Two Shallot Knives > A regular and an XXL version

Please visit HERE

To see a more expended post on my CCK BLOG with more detailed images of these two knives.

Greetings Everybody,
Here are a two that are recently out of the studio.

The two Shallot Knives I forged and heat treated about 6-months ago and was just getting around to them now.

Here you see a regular Shallot Knife < Click the link to read how the Shallot Knife Design originated some years ago.
And then Here is a one-off XXL Shallot.

The regular is forged to shape 1095
The XXL is forged to shape W2
This XXL version having a particularly sweet differential Rainbow Quench!

The regular featuring antique ivory Micarta with rare Westinghouse Blue Ivorite Micarta inlay over a blind pin and detail carving.

The XXL featuring the rarest of the rare Westinghouse material, some glass epoxy Micarta that they only did one run of ever.
It flashes some bright toxic green in the layers that is best seen in the sun, and almost impossible ot get in images.
This one with Translucent G10 inlay over a blind pin and detail caving as well.
A very special knife!

Both are headed to Eatingtools.com in Brooklyn

I hope you enjoy seeing these two.

-DON

Veggie Cleavers To Date

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 for a more detailed and expanded post about all the veggie knives I have made to date.

Greetings All,
I was finishing up a veggie cleaver recently, and got to thinking that, in 10-years of making, I have not made that many of them,
AND
thought I'd like to share with you the few I have made thus far....
.....there are already more on the horizon

_______________

Most recent listed first, oldest last.

About mid way, I had a fellow chef Henry, ask me to create a veggie cleaver for him that was weighted more like a main working knife.
I thought this was a good idea, and forged him one out of some thick W2.

Different than the traditional Japanese Nakiri,
I now create my veggie cleavers with more blade-weight than most you see out there.
It's a good idea, considering that many of the types of veggies you generally use cleavers on,
such as cabbages, carrots, fennel,etc...can tend to be fairly robust, and the heavier blade is a positive in my opinion.

________________

This latest one, and first up, I am really proud of. It is a presentation piece, going to a local chef, custom ordered for him by the owners of the Cass House Grill in Cauycos California.
The images really do not do this one justice, and I hope you enjoy seeing it.

Thanks for taking a look.

And enjoy.

-DON

Introducing The Utility Chef

The Utility Chef is an expanded version of a knife I designed for a client a few years ago. 

I liked the blade style and pattern, and thought it would be a cool daily use knife with a wider blade to create knuckle clearance over the cutting board.

   In a style very much akin to the Japanese boning knife called Honesuki, It certainly has some of that flair, with it's narrow tip and wide heel. My version of this style of knife is a bit lighter and has a thinner blade that a traditional Honesuki.

   The one with the Green and Black motif is a single bevel blade, the first of which I have ever created, and I think it will be a fantastic performer for the right handed chef/cook.
   The one in the Mango wood with the Blackwood inlay is more traditional in terms if what this model has to offer. Seemingly simple, but with a clean and sweet look, this one is a perfect example of this model.
These are both a fantastic size for daily use at 12-12.5" OAL with blades that are 6.75" to the front of the handle. The Utility chef blade is 1 & 5/8" wide compared to the 1 & 3/8" width of the normal utility of this same blade style.

The Utility Chef can come with the Tribal Wrap or not. I prefer them with the tribal wrap because they not only look amazing, but have that grip right where you want it.....but for those who prefer a cleaner look, they can come with a more simple handle as well.....as seen below in the one with the Mango wood handle.

All of the Utility Chef Knives featured below are created in stock reduction 52100 carbon tool steel blades, heat treated to RC 59-60 and have been triple tempered with cryogenic treatment for optimal performances. Each of them also feature a forced patina-mustard finish; this helps protect the blade from highly acidic foods at the outset of using the knife, and also looks great on this model.

  I hope you enjoy seeing these two and expect to be seeing more of them in the near future.

Blessings of Health and Goodness to You All

-DON:) 

Below are a few examples of recent work. 

These first two are currently Available in my Main Website Shop.

The Second two are currently Available at EatingTools.Com

Thanks for taking a look.

Alsace Style Handled Knives in the Modern Realm....

Greetings Everybody,

I have been working on this project and will continue to for some time.
It is taking time, as detailed information about these knives is somewhat difficult to find, because they were often created by illiterate smiths in very small shops..
I really wanted my version of these knives to be interesting and modern, yet faithful to the overall aesthetic and feel of the originals.

This style handle dates most likely to sometime in the early 20th Century France.
Knives of similar design can be found in French paintings dating back to the Middle Ages in the Alsace region of France.
And more often than not were seen on butcher knives of various sizes, but with similar blade styles throughout.

I created one fancy utility I called French Flower Utility two years ago, and now have finished these three.
The top knife is going to a donation for an outdoors school in my area called Outside Now.
The French version and bottom Utility are available now on my website for anyone interested.

One of the main things I wanted to do with this style handle, was to see how it would adapt to a French Knife Blade Pattern.
I did this on the middle knife and it really is a sweet-one! I have two more on the bench one of which will be finished in the next few weeks.

It's interesting, because this style handle was a very simple slot construction done mostly by simple smiths starting in the early part of the 20th century in Alcase France.
....and as I can do so well, I have figured out how to make it more challenging, by creating these with a stick tang configuration with the front part of the blade actually registering into the handle.
The originals were in a way registered…so this too remains somewhat faithful to this old design.


One of the choices was to create these in modern materials for the most part, and yet, still remaining faithful to the three pin
(would have been three birds-eye rivets, or washer with peened pins over them in the past) and registering the entire choil-area into the handle.

