blade at all. The line will rise as the blade is thinned.





The 15n20 did not disappoint


----------



## deltaplex

I think it looks great, thanks for the updates!


----------



## HumbleHomeCook

To me, it looks like smoke. Pretty cool.


----------



## M1k3

MSicardCutlery said:


> Sort of but not exactly? I've given it the treatment I usually apply to my honyaki. Light etching cycles followed by scrubbing with loose abrasive. It greatly enhances the contrast without giving the blade and etched texture.
> 
> 
> That "hamon" isn't really, it's a line formed where the decarb stopped. Not enough grinding on the core stock after forging, so there's something to remember for next time, but it won't impact the cutting ability of the blade at all. The line will rise as the blade is thinned.
> View attachment 192483
> 
> 
> The 15n20 did not disappoint
> View attachment 192485


Intentional or not, I really like that look!


----------



## MSicardCutlery

The completed knife


----------



## MSicardCutlery

So forging Apex Ultra has been a bit of a learning experience for me, but fortunately I seem to have things figured out now. Here's a couple early shots of the latest blade, a custom for one of our members, a 225x53 clad with 15n20, destined to receive block #370


----------



## HumbleHomeCook

That is going to be really nice!


----------



## MSicardCutlery

This was really hard to get any good pictures of because of the glare, but it's finally done. 


















Now on to other things....

Three more billets of 15n20 with an Apex Ultra core ready for forge welding and drawing.




The first of which is now mostly rough ground and ready for HT. This will be a large sujihiki, I can get a 345mm blade out of this one, but I am contemplating cutting it at 330mm or even 300mm to make it a little easier to sell. I haven't quite decided yet, but for now I'm going to grind it like I plan on keeping the whole thing as is.


----------



## MSicardCutlery

I've been meaning tp update this for a couple of weeks, but I fell behind with a virus for about a week total so I've been busy trying to catch up. 

The finished suji








A shot of a 270mm gyuto in 15n20 clad apex ultra. This blade showed a band of carbon migration into the cladding during the initial etch, but sadly I think the depth it needs to be etched at to fully reveal it would hinder its cutting ability.





A couple of shots of the choil on a knife I have finished very shortly. It's another AU san mai blade, a 240mm, but ground for a left handed user. It also has something of an extreme taper towards the tip, measuring 4mm @ 20mm back from the heel, 3.64mm above the heel, 2.54mm at 13.5cm from the tip (so dead middle), and .54mm 1cm from the tip.


----------



## ch_br

M1k3 said:


> I agree. I think 52100 is a really good simpler carbon steel.



+1 

I like that steel a LOT also


----------



## MSicardCutlery

I haven't made a wester handled knife in a while. Getting this one finished required a lot of dusting out the cobwebs. The order of operations for a western handle are far more critical and extensive than a wa handle. This is part of what I like about customs, they usually involve some modification, variation, or expansion of the skillsets I typically use so they make for a great change of pace. 

240mmx55mm, 52100, left hand grind. Green linen micarta handle and brass pins. It tapers from 4.58mm at the choil, 2.2mm at halfway, and .89mm 1cm from the tip. The final weight is 316G even though I did some pretty extensive skeletonizing on the tang. The POB is in line with the heel exactly.


----------



## HumbleHomeCook

That is nice Matt!


----------



## MSicardCutlery

HumbleHomeCook said:


> That is nice Matt!


Thanks man


----------



## JayS20

@MSicardCutlery Looking good.
Why not just taper the tang? The butt looks quite big.


----------



## MSicardCutlery

JayS20 said:


> @MSicardCutlery Looking good.
> Why not just taper the tang? The butt looks quite big.


Thank you! 

Well, it really didn't cross my mind right away that it might be worth attempting until I had already hollowed out the tang to some degree. And truthfully, while I'm certain it can be be done by hand evenly, I've never made one before and a custom is probably a bad project to be attempting new processes of that magnitude on. I just know it would bite me. I'm not lucky enough to get something like that right the very first time. It's a technique I definitely need to practice, but it's hard to find the time, especially when wa handles appear to be much more popular than westerns. 

The butt itself is only 23mm wide, while the blade stock is 4mm wide. Tapering the tang 2-3mm would not have significantly reduced the width, however the handle itself is tapered 5mm-6mm from back to front, thickness wise.


----------



## EnderzShadow

M1k3 said:


> I agree. I think 52100 is a really good simpler carbon steel.


 @MSicardCutlery 

I see so much hype about different steels, as the end user, I'm not positive I would notice a huge difference.

