This was a superb video. Having you chop through various things and compare the feel of the knives is something you dont get much. Definatly going to compare some of my favorite kitchen after this.
For a lot of home users they don't always have the cutting surface in the kitchen for a really big knife, so the 7-8" knives are usually quite a good fit for most people. The 9-10" are handy when you are processing a lot of things all at once and just need that work done quickly, often coarse cutting vast amounts of starchy fibre. But a lot of chefs really lean on their petty knives to get a lot of stuff done in terms of just general duties using a 4-6" knife that's fast and light. In terms of weight, kind of hard to say there, I've made heavy knives that sell ok, light knives that sell well and best as I can tell its just user preference at the end of the day Handles are much the same, some people like a contoured handle, others just want a straight, no frills, easy to use one that's easy to clean and orient in the hand. For people with poor grip strength and arthritis in their fingers tend to want a 'thick' handle they can get some palm pressure on as well, whereas a lot of ladies with smaller hands prefer a thinner overall profile. But I find very few people seem to want a long handle and anything over 4.5" tends to tangle them up.
I think I'm weird then, i always find knofe handles way too short I also like knife blades to be true triangles (straight edge on the cutting edge and the spine) and not very wide,thin tips
@@bastienpabiot3678If you are finding kitchen knife handles short you probably aren't using a normal grip. You usually get better control with a pinch grip where you usually only have 3 fingers on the handle.
I would add that I've noticed that a patina on a knife does noticeably add to the cutting resistance, so that could have given the new bigger knife an advantage, as well as any slight differences in edge geometry and sharpness. Love them both though! I aspire to make knives as nice as yours someday.
Larrrin Thomas did some interesting tests on how corrosion affects sharpness. Acid (lemon juice if I remember correctly) significantly decreased the sharpness after just a short time. It makes sense when you think about how fine the edge is. That's why I think stainless is the way to go for kitchen knives. Aebl or 14c28n seem to be some of the nest steels when it comes to kitchen knives.
I appreciate seeing the progress. Good looking knives. I’m a chef and I have purchased many custom knives. The gyuto in 240mm is definitely the standard for most guys. Typically most people have a workhorse thicker heavier knife and a laser thinner lighter gyuto in their kits as each serve a purpose. The forum kitchen knife forums is an awesome place to see the top trending knives in the industry. The most important factors of a knife are the geometry, thinness behind the edge, and the grind. Most often the S grind has been coined as “best”. Some makers to check out that you may already be aware of are Devin Thomas, Marko Tsourkan, and Luke Snyder of bloodroot blades.
Will, you’re such a beauty, I’m glad my thoughts could make for such a fun and interesting step in your knife making journey. I am unbelievably excited to see what you get up to next.
A lot of people dont realize that there is no perfect chefs knife - It all comes down to preferance. I am a pro chef and I have 180mm santoku, 210mm german chef, 210mm and 230mm gyuto. I always use my 230mm gyuto for vegie and meat prep because of the reach, edge profile and behind edge thickness.
I worked in a kitchen for two years. By FAR my fav knife was the massive victorinox with a very heavily curved (over sharpened) belly. When I left, I talked the manager into letting me buy the kitchen a new one so I could take the old one with me. Zero regrets. I’m now convinced the belly curve is the most important part of a knife.
Always great to see someone willing to be wrong. And on the internet of all places! My go-to kitchen knife is a Walmart paring knife and my usual prep tool for fruits and vegetables is a can opener, so I have no knowledge in the area of good quality kitchen tools, but I really enjoy learning about them here.
@13:13 You're using your blade like a _cudgel._ _Straight _*_down_* through the meat. Try slicing through the meat /veg moving it _towards_ you so it makes a 15% angle off the vertical from the top of that ever you're cutting to the bottom. You'll see a distinct improvement in the slice and in your control. (Right now you're not using you wrist *and* forearm.) It should also help with the food sticking to the blade as and after you cut. (It's less your knife's geometry and more your technique.)
