Welcome To The 2020 French Knife

Greetings everybody,

WOW, it’s been a long time since I have posted anything over here!

Given that many of us...if not most of us are spending more time at home....I figured why not start getting back to my blog!

In the closing months of 2018, I redesigned the classic French Knife. What I was looking to develop was a new look that felt modern and fresh, while still echoing the traditional patterns of years gone by. This new creation would retains plenty of belly, which in many new forms created by modern makers has all but gone away, while still being highly functional throughout the general profile. The French knife has always been demanded to execute a wide variety of chores in the professional kitchen; from basic vegetable prep, precision culinary cuts, to carving meats and mincing herbs. Creating a new French knife also involved designing a handle that would remain classic. I always loved the birds-head pommel and so kept somewhat close too that idea but simplifying it some from my older Classic European French. Keeping strong and fine distal taper was a must, one that exhibited a fine tip with weight in the heel, an overall balance that suits the hours of prep that most chefs do on a daily basis.

There is no denying that the French Knife is the quintessential piece of kitchen cutlery for any kitchen for over 100-years. In fact, it still remains the primary and most used profile in just about every modern kitchen, home or professional. Given that many hand made custom kitchen knives do not enter the professional kitchen, I decided to design the 2020 French in a few sizes and configurations. There are two sizes in full tang; 8.25” blade and 9.25” blade, same in stick tang, but going to 7.25” on the smaller and 9” on the larger in that configuration.
Then there is the possibility of forging out these patterns that result in more unique and expanded versions of all of these. So, to say the least, there will be some cool and new French knives coming out of the CCK studio this year.

Below and first up is the classic 8.25” full tang version with Hamon and dressed in some rare Westinghouse white with black stripe.

A stick tang version in Damasteel for the Damasteel Chef Invitational in Chicago in 2019.

Next are two of the stick tang versions (the 7.25” and the 9”) that have been forged out, thus expanded upon, literally, that I made as a set for two partner chefs, one male one female

Finally, a shot of the three patterns I originally designed.
There is a larger stick tang version as well that can be seen in the second image.

I hope you enjoy seeing these and look forward to creating more.

Wishing you All:

Many Blessings of Health and Goodness

-Don:)

                                   

New Kiritsuke Models with Professional Image of the Prototypes:))

Greetings Everybody,
  2017 has been a great year! There are some new models coming out of the studio that I am gravitating towards making more of.

  The Japanese Kiritsuke Style Chef Knife Blade is one that has always been eye-catching to me and one that I appreciate for it's sharp lines and overall aesthetics. It also happens to be a very useful style in many applications.

  I have taken this style and made it my own...so to speak. The first time I was inspired by this was in the creation of the Kiritsuke Utility. Then I went on to create the Kiritsuke Chef and also my version of the full size Kitistuke all of thee in stick tang builds.

The top image shows the most recent pair of Prototypes I have completed of the Model I will be calling the Kiritsuke Chef. Smaller than a general purpose Kitsuke (which generally are created with blade lengths of 8 inches or so) it is a really fantastic size for daily meal preparation. I was blessed to have this fine image taken by Caleb Royer Photography and what a fine job he did!.

The Kirisuke Chef is a super functional knife in a very handy size. The two prototypes exhibit blades that are just shy of 7" at 6 & 7/8" with an OAL of 13 & 1/8" A perfect size for both the home, catering, or commercial kitchen.

The Kiristuke Utility will also be a knife I will be creating more of. It's seeming simplicity is not to be overlooked as it is highly functional and a very fun knife to use; handy in any kitchen for detail work where a knife larger than a paring or petty is required. It would also be a fantastic line knife as well. The Kiristuke Utility exhibits a blade that is 5.75" with the OAL being around 11.75, and a heel width of 1.29" Not quite enough for tons of room for knuckle clearance over the cutting board, but also very generous for a utility knife. With a nimble yet strong tip, it is a great detail/utility knife with lots of character!

Finally the larger Kiritsuke there has only been one made so far and it sold so quickly I hardly had time to measure it, but I know the blade on this knife is coming in at 8.75" and an OAL of 14".

All Models of Kiritsuke I am creating are generous in the handle length as this balances this blade style very well both functionally and aesthetically.

I did a few smaller renditions of the same blade style on the last two images, the images of the Two Rainbow Quenched Kiritsuke, has one in a slightly larger size with a 6" blade compared to the Mini Kiritsuke with the hamon that exhibits a blade of around 5.5". That last image the knife is posed with another fun little Alsace style knife that there will be more of as well. Very Handy and fun to use all of them!

Thanks for reading and I hope you anjoy the images!

Blessings of Health and Goodness to You All

-DON:)

Celebrating Spring with You All !!!

Celebrating Spring

Some of you may have wondered why I have not posted here much lately, much it is due to the fact that my work is selling very quickly, almost faster than I can make it! 

However,.....currently I have a wonderful selection of recently completed work over at Eatingtools.com

 

In the spirit of cooking healthy foods, celebrating time with family and friends and in the spirit of spring, I invite you to take advantage of the coupon code in the image above to find yourself a new knife to support your culinary adventures!

Thanks so much to all my customers and collectors for your continues support and appreciation all these years!

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

Please Visit HERE

 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.