I'm not saying this in criticism of 52100. I'm saying, many have their preference and make claims about what they think is a better alloy, but I don't know I'd even notice.

As the end user what would I notice as a difference between 52100, AEB-L, White 1 and something newer like Magnacut?


----------



## deltaplex

The first would be that two of those are stainless and two are not. Past that there will be varying attributes for each based upon the HT, and I'm more than happy to let some of our more knowledgeable members about the intricacies of steel types chime in on that front.


----------



## EnderzShadow

deltaplex said:


> The first would be that two of those are stainless and two are not. Past that there will be varying attributes for each based upon the HT, and I'm more than happy to let some of our more knowledgeable members about the intricacies of steel types chime in on that front.


Thanks

I'm wondering if the differences between alloys are THAT noticeably different. And if it's possible the users opinions are exaggerated based on graphs, numbers and alloy composition. Blind testing would be interesting.

Stainless, I understand that preference. But just based on how it feels to cut meat and veg and how it feels on a board



I mean, I know a little. White 1 is the most reactive. Takes the best edge. Easiest to sharpen. Probably easiest to chip also.

The Magnacut will hold the edge longer than the other knives, is the toughest material. Not terribly hard to sharpen.
I would think this would be among the more difficult materials to actual work with, but that's just a guess.


----------



## esoo

The closest I've had is a ZKramer 52100 vs a ZKramer Stainless (FC61, supposedly AEB-L). So essentially same grind, treated to the same HRC, but carbon vs stainless. In cutting, they felt different - hard to explain why, but the FC61 blade felt soul-less. I disliked the stainless, but love the 52100.

Between carbons, you can notice the difference between HRC if you use them back to back. You will also notice how they patina, and over time how they retain their edge.


----------



## EnderzShadow

esoo said:


> You can notice the difference between HRC if you use them back to back. You will also notice how they patina, and over time how they retain their edge.


How does a higher HRC feel different?

Sorry, I only have a handful of quality knives. 

Mizaki white 2
Global and a Meglio


----------



## esoo

EnderzShadow said:


> How does a higher HRC feel different?
> 
> Sorry, I only have a handful of quality knives.
> 
> Mizaki white 2
> Global and a Meglio



I've used a ShiHan A2 (60.5) and a Raquin 145SC (HRC?) back to back. They felt totally different on the board. The Shihan felt "softer" while the Raquin was very hard feeling.


----------



## MSicardCutlery

EnderzShadow said:


> @MSicardCutlery
> 
> I see so much hype about different steels, as the end user, I'm not positive I would notice a huge difference.
> 
> I'm not saying this in criticism of 52100. I'm saying, many have their preference and make claims about what they think is a better alloy, but I don't know I'd even notice.
> 
> As the end user what would I notice as a difference between 52100, AEB-L, White 1 and something newer like Magnacut?


Well, all I can really recommend is to try some for yourself and then decide. 

Having made knives from 1095, O1, W2, 52100, AEB-L and MC (and others), I can say that at 65hrc 52100 is harder to hand finish than 1095, or W2. AEB-L at 63hrc seems to be harder to finish than 52100 at 65hrc, and MC is in a league of its own. I can use a piece of Rhynowet that won't cut MC anymore and still get a few good strokes out of it on AEB-L. 

Usually the consensus is that in the range of low alloy carbon steels the edge geometry and hardness of individual knives are going to be the greatest determinant factors in edge retention, not steel type. So by that I mean, White 1, W2, Blue 1, O1, 1095 and so on. They all have a very similar degree or wear resistance and toughness at the same hardness. In a blind test you probably couldn't distinguish between them. 52100 and Apex Ultra are the exceptions to the rule, they're tougher at higher hardness and are higher wearing. Once you get into high alloy steels the differences tend to be quite drastic. 

You'll find lots of anecdotal comparisons on this forum.


----------



## MSicardCutlery

In between steps on customs I try to keep up with my own utilitarian type blades. These are all 52100. 220-240mm, all tall-ish in the 55mm range, minus one gyuto-hiki type knife, and the 215x60mm nakiri at the back.


----------



## BillHanna

When that cleaver is done, can we get pics here? I’m sure someone here would be interested how it turns out. My girlfriend. In Canada. You wouldn’t know her. She’s super curious.


----------



## tostadas

Or just message me direct about the cleaver... I don't trust this @BillHanna fellow


----------



## BillHanna




----------



## HumbleHomeCook

DANGER! DANGER!

The universe is pissed at @BillHanna about his recent sausage gravy declarations. Handle with care. Allow to cool.