I've been working in a kitchen for a bit over a year and I think a couple things. One: I would love to try a bigger-handled knife since I have blistered my pointer finger where it touches the spine of the knife. I'm very curious how different it would feel. Two: I have been loving long knives for many tasks in the kitchen, especially slicing things. A longer blade means I can slice at a more shallow angle which gives a much smoother cut than a simple push cut, especially as the blade starts to dull throughout the day/week. Except for small prep tasks (like mushrooms) or tasks that require tip dexterity, I always default to the longer knife. Three: Oh how I wish I had enough disposable income to purchase one of your chef's knives; they are so beautiful and look so comfortable. Alas, being a college student makes that dificult. Hopefully one day. Thank you so much for the kickass content throughout the years. Love your work.
Last things first: what you said about patina is one reason I don’t like stainless knives which typically come mirror polished. I think the mirror polish increases food stick. My favorite chef’s knife is well-used, very patinaed carbon steel that almost never has stick issues. (I had to go measure my knife. It has an eight inch by two inch blade, one sixteenth thick spine, 5.1 ounces, kinda average) I definitely agree that a chef’s knife needs that palm swell. Mine doesn’t have one which makes heavy chopping very tiring. It aggravates my arthritis to the point that I’m about ready to go find a knife more like the one you just made. Isn’t it amazing how long we will put up with a tool that’s suboptimal until we get a little push from outside to change things up? Thanks for this episode.
Awesome! You seem to have stumbled upon the reason that good Chefs have between 10 and 20 knives. Cooks of my experience and skill level tend to have 5 to 10 and a professionally trained Waiter like myself will have 4 or more on our tableside trolleys. Keep making and selling the smaller one. It has its advantages. Bottom line: You weren't actually wrong, you just needed to expand your offerings.
Exactly, I dont like big knives in general, prefer smaller ones with exceptions, but you always need to have a big one around. Keep making all sizes will, they’re all important!
A Chinese chef will tell you that you only need one cleaver and maybe a paring knife, that's it. They use the same knife for everything. Just because you were trained one way doesn't mean it's the only way.
@@junkname9983 Well, yeah, a good Chef can get away with one or two, maybe three knives. A proper chefs knife is specifically designed to be able to do nearly anything. The specific design a Chef chooses as their main knife depends on their specialty, or chosen style. In most restaurants, the Chef has maybe two knives that they use a solid 75% of the time; even if they use the other 16-18 knives on a daily basis. The large number of knives in a Chef's bag or block is to take advantage of all the Chef's/Cook's skills. For something to be considered a true Chef's Knife, it has to be shaped to handle the majority of kitchen tasks depending on how and where you hold it. I can use a French Style blade to pare, slice, chop, chiffonade, julienne, carve, crush, doppel, etc. And that's just the blade. The back and a properly designed handle have many uses as well. But a lot of the things I can do are better done with specialized knives. And I'm just a Cook and Waiter. A good Chef, like many I've worked with, can do more than I can with all their knives, but work miracles with the specialized knives and tools. For instance, I can do about half my paring duties with just a Chefs knife. But the detail a Chef can put on a carved piece of fruit with a basic paring knife and a birds beak paring knife, is well beyond my skills. Of course, another reason for collecting so many is because, if you can afford them and have the room, you really can't have too many tools. 😉👍
Hi Will , remember me ? You came over to the UK to work with my neighbour, Alec ."At Harford Manor" Norwich. Met you at the home and also at the Barker Street workshop. Must be at least 6 or 7 years ago now. Still following you . Like I have always said , creating a knife , and using a knife are two totally different skills. Keep up the great work, love from the UK.
You can thin out the 240 and the extra length will still have more "tip weight" to carry it through product. For mushrooms try cutting closer to the belly/tip on the bigger knife you'll find it moves faster. Different types of cuts can get around the slight stiction. Great video 👏
Former chef here. Started working on learning knife making. My standard wedding present is the 10 inch/8inch kitchen set from Sams along with the 10x20 nylon cutting board. No one knows they need it until they try an 8 inch with a massive watermelon.
I like to use a shorter Santoku for most of my vegetable cutting. The size and comfort are perfect. I only use bigger chef knives if I'm cutting meat or watermelon.
