# NKD-Stephan Fowler 240 Gyuto



## TB_London (Apr 27, 2012)

Ordered this a while ago and after a few F+F tweaks it arrived today. Will try and do a write up covering how it performs when i've had the chance to use it but thought i'd share some pics and initial thoughts.

Came well packed with a nice plain poplar saya which i wasn't expecting 

















The blade is 52100 clad in wrought with a decent amount of convexity and to my eyes a great profile. The san mai is waifish in thinness and the core steel shows through in a number of places. I quite like the way it looks and is a lot different to my other clad knives. The Wrought cladding has some character to it and had a few inclusions. The larger of which i asked Stephan to fill with epoxy as i was worried about it being a rust/dirt trap. With it being filled i'm not worried about it.












The handle is really nice, has a decent amount of taper to it and is really comfortable in my hand. It's one of the nicest Wa handles i have and really complements the blade.











I took some measurements of the blade at various points, the convexity means it doesn't thin much from the spine to the middle of the blade, but then tapers dramatically to the cutting edge.






Some pics to try and show the convexity











The profile of the knife has a lot more curve than the earlier Fowler gyutos i have seen pictures of. It has a bit less blade height than my other 240s and so with a similar edge profile the tip ends up a little higher. In the hand it feels quite slender and nimble almost a Gyuto-Suji hybrid.







The edge was far from polished but would just about shave, in no way comfortably though. Sliced a potato with it and it was agressive, felt like a 1k stone finish but that's a pure guess... Food separation was good similar to my carters and the profile felt comfortable on the board. When i've had a chance to properly use it i'll be able to give some more meaningful feedback, but first impression was good.


The only slight gripes i have at the moment are the relatively sharp corners on the spine and choil and need a few minutes with some wet and dry to fully round them over, something that my knives from other makers has made me start to expect.

There is also a bit of gap where the tang enters the handle. It's a shame as the handle is really really good, and just needs some dyed epoxy to fill the gap and seal the tang.






Quick and easy fixes, just a shame that they weren't done OOTB.


Will try and use it as much as i can over the weekend but first impressions are that it's going to perform really well


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## Don Nguyen (Apr 27, 2012)

I like the profile comparison diagram!

Sweet knife. That is one big inclusion though.


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## echerub (Apr 27, 2012)

Excellent - thank you for the information, and I love the use of outlines to compare with other gyutos


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## TB_London (Apr 27, 2012)

echerub said:


> Excellent - thank you for the information, and I love the use of outlines to compare with other gyutos



Cheers, been meaning to do it a while with my different knives on squared paper. Need to get some modeling clay to be able to do Salty's trick to show the cross section.


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## apicius9 (Apr 27, 2012)

Nice, thanks! And I also love the outline pic, we should have more of those, they are a great way to compare the blades. I generally prefer the Shigefusa profile but I am sure the one in Stephan's knife will work great also. 

BTW, are these phone or camera pics? Your white balance is a bit off and adjusting that would dramatically improve the pictures (I hope you don't mind me pointing that out...).

Stefan


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## TB_London (Apr 27, 2012)

apicius9 said:


> BTW, are these phone or camera pics? Your white balance is a bit off and adjusting that would dramatically improve the pictures (I hope you don't mind me pointing that out...).
> 
> Stefan



Haha, don't worry, they're iphone pics under energy saver lightbulbs so are quite a way off from true colours. I keep looking at buying a proper camera but haven't been able to justify it, may be i should  (But then i wouldn't have as many excuses for why my pics don't look like those of Jon, Salty et al.....)

I really like the Shigefusa too, it's my benchmark 240


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## WillC (Apr 27, 2012)

Brilliant details there Tom:biggrin: I like the look of the grind and the profile. Never seen big chunks of inclusions like that in wrought though. Hazy lines of micro inclusions yes, and they will all be flowing in one direction from rolling and re-rolling under welding heat. Maybe I've been lucky and just used the good stuff that has been further refined.


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## Deckhand (Apr 27, 2012)

I really hope it's a good performer! Those inclusions upset me, if someone sent me a custom like that. Well...
Anyway, I hope you get a lot of enjoyment from your knife.


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## Johnny.B.Good (Apr 27, 2012)

Thanks for the review (and all of the pictures and diagrams) TB.


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## tk59 (Apr 27, 2012)

Thanks for the review. I can't wait for the follow-up.


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## tk59 (Apr 27, 2012)

Actually, on you knife-collection pics, it looks like there might be a slight recurve in the flat area. Is that an illusion?


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## TB_London (Apr 27, 2012)

tk59 said:


> Actually, on you knife-collection pics, it looks like there might be a slight recurve in the flat area. Is that an illusion?



Weird illusion, poor photography coupled with lighting and iPhone camera. The trace around the edge shows the profile accurately. I'll try and get a pic of board contact tomorrow.


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