----------



## tostadas

BillHanna said:


> View attachment 205081


----------



## MSicardCutlery

HumbleHomeCook said:


> DANGER! DANGER!
> 
> The universe is pissed at @BillHanna about his recent sausage gravy declarations. Handle with care. Allow to cool.


Does that make Bill cancelled?


----------



## BillHanna

I have no questions on how you HT 52100, if that helps my case.


----------



## HumbleHomeCook

MSicardCutlery said:


> Does that make Bill cancelled?



Bill can never be cancelled!


----------



## MSicardCutlery

BillHanna said:


> When that cleaver is done, can we get pics here? I’m sure someone here would be interested how it turns out. My girlfriend. In Canada. You wouldn’t know her. She’s super curious.





tostadas said:


> Or just message me direct about the cleaver... I don't trust this @BillHanna fellow



Sure, I'll post pictures of the finished knife here after it's done...tomorrow hopefully. Of course, it already has a happy home to go to, out in the Pacific...


----------



## MSicardCutlery

HumbleHomeCook said:


> DANGER! DANGER!
> 
> The universe is pissed at @BillHanna about his recent sausage gravy declarations. Handle with care. Allow to cool.


It's comments like this that I hang out here at 10:00 for. I haven't laughed so hard in weeks.


----------



## M1k3

HumbleHomeCook said:


> Bill can never be cancelled!


Just slightly delayed.


----------



## MSicardCutlery

BillHanna said:


> I have no questions on how you HT 52100, if that helps my case.


Give-er, it's MagnaCut anyhow.


----------



## M1k3

MSicardCutlery said:


> Give-er, it's MagnaCut anyhow.


64.5 HRC? 65? 62?


----------



## MSicardCutlery

M1k3 said:


> 64.5 HRC? 65? 62?


Somewhere between 63 and 64


----------



## M1k3

MSicardCutlery said:


> Somewhere between 63 and 64


Living dangerously in the DM's department I see. Godspeed.


----------



## MSicardCutlery

Just finished this....230mmX120mm MagnaCut, stabilized bog oak and brass. The blade has been electro etched


----------



## MSicardCutlery

Ad the midpoint the edge measures [email protected] 2mm, .43mm @5mm and .73mm at 10mm. Sliced up one potato about 2.5" in diameter, and right through of its own weight when I pushed it just about 1.5".


----------



## tostadas

That looks amazing!


----------



## ch_br

MSicardCutlery said:


> Just finished this....230mmX120mm MagnaCut, stabilized bog oak and brass. The blade has been electro etched
> 
> View attachment 205340
> 
> View attachment 205341



Just clutching at straws here with a WILD guess...

Is this, by chance, a @BillHanna Special???


----------



## ch_br

IF Not:

@BillHanna should go big or go home... Order a 300mm x 160mm

It would REALLY tie the room together


----------



## Naftoor

MSicardCutlery said:


> Does that make Bill cancelled?



Yes but only after payment for his Canadian girlfriends cleaver processes


----------



## BillHanna

ch_br said:


> Just clutching at straws here with a WILD guess...
> 
> Is this, by chance, a @BillHanna Special???


1. Not yet

2. Wrong steel

3. I wouldn’t mind 300x125


----------



## ch_br

BillHanna said:


> 1. Not yet
> 
> 2. Wrong steel
> 
> 3. I wouldn’t mind 300x125



You heard him @MSicardCutlery, send over the work order!


----------



## BillHanna

ch_br said:


> You heard him @MSicardCutlery, send over the work order!


Let me get through anniversary and Christmas first.


----------



## ch_br

BillHanna said:


> Let me get through anniversary and Christmas first.



Ah yes, buuuuuuutttt...

Don't overlook Christmas for your-self.

Mental Health and well-being is highly neglected and tends to suffer greatly during the holiday season.

This is psychological fact.

You have a FEVER-- the only perscription is a little more rectangle --> from @MSicardCutlery


----------



## MSicardCutlery

300x125 is more than "a little" rectangle


----------



## ch_br

MSicardCutlery said:


> 300x125 is more that "a little" rectangle



Yes, its Squarezilla! 


potential design options include:


----------



## M1k3

ch_br said:


> Yes, its Squarezilla!
> 
> 
> potential design options include:
> 
> View attachment 205375


There's also the Serbian (Sir.B.Ian) flavor. Either way, definitely need more cutouts on the spine!


----------



## MSicardCutlery

Successful first attempt. This opens new doors for me. Not quite as crisp as it was pre hand finishing though


----------



## ch_br

MSicardCutlery said:


> Successful first attempt. This opens new doors for me. Not quite as crisp as it was pre hand finishing though
> View attachment 206639



Nice workhorse grind!


