Set of kitchen knives

[ckluftinger]

Here is a set of knives I just completed for a lady in Seattle. This is perhaps the biggest project for me yet: three knives (French blade, boning knife and paring knife), a steel and a block. All wood is purple heart, with a strip of walnut down the middle of the block. Blades are forged from 5160, and differentially heat treated. I used mosaic pins on these for the first time.The steel is a three-dollar rescue from the local Sally-Ann. I made the guard, ferrule and handle to match the set. Thanks for looking at my work, I appreciate your opinions.
Cheers,
Chris

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[Ray Rogers]

It hurts when I think about how much work it took to do all that! Very nice job, she should be very pleased ....

[Frankallen]

Very Beautiful set of Knives!! Great Job!!

[ranger1]

Man thats a nice set. That is alot of work. Excellent job.

[john smith]

chris
That is a fantastic set
I would be proud to own one of your kitchen knives.
great work.

[ckluftinger]

It took about two months, all told. i don't always spend hours on end, but probably in the neighborhood of 12 to 15 hours a week. So, simple math would indicate 100 to 120 hours?

[Klonix]

Awesome Work, great Job !!!

Klonix

[ckluftinger]

Thanks, Andy. I was at a very infomative hammer-in in Southern Alberta a couple of weeks ago, and I learned that apparently purple heart will fade if exposed to direct sulight for a long time. I'll have to test it and see if perhaps this is not the best choice of materials. Everyone seems to gravitate toward it though, no matter what other types of wood I suggest, it always ends up being this one, especially with the ladies...

[Klonix]

Hi Chris,
I know that, unfortunately, not exactly, but I think that all materials fade a bit if they are directly in the sun, I always wanted one oils with linseed oil or gun oil (Ballistol). Is good for the color and protects.
Your lady has a good taste but it's a very nice material, I also like very much tropical timber moment an order for a local wood handle (Ahorn) and a red leather sheath for a Herbertz-knife.

Regards
Andy

[peter.shoemaker]

I'm just getting started, and got started to do kitchen knives, so this just makes me sit here agog. What a great set. Just, wow.

Regards,

Peter

[ckluftinger]

Thanks, Peter. Kitchen knives are a great market. Nothing is as personal for a chef or even a home cook as that "special "knife. It's toally unique and (hopefully) the owner treats it with reverence and respect. I'm making another one right now...

[peter.shoemaker]

Well, I'm coming into all of this from the food and kitchen side and not from the knife side, so I hear ya! I don't yet have the pretensions of creating a gorgeous set like yours; I'm all interested in not grinding off a finger tip at the moment!

Cheers,

Peter

[Ray Rogers]

QUOTE: no matter what other types of wood I suggest, it always ends up being this one


I've had that problem many times and especially with kitchen knives. I don't think that they all love wood X all that much as that it is what you happened to use on the set they saw. If it impressed them enough to want to order a set then it isn't surprising that they also want the same handle material. But, I get tired of doing the same one again and again.

I will add this bit from my experience though, take it or leave it as you choose. Makers can argue the issue of stabilized wood vs unstabilized with a variety of finishes all they want but IMO to use any wood other than stabilized on a kitchen knife is unwise. No matter what finish you put on wood, the commercial kitchen environment can and will break it down over time. Humidity and heat, gotta luv it. Even more, sometimes untreated wood will grow a mold/fungus. I had a beautiful piece of ironwood break out in a white powdery mold/fungus/whatever repeatedly after cleaning it until the owner started oiling it very regularly. Admittedly, that's the only one I know of out of several ironwood handles and one bloodwood handle that I made but my reputation and, potentially, someone's heath, could be riding on those handles so I never used either of those woods again. Of the several hundred kitchen knives I made with every type of stabilized wood imaginable I've never had a single issue....

[Ken W.]

Excellent point about stabilized wood for use in the kitchen setting, Ray. I just finished building a 3 piece set for my wife. Bought some Mazur Birch and had it stabilized but it ended up a bit too thin for the end result I was looking for so I went with nonacrylic "stabilized" Maple Burls scales off of Ebay. They were soft so I finished/sealed them with CYA. They look good but the big question is how well they will hold up.

In regards to the experience you had with Ironwood I'd suggest that since there was only 1 knife that had a problem it probably had nothing to do with the type of wood or your work but was rather due to the care/environment of the owner. "Ridden hard and put away wet."

Ken

[Ray Rogers]

Ken,

I think we can put aside any concerns that the owner of the ironwood knife was at fault. This was only one of several identical design knives (different steels, different handle material, same design) I had made for him. All the others had stabilized handles. Also, he was the head chef in a top end country club where this situation occurred for many years. He knows how to care for his knives.

Let us know how those maple scales hold up. I have had acrylic stabilized but highly figured (read lots of weak spots on the wood) maple, myrtle type of scales warp before. True, they were badly abused by being put through a dishwasher repeatedly but I'm one of those guys who wants my knives to be as bullet proof as possible. For that reason, you won't see many full tang kitchen knives on my site. If it hasn't got scales, the scales can't warp or shrink or get anything under them ....