I hope you enjoy seeing these new ones and at the end of the post the one I did two years ago.
More will certainly be made, and some adaptations to blade styles will emerge.

Thanks for looking and Enjoy the images.

-DON


Top Knife in Koa and 1095 Koa was a gift to to me from USN Member Knifemaker Matthew Gregory...so it's cool to pass this energy along in this donation knife!
Middle is Very Rare Westinghouse Burgundy & Ivory Micarta, blade is 1095
Bottom is some 1990's International Paper company Brown paper Micarta,....and though not that pretty, it's some super tough material, blade is 1095.

In the image of the two smaller knives is posed a knife marked "Paul Bocuse"
and it's a stainless steel bladed version of this old design created in Japan sometime in the 1980's I believe.
This was one the knife that inspired these smaller ones to be created.

BUT...It all started two years ago with this a 1940's Sabatier version I scored....
.....so clearly I am not the only one who decided to recreate these old handle patterns in modern-times....
and the resulting knife I did in 2014
.....is one in Westinghouse and W2, fine hand engraved flower and fine silver inlay.

Two Journeys to Arizona To Start off 2016

January 4th-18th * February 25th-29th

Greetings Everybody!

Because of the nature of this post, being more comprehensive than I would have expected, I have created it more complete documentation of these two trips that I took on the first part of January, and then again in late February, and placed them on the Blog of my main website.

I invite you to click the link below, go there to read and see the images I took on both trips, hear and watch the sound-clips and videos that were taken along the way. 

This truly was a fantastic way to start off my year this year.

I hope you enjoy the journey. -DON:)

LINK TO THE JOURNEY

Three for February 2016

Greetings Everybody,

Getting into the flow again, getting some knives done & shipped out to customers.

The top Camp/Kitchen FTTU is for a new member to the USN.
This one is CPM154 with rustic flats and Stabilized & Dyed Maple with Antique Ivory Inlay and some grippy carving right where it counts.

Joey came by the studio with his lovely wife Charmaine, to surprise her & buy her a knife....pretty risky to say the least, as she had no idea why they were stopping-by.
She looked at knives, and as wife's cas at times feel..... why spend the $...
......mostly because she did not see what she wanted, but liked different parts of different knives.

THEN, the reality of custom-made came in, and she asked:
"Can you make that knife, like this, with a purple handle on it?".... I said "It would be my pleasure."

AND Ultimately....

The best part was, meeting them both and feeling like they are family pretty-much within the first few moments of getting to know one another.

Again, the USN unites like-minded souls, around knives, friendship and life!

Next is a sweet version of my Classic European French Knife, the first on in CPM154.
Exhibiting Antique Ivory Micarta handles with Rare Westinghouse Blue Inlay and detail carving.
this one going out to s customer for his brother...I think.......oddly enough, someone with the same nickname as I had in high school.....
.......just try dragging that one out of me....
.............it'll take plenty of Cove Drinks at The Gathering to do that!

AND last but totally not least,
is one of my Personal Chef Models, with a slightly shorter blade by about .25"
Simply a Very cool knife, and Now Available on CCK Website.

This too, is the first of the Personal Chef models to be offered in CPM154,
and the special-part is that:
* This one is dressed in some very rare, and seldom seen Burgundy and Ivory Westinghouse Micarta.
With peened Bronze Pins and unique Mosiac pin over a blind pin, this knife just feels so totally amazing in the hand,
it's sure to be someones new most favorite kitchen knife for daily cooking!
OAl is just under 12" with a 6.75" blade.

I hope you enjoy the images

-DON:)

Utility Chef and Green Ultralight....3-Tribal Utility Knives for Your Kitchen

Greetings Everybody,

I have been enjoying creating these Tribal Wrapped Handled Knives lately.

Here we have two of my "Utility Chef" models and The Green Ultralight, being more of a Utility Slicer; I designed for a USN member last year.

All three have my "Tribal Wrap" which is a 1mm woven cotton line that has been registered into the handle and then epoxy-soaked to keep out water or foods & to toughen-up the whole construct.
All have fully hardened 52100 carbon steel blades running at an RC 59-60 with forced-patina-mustard-finish.

The Utility Chef Models feature a slight variation on the style of Wa handle I have been creating lately, and are created out of Black Curly Olive wood and feature Antique Ivory Westinghouse inlay. These two are headed to Eatingtools.com in Brooklyn.

The Green Ultralight has an octagonal handle of African Blackwood, with Stabilized and dyed Curly Maple inlay and contrasting natural and green woven cotton line for the wrap.

These are all lightweight knives for their size. The Green being an Ultralight....meaning that i have been pushing the envelope on the thinness of my blades over the past two years and these are the pinacle of that, and yet, I think that you can actually go too think, but this Green Ultralight is just about the thinnest blade i have created to date...and is still tough and will excel in the kitchen for many detailed slicing chores and even as a filet knife for smaller fishes.

The Utility Chef models are great all round daily use knives for creating meals in veggies or meats, just s solid go-to knife where a larger heavier knife is not needed.

All have blades with cutting edges of 6.25" and OAL's running around 12-12.25"...so not really small knives either.

Thanks for looking....there will be more Tribal Utility Knives coming out soon, and
>>> the Green Ultralight is now live and available on my website

OK, enough Gab.

Enjoy the images.

Blessings of Health and Goodness to You All 

-DON:)

 A little fun with the Green Ultralight....standing-paper-cut !!!