----------



## MSicardCutlery

ch_br said:


> Nice workhorse grind!


Yes, like one of the workhorses from the first chapter of Gulliver's Travels.


40mm from the heel it's [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected] I had to take 1mm off of the edge though. It was [email protected], that was too thin.


----------



## MSicardCutlery

#2 I came at from both sides. This one is a 240mm in AEB-L


----------



## MSicardCutlery

M1k3 said:


> Just slightly delayed.


I'm ashamed to say I only just got this.

I'd feel more ashamed if I didn't laugh so hard at it though.


----------



## jsph

MSicardCutlery said:


> #2 I came at from both sides. This one is a 240mm in AEB-L
> 
> View attachment 206811


jaw: dropped. "there's no emoticon for what i'm feeling!"


----------



## MSicardCutlery

jsph said:


> jaw: dropped. "there's no emoticon for what i'm feeling!"


Thank you! Thank you!


----------



## MSicardCutlery

The latest projects. A bunch of suji in SheffCut (a 26C3 derivative) and 52100, as well as a gyuto in SheffCut and another in CPM CruWear(Z-Wear). There will be 3 honyaki in this lot. I haven't made any in ages and the itch has been needing a scratch. I haven't worked with either SheffCut or CruWear and I'm excited to try them out, as there hasn't been much variety in the steels I use since Apex Ultra was released.


----------



## BillHanna

MSicardCutlery said:


> The latest projects. A bunch of suji in SheffCut (a 26C3 derivative) and 52100, as well as a gyuto in SheffCut and another in CPM CruWear(Z-Wear). There will be 3 honyaki in this lot. I haven't made any in ages and the itch has been needing a scratch. I haven't worked with either SheffCut or CruWear and I'm excited to try them out, as there hasn't been much variety in the steels I use since Apex Ultra was released.
> View attachment 207411


What’s the expected height on the sujis?


----------



## MSicardCutlery

BillHanna said:


> What’s the expected height on the sujis?



38mm-40mm


----------



## jsph

MSicardCutlery said:


> #2 I came at from both sides. This one is a 240mm in AEB-L



(sigh... so there i was, thinking i could maybe save up the ~$200 for one of his 240mm lasers.... and this happens.)

how would you describe this one's cutting behaviour, in terms of things like... i don't know... how easily it goes through food, wedging / not wedging, whether it steers at all, how the food release is, ... how solid it feels going through harder things like carrots or thick starchy things like potatoes -- that sort of thing.

did you make any of your usual cutting videos with this one, by the way?

also: when you were hollowing-out the sides, any chance you stopped after doing one side (presumably the food release side?) and saw whether having just that one side hollowed out was good enough for improved food release effects... and noticed whether it was cutting weirdly (e.g., steering) if only one side was hollowed out? i'm assuming this started out as a sort of laser before you went at the sides.


----------



## MSicardCutlery

jsph said:


> (sigh... so there i was, thinking i could maybe save up the ~$200 for one of his 240mm lasers.... and this happens.)
> 
> how would you describe this one's cutting behaviour, in terms of things like... i don't know... how easily it goes through food, wedging / not wedging, whether it steers at all, how the food release is, ... how solid it feels going through harder things like carrots or thick starchy things like potatoes -- that sort of thing.
> 
> did you make any of your usual cutting videos with this one, by the way?
> 
> also: when you were hollowing-out the sides, any chance you stopped after doing one side (presumably the food release side?) and saw whether having just that one side hollowed out was good enough for improved food release effects... and noticed whether it was cutting weirdly (e.g., steering) if only one side was hollowed out? i'm assuming this started out as a sort of laser before you went at the sides.




I haven't done any test cutting with this knife just yet. I've been wanting to, but very busy with customs. I have another like it only ground on one side in 52100 I want to test side by side against it. My understanding is that both hollows decrease drag while the one on the outer face also have the effect of assisting food release. And yes, this was ground as a laser, just with a fairly untapered spine before cutting the hollows.


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## jsph

neat... and a 52100, too.

with the technique/equipment you're using to hollow out the sides, is it possible to stay away from the first couple centimeters of the choil end of the blade, around the pinch grip area, and not hollow that out -- maybe give the blade more strength / rigidity / resistance to torsion right where we push down the most, maybe get a more confident feel pushing down through harder/bigger stuff, even if it's still the hollowed sides (farther along) going through the food but with the choil/neck end of the blade at least not giving a bendy feeling?

(... however much it would make these choil shots far less sexy and curvaceous.)