I would personally(a chef) like the handle to not be downswept, but to be honest for people who want a knife to love.. go and find a place that sells hand forged knives(a number of places in canada) and also learn how to shape the spine and heel of your own knife. Makes a world of difference
I have 3 sizes of chef’s knives. Boning knife, salmon slicer, Chinese vegetable slicer, cleaver, several Japanese single bevel knives, Inuit crescent blade, etc. was a butcher and cook a great deal. Don’t care what trends are in knife buying. Have made micarta handles when needed. Best thing anyone can do is learn how to sharpen knives and use a steel before each use.
I am very much not a chef, but I definitely think that having more than one knife at hand is best. Tiny knife for peeling and cleaning fruit and vegetables. Small knife for deboning chicken and stuff like that. Medium knife for general cutting and chopping. Large knife for when the medium knife isn't enough.
is it possible the slight patina on your older knife could be slowing a cut as it passes through the food, while your brand new knife has no such resistance? Just wondering
Great video Will! More of this in the future. Really enjoy a direct comparison like this as someone who doesn't have the time to make a bunch of extra stuff just to test it out!
A few tips I've learned from making Kitchen Knives: From UK Bladesmiths -> You absolutely need to be water spraying your kitchen knives as you grind. It's messy. It's miserable when you grind. Especially when it's cold. But the hardness you lose from not grinding under a water spray is a BIG difference. From Nguyen Knives -> If you grind a crude edge onto the knife before doing the final grinding, it allows you to visually inspect edge thickness as you grind. AND it makes it harder to burn the edge / ruin the temper as you're grinding because there's still material below where you grind. So this allows you to grind thinner, too. From Me (Spring's Knives) -> Bolsters look cool, but every single time I've cut the total weight I've made customers happier. My thinner and lighter knives sell first.
@@pinheadlarry9495 Nobody asked you either. Nobody asked me to comment, but at least I'm not giving a snippy comment to someone who was giving the benefit of their personal experience in their craft. What's your craft? Making knives, or something totally unrelated? In case you ask, I make knives as a hobby. They are terrible knives because I'm still learning but I still know a little something about the subject.
@@lancehandmade The problem is that on really thin kitchen knives, without water spray cooling you can get a measurable hardness difference between the edge and the spine. For the worse. Even if you never see the material change colors.
Wow, 4mil at the edge is a veritable chopper...my most used kitchen knife, personal use only, is 1.5mil from 5160 and I just love it for its sharpness.
Ngl, i love this editing. I could easily have a full length forging video (minus furnace time) with a gentle voice over. Like blacksmithing AMSR No need for flashy music or quick cuts sometimes
It's great having a big heavy knife for lots of chopping. I have a huge old wusthof my grandmother owned and it's so much nicer than any new knife i own
I have been a cook for over 20 years. my favorite knife has been a Kai Wasabi Deba right-hand single edge kniife. Because I have big hands i held it with my thumb and poinnt finger on the blade. the thickness of the blade helped with that. all the other peop[e in the kitchen were scared of using my knives, All japanese style single grind.
I am so tired of using my 9in chef knife. Its too heavy, the handle geometry sucks because the person designing it thought the whole handle is held. Make some putty style knives, or like the misen 6in, cause thats literally what i use for 98% of prep, no matter what im making. Ive been cooking for 15 years and i have 3 paring knives, a boning knife, and my misen. Wish i could find a cheap, good, petty.
Also, I have a shun ken onion 8 in and a messermeister 9ish inch, German style. The ken onion edge has chipped too much, and the Messer is just bad to use.
I come from a chef background..I think each person and knife are different. Some people have bigger hands. Some people cut differnt. It's all about what fits comfortably in ur hand with ur motions. But I love all ur blades. And ur thought. Much love .
