# Stephan Fowler Custom Order



## BobCat (Apr 16, 2012)

This is still in Georgia, but will be mailed to me tomorrow with a matching maple saya/red pin. Can't wait to get it. I will update with pics, specs and a review ASAP!


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## Michael Rader (Apr 16, 2012)

Beautiful. 

~M


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## tk59 (Apr 16, 2012)

It looks like an improvement over previous work. It may be the angle but the handle and machi look incongruous, as is often the case with Fowlers. What is it?


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## BobCat (Apr 16, 2012)

sorry but I don't know what a machi is 

the handle is curly maple with stainless and red spacers and a horn ferrule

the knife is a suji/petty 210


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## Pensacola Tiger (Apr 16, 2012)

BobCat said:


> sorry but I don't know what a machi is
> 
> the handle is curly maple with stainless and red spacers and a horn ferrule
> 
> the knife is a suji/petty 210



You might want to refer to Gator's Japanese Kitchen Knife Anatomy:

http://zknives.com/knives/kitchen/misc/jbladeant.shtml

Nice knife. 

Rick


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## Lefty (Apr 16, 2012)

That looks really nice! I'm looking forward to the review and extra pics.


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## eshua (Apr 16, 2012)

I'm curious what his grind is like right now. 

My Carter and DT both make effortless cuts...but at work I ignore almost everything but my Fowler because its just a pleasure to use when I have a ton of work to bang out.


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## BobCat (Apr 16, 2012)

quote from Stephan

"The grind I've been using on these is a very slight convex from about halfway up the face terminating at the edge with .003 edge thickness and then put a primary bevel on with waterstones at a 15 degree combined angle"


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## 99Limited (Apr 16, 2012)

Bobcat, I hope you enjoy your new knife. I'm currently using one of Stephan's Heiji style gyutos and even though it's pretty beefy, I'm loving it.


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## TB_London (Apr 16, 2012)

Looks good, I've got one on the way from Stephan too, hoping it will be as good a cutter as it is a looker


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## BobCat (Apr 16, 2012)

This one is 52100 and is supposed to be a good cutter. I am hoping it will be my go to knife in my home kitchen. Good luck with your purchase!!


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## Peco (Apr 16, 2012)

Nice piece, congrats


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## agp (Apr 17, 2012)

Gorgeous, love the handle.


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## macmiddlebrooks (Apr 17, 2012)

Very nice, I'm sure you'll be thrilled every time you use it.


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## Eamon Burke (Apr 17, 2012)

Nice red spacer you got there. I know someone who is going to like it!


Stephan's work is CLEARLY leaps and bounds past when he went full time. I guess banging out knives day after day kind of does that.


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## Lefty (Apr 17, 2012)

To be honest, in my mind, he has taken a bit of a knock, quite unnecessarily, in the past few months. He's a perfect example of how trendy this market really is. He took his licks in the most respectable way I can think of. Instead of opening his mouth, he fixed (most of) his knives' issues (if you want to call them that) and let his new work speak for itself. The funny thing is, I know a few people who have his old work and say that it performs beautifully, as is.


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## Eamon Burke (Apr 17, 2012)

For me, aside from not liking the whole wrought iron thing, and the f&f of a knife from 2+ years ago, it was that they didn't seem intentionally made, and that to me is huge. His current stuff doesn't look that way at all to me.

I would love to try one of his again, but I got (other knife related) bills to pay! I hope they still have that dramatic taper.


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## chuck239 (Apr 17, 2012)

Lefty said:


> To be honest, in my mind, he has taken a bit of a knock, quite unnecessarily, in the past few months. He's a perfect example of how trendy this market really is. He took his licks in the most respectable way I can think of. Instead of opening his mouth, he fixed (most of) his knives' issues (if you want to call them that) and let his new work speak for itself. The funny thing is, I know a few people who have his old work and say that it performs beautifully, as is.



Do you own any of his knives?

-Chuck


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## Lefty (Apr 17, 2012)

No, I don't, and I'm not saying that all of the criticism was unwarranted. Just that I think he handled it well, and perhaps we "hated" on him a bit more than he might have deserved. 
Sorry, I should have made that a bit clearer.


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## RobinW (Apr 17, 2012)

I had the chance of comparing his passaround and my gyuto side by side and the difference is huge!