... and i'm assuming that, for the nose end of the blade, once you do the distal taper afterward, that's how you get rid of there being hollows digging into the tip and last bit of belly... because it will taper down to the tip far more than the hollows ever went. (?)


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## MSicardCutlery

jsph said:


> neat... and a 52100, too.
> 
> with the technique/equipment you're using to hollow out the sides, is it possible to stay away from the first couple centimeters of the choil end of the blade, around the pinch grip area, and not hollow that out -- maybe give the blade more strength / rigidity / resistance to torsion right where we push down the most, maybe get a more confident feel pushing down through harder/bigger stuff, even if it's still the hollowed sides (farther along) going through the food but with the choil/neck end of the blade at least not giving a bendy feeling?
> 
> (... however much it would make these choil shots far less sexy and curvaceous.)
> 
> ... and i'm assuming that, for the nose end of the blade, once you do the distal taper afterward, that's how you get rid of there being hollows digging into the tip and last bit of belly... because it will taper down to the tip far more than the hollows ever went. (?)


It's certainly possible. I did some test cutting last night with the double cut one. My understanding of the mechanism is correct. 

And no, I did all of the grinding then cut the hollows. It takes a little practice, by you can feather cuts in to make a nice slow transition between the tip and the hollow. It could be done in that order, but I would still have to cut it the same way for a smooth transition.


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## jsph

makes sense. that's good to know. pretty impressive results from the looks of things so far with this one, for sure.


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## Greasylake

Out of curiosity, do you have the tooling to do single bevels, or any plans to make them in the future?


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## MSicardCutlery

Greasylake said:


> Out of curiosity, do you have the tooling to do single bevels, or any plans to make them in the future?


Practicing to make them...that's what the s-grinds really are, I was asked a few weeks back about a yanagi, so I'll building up the toolkit and the skillset. Keeping a nice smooth hollow cut is quite different from grinding flats...it's got a lot in common with belt finishing, but the pressure is all different. As soon as I have another custom finished I can get to that again.


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## Greasylake

Awesome, I'll be looking forward to seeing what you do with those in the future. Single bevels with modern steels and your san-mai and honyaki patterns will be really cool I think


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## MSicardCutlery

Greasylake said:


> Awesome, I'll be looking forward to seeing what you do with those in the future. Single bevels with modern steels and your san-mai and honyaki patterns will be really cool I think


I'm hoping so. There is definitely some Apex Ultra ni-mai on the horizon. At the same time I've got this unhardened M4 blank I've been really thinking about turning into a yanagi...which could be fun...or a total nightmare, that stuff just doesn't like to straighten.


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## MSicardCutlery

No finish grinding/polishing done yet, buuuut....... I think it's a decent start


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## MSicardCutlery

It's been a very busy 2 weeks for me. A bunch of customs have made it out the door.

First there was this flat 250mm Sabatier-esque workhorse in Magnacut. The profile really grew on me while I was working on it, so I layed out another one just like it that I'm hoping to finish before the new year.






There was a matching set of 3 52100 blades














And this treasure here. I don't often get asked to work with my nicer burl, but I really enjoy it when I do.






I also made great strides with my yanagi. This is my second. The first had a somewhat uneven ura. It's correctable, but it will require more hand finishing than I have time for at the moment. This one came out much better, and is mirror polished 52100 as per request. 















I also tried my hand a a different steel, CPM-CruWear. I've been curious about it a while and thought I'd give it a go. I never thought I'd say this, but it really makes me appreciate working with MagnaCut. It's much easier to grind than this stuff.





I've also more or less run out of prefabricated handles, so I started on a batch of 70. Mostly oak and maple, but some walnut and cherry too.


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## HumbleHomeCook

Great stuff Matt!

I dig what you did on that k-tip and love seeing you explore and push and learn.


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## MSicardCutlery

I couldn't help but post this one. This is after just one polishing cycle too. You can see some subtle intimations of how active it will be after a couple more. Usually I'm not this excited about honyaki this early into the polishing phase.

It's a 240mm made from SheffCut, a 26c3 derivative.


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## zizirex

MSicardCutlery said:


> It's been a very busy 2 weeks for me. A bunch of customs have made it out the door.
> 
> First there was this flat 250mm Sabatier-esque workhorse in Magnacut. The profile really grew on me while I was working on it, so I layed out another one just like it that I'm hoping to finish before the new year.
> View attachment 214500


Is that the clone of my order? the twin of my MagnaHorsey


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## MSicardCutlery

zizirex said:


> Is that the clone of my order? the twin of my MagnaHorsey


That is the one! And I have a cousin of it to get going on in Z-Wear too now.


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