You should experiment with sizes more, that could be fun and interesting. Make a chefs knife that’s too big, and one that’s too small, but just to have the experience of using both
Im a casual fan of blacksmithing, I watch you, and several other creators as well as forged in fire, and the latter is my only reference of time it takes to forge. Just for curiosity sake how long did it take you to forge this knife? And could you throw a total forging time somewhere? Simply just cause im curious on references and Im sure others are as well
Beautiful knife looks crazy sharp. Small tipp from a chefs perspective: try to do a slicing motion when cutting. What you did some times was more like pressing it through the vegetable/fruit. And please try to hold your fingers like a claw to not cut yourself. Sorry if my english ain‘t the best but english isn‘t really my strongest language. Amazing knife. Would love to bea able to work with it.
Every knife has it's own place in a kitchen. If I could afford a good quality chef knife right now, I'd be happy with either blade shown in this video. I do believe the edge profile makes the most difference when it comes to cutting. From the knives I've used I always preferred a thinner blade with an edge of around 15 degrees. (I sharpen by hand so the geometry could be off by a degree or two)
I rarely use anything but my 10" chefs knife for chopping and prepping food. I have a couple 8" ones, but im 193cm (non freedom units, 6'4") tall. So i find with the 8" ones my knuckles tend to hit the cutting board because my hands arent exactly small. I would love to have a properly custom made one to be honest as i cook a few times a day for my family. But alas. Other expenses have to come first unfortunately. It's a nice looking knife Will. Cheers from 🇨🇦 Hope everyone is staying safe.
Very interesting! My thoughts lean toward the heavier Gyuto maybe not being as well suited for commercial kitchen work as it could fatigue the hand/forearm quicker over hours of use. For a home cook though, even for a large family, I doubt that'd be an issue unless Arthritis is a concern. I think my experiences with Japanese-style knives (maybe outside of a Santoku) have been traditional; as in thicc spines and chisel grinds like a Deba, Usuba, Yanagiba, etc. and I'm not much of a fan of how they cut since I'm so used to double bevel knives.
I've been a cook for years. My go to is a 10 inch chef's. For everything just about. I have a filet knife and a boning knife. Also a kiritsuke for when I'm feeling fancy. To be honest though my favorite knife at work is a 10 inch victorinox 👍
In terms of a larger knife in a professional kitchen the length is to break down more items at once. Two onions instead of one or four cucumbers rather than one, etc etc. Try getting the blade in the hands of someone in a kitchen and ask to shadow them for a shift and see what you learn.
Or large items, whilst still having the tip grounded on the board, plus longer knife equals slice not saw so your cuts look smoother, but the really important bit is does the knife allow the food to stay together so that you don’t have to tidy and restack it to make further cuts, so with a longer knife there is less chance of moving the food back and forth as you make fewer slicing movements. And a nice tall blade means you graze your knuckles less.
As a retired chef of many 4 star restaurants and high end hotels I like the longer, heaver chef knifes. One day when I get a ton of excess cash I will order one from you, for now I will stick with my 40 year old forged Japanese Serco chef knife. I do half to say that you do beautiful work
Gyuto actually have way less curve or belly than other knives. They're made for push cutting so they would not need the belly or curve of an European chef knife
I prefer the 7-8 inch knife by far. The bigger one used to be my go-to but after 5 years i switched to daily driving the 7 incher and it’s been much more nimble and overall easier to use in more situations.
@9:09 That is a *_beautiful_*_ blade_ and _knife._ Myy long-suffering wife just waved her arm at the kitchen wall, gave me a look sharper than her *Chinese* cleaver, and said: _Really, an _*_other_*_ knife..._ I'm talking the hint, rather than taking the hit. (That cleaver is _wicked _*_sharp._* )
in actuality, i would imagine that every chef may have a personal preference as to how they want their blade to handle etc. since you can design/build to order, the best knife is the knife the chef feels most comfortable with. mind you, you now have a good starting point. when you did the avocado, i was thinking, hmmm, wrong knife. he needs a good paring knife (which should also be in a chef's arsenal of knives). after the paring knife, you need to add a good meat knife, fish knife and a bread knife: that would be the beginnings of a basic knife set for the home chef. santokus are nice, but how do they put the little divots in the knife surface?