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## Marko Tsourkan (Apr 17, 2012)

Lefty said:


> To be honest, in my mind, he has taken a bit of a knock, quite unnecessarily, in the past few months. He's a perfect example of how trendy this market really is. He took his licks in the most respectable way I can think of. Instead of opening his mouth, he fixed (most of) his knives' issues (if you want to call them that) and let his new work speak for itself. The funny thing is, I know a few people who have his old work and say that it performs beautifully, as is.



I think this forum has to learn to separate personal from objective and judge makers on merits of their work. There is nothing wrong with a constructive criticism - that very criticism resulted in makers changing profile, grind, some other things.

M


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## Lefty (Apr 17, 2012)

Marko, are you on my side with this one? I can't tell. Haha
Either way, yes, we all do, on all forums.


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## WildBoar (Apr 17, 2012)

I really like my Fowler gyuto. The wa handle is a little chunky, but 9 months later I have not taken him up on his offer to taper it down a little. There are a couple gaps in the cable damascus, but as long as no evidence of rust pops up I fine with them. I really like the blade profile (Carter-esque); it's a great cutter.


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## BobCat (Apr 17, 2012)

Well it's in the mail. I must say I had no idea my post would generate this discussion. Uncle Sam owed me some money so I decided upon a long petty/suji. I found Salty's video on YouTube showing a Fowler 210 petty so I got in touch with Stephan about a custom. Why not, it was even my birthday! 

I will do my best to photograph and test the knife. Please consider I am not a knife expert, just a home cook. Stay tuned.

Deborah


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## Pensacola Tiger (Apr 17, 2012)

How tall is it at the heel?


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## BobCat (Apr 17, 2012)

Here are the specs:

203mm edge length, 42mm tall at the heel
1.7mm thick at the heel, .95mm at 1" from the tip
166 grams, balances just behind the end of the ferrule
Curly maple octagon handle with stainless and red spacer


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## Pensacola Tiger (Apr 17, 2012)

42 mm at the heel will make for a really nice utility petty. I have a 190 that is 35 mm at the heel, and it has become the knife I reach for more often than any other.

Looking forward to pics and the review!


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## WildBoar (Apr 17, 2012)

Wife wanted primavera for dinner tonight, and we both got home kinda late. So I grabbed the Fowler and knocked out prep on a pile of squash, onions, red bell peppers and garlic. I had my "Chopped" game face on, and rocked it out as fast as I could -- which I'm sure is painfully slow to a pro. But the Fowler flied through everything, and was a joy to use. The thin tip made short work of slicing all the garlic cloves.

As a reward, I let it thinly slice duck proschiutto (thanks, Travis -- great stuff!), which added some nice blue streaks to the patina.


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## tk59 (Apr 17, 2012)

My Fowler sits in my block unused. I have seen and used a number of them, all different. Performance was wildly inconsistent ranging from excellent to less than mediocre. Most were oddly profiled and fit and finish was often a problem beyond what I would characterize as "rustic." Edge taking and holding is very good and build quality is also very good. A number of people have come through my kitchen and taken a turn with them and comments are consistent. Perhaps he's worked out his issues, at this point. I have not seen anything he's made within the past few months. Personally, I like Stephan but I ran out of patience with respect to knives. I haven't posted anything like this because I don't like to but I think it is only fair to post the good and the bad.


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## 99Limited (Apr 18, 2012)

tk59 said:


> ... I think it is only fair to post the good and the bad.



Absolutely. I think you should get with Stephan and work something out about your knife. Maybe exchange it for a new version. One thing is for sure, if you don't ask you won't know.


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## WildBoar (Apr 18, 2012)

Sorry your experience hasn't been very good. I spent a little time with the pass-around, and it was a different sort of animal. But as much as I wanted to dislike it (after all, it was worlds away from a nice J-knife), I really enjoyed my time with it. For the most part, it was as opposite as you could get from the wa-gyuto I purchased from him. Fit and finish seems to be a recurring issue, but he offered to taper my handle for me if I could not overcome the balkiness. The gaps in the cable damascus are probably more in line with what upsets most people (similar to the chipped san mai on the pass-around). While I wish the gaps were not there on my knife, I feel I got more then my money's worth for the grinder emergency price I paid for it.


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## chuck239 (Apr 18, 2012)

tk59 said:


> My Fowler sits in my block unused. I have seen and used a number of them, all different. Performance was wildly inconsistent ranging from excellent to less than mediocre. Most were oddly profiled and fit and finish was often a problem beyond what I would characterize as "rustic." Edge taking and holding is very good and build quality is also very good. A number of people have come through my kitchen and taken a turn with them and comments are consistent. Perhaps he's worked out his issues, at this point. I have not seen anything he's made within the past few months. Personally, I like Stephan but I ran out of patience with respect to knives. I haven't posted anything like this because I don't like to but I think it is only fair to post the good and the bad.



Couldn't agree more. I will say, his heat treatment is great. I used 2 pass around knives, a friends, and my suji. The fit, finish and profile were just off. His new petties look like they are much improved. I'd love to "trade mine out" but dont think a knife maker could do a living if they were doing that. Instead of fogging up this thread with my opinions on my knife I will just say everything about your petty looks 100% better then the issues I have with my knife. 

Congrats on the new knife, I hope you like it as much as many others love theirs.

-Chuck


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## Lefty (Apr 18, 2012)

Well said, Chuck!


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## TB_London (Apr 18, 2012)

Mine is in the post too


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## BobCat (Apr 18, 2012)

Cool. Very interested to hear your impressions, too.


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## tk59 (Apr 19, 2012)

99Limited said:


> ...I think you should get with Stephan and work something out about your knife. Maybe exchange it for a new version. One thing is for sure, if you don't ask you won't know.


I always try to do my due diligence. I've spent a lot of time and money going back and forth with various knifemakers. At some point, you just have to call it good and move on.


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## BobCat (Apr 21, 2012)

Got the knife yesterday. Took pics today. I am not a professional photographer but here they are...










My first impressions are overall pretty good. The handle is beefy, larger than any other knife I own. It feels weird, but then I use a pinch grip so it seems OK. I like the looks of the handle, and the knife balances well just at the end of the ferrule.

The grind is not flat, I can feel a taper from the middle of the blade to the edge. The spine is thicker at the heel and tapers to the tip. The edge grind has imperfections near the heel, although my pic probably is not good enough to show this. I think I can make this better on the stones. 

I am making a paella and cut onions, garlic, mushrooms. It's sharp, and has some food release issues but not bad. Falls through tomatoes fine, plenty sharp for a home kitchen.

Must be some improvements over first generation iterations. I am reserving my final opinion after using this regularly for a while. But I am not disappointed at all.

Deborah


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## 99Limited (Apr 21, 2012)

The finish on Stephan's knives never seem to be flawless. The spine on mine had a little nick in from what I guess was a run in with a sanding belt. It only took me literally one minute to fix it. I timed myself because I wanted to see how much extra time he should have spent making his knives that much better. I also have a little over grind on the heel, but again it's only a little bitty spot and it doesn't really matter to me. The way I look at it, Stephan forges and finishes all of his knives by hand and that's something I really appreciate. Perfection will come with time.


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## hambone.johnson (Apr 22, 2012)

I have his 278 Suji in W2 and im blown away by it. its true that his shapes and profiles are different but i respect that alot. quite honestly i still have a broken relationship with the all mighty Konosuke HD .... and i picked mine up from marks first batch almost 2 years ago now, its just never worked for me in shape or weight. I make that statement because sometimes what works for everyone else (as most seem to love the Kono) doesnt work for you. I was glad my Suji was a little hefty, blade forward and thick. its firm, solid in the hand and when im butchering or slicing meats during service it doesnt falter or feel insubstantial. It gives the feeling of a solid draw and the length is bad ass. The taper is awesome with a blatant convex grind on it but truly i wouldnt change a thing about it, and id be hard pressed to find something that would match my style of preference for a work knife in a Suji. mines on its way to Toronto to get a Saya and bag made for it. full pics and thread when it gets back, but the W2 and Stephans heat treating really made me reconsider my POV on full carbon at work. Im glad i can check in on his WOP and page on CK2G and see something different.


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## tk59 (Apr 22, 2012)

How many sujis have you seen? Of those, how many truly bad sujis have you seen? I would wager most have never seen a truly bad suji. Why? It's pretty easy to make a functional suji, esp. for not so delicate tasks. I've been grinding and regrinding a big one here and I'll be damned if the thing cuts great with every single variation. Even flat ground, tall, clunky, thick sujis can butcher meat, lol.

Anyway, if you want to do a discuss Fowler knives thread, start a new one. I think this one has been polluted enough and I apologize for my contribution to that.


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