Both are incredible knives and remember all chefs have more than one knife for large tasks and small so I dont think you have been doing anything wrong. Great video see you on the next one
I think both sizes are perfect, depending on the cutting board and the amount you are working on, and also the size of the person, which help with better handling and work more efficiently.
Your personal knife is an absolute blister making machine. My index finger is quivering just looking at it. I am a 15 yr professional cook veteran and I can say watching a ton of the youtubers that make chefs knives universally do this part of te knife absolutely wrong if you are trying to build a knife that a cook would use for any sizeable use. You ABSOLUTELY need to round of the part of the knife that your index finger wraps around. I know how sexy those sharp edges look to a knife maker but they absolutely destroy indrx fingers if you us it profssionally. I have literally sanded down and rounded that part on my work knives in the past before I found a brand that was made properly. Anyways, you do amazing work and I love your channel.
Your original knife design looks very like kitchen knives I inherited from my grandmother especially the handle style, and they were production factory made 80+ years ago
I also wonder about the choice of steel for a knife like this. Many years ago, I had a knife made by a friend of mine who used D2 tool steel, and that thing is a tank. I haven't kept it properly sharpened, but I'm certain I could drive it through a car door if I had to. Soon after I got that knife, I met another guy who said he only used O2 tool steel. But I've seen some recent articles that talk about a bunch of other steel types. I'd love to see you make the same exact knife in various different steels, to see which works best for you -- and more importantly, why it works best for you.
incredible i love every one of these videos! would that thinning on the disc sander while maintaining the convexity end up benefiting the food release? i always struggle to get to that really solid food release and everyone always just says it’s the edge geometry but what way should it be tweaked?
I remember back before Alec Steel moved over to the USA when he was chasing the perfect chef's knife, and he had some input from someone who makes chef's knives a LOT. Alec was told about the S shape grind, where the S shape is going from the edge of the blade up to the spine of the knife. Apparently the thinner part of the blade means that food doesn't stick to the blade as much. Not sure if I'm making sense here so you might need to get a proper translation from Alec 😂😂😂
What is the word that he said at 5:52 "austhanizing" (I'm guessing how to spell it, but can't find it online) does it just mean normalizing/ resetting the grain structure?
once upon a time, i tried to emulate all the big names in kitchen knives, Bob kramer, yu kurosaki, etc, then i learned, a knife is a very personal thing, most people in idaho dont seem to like thin and light blades, so i have to leave a little more heft
Just as a cutting comment, you can roll the cilantro up tight into a kind of tube and cut it from there. A lot less work, as it is all condensed and you get better, more even results.
I'm a big fan. I think you make great videos and you are an incredible talent. That said, all i can think while watching this video is "The Heat Miser"
You see, as somebody who's been using straight razors for many years now exclusively, you were making the handles far too bulky. Until you use one, you won't understand how you need to handle them to make a comfy handle. Learning is progress though! Great video, thanks
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The forging sequence earned an immediate like. It's refreshing to see and hear the actual process without commentary sometimes. Nicely done!
This was a superb video. Having you chop through various things and compare the feel of the knives is something you dont get much. Definatly going to compare some of my favorite kitchen after this.
... definitely* / my favorite kitchen "what"?
For a lot of home users they don't always have the cutting surface in the kitchen for a really big knife, so the 7-8" knives are usually quite a good fit for most people. The 9-10" are handy when you are processing a lot of things all at once and just need that work done quickly, often coarse cutting vast amounts of starchy fibre. But a lot of chefs really lean on their petty knives to get a lot of stuff done in terms of just general duties using a 4-6" knife that's fast and light.
In terms of weight, kind of hard to say there, I've made heavy knives that sell ok, light knives that sell well and best as I can tell its just user preference at the end of the day
Handles are much the same, some people like a contoured handle, others just want a straight, no frills, easy to use one that's easy to clean and orient in the hand. For people with poor grip strength and arthritis in their fingers tend to want a 'thick' handle they can get some palm pressure on as well, whereas a lot of ladies with smaller hands prefer a thinner overall profile. But I find very few people seem to want a long handle and anything over 4.5" tends to tangle them up.
I think I'm weird then, i always find knofe handles way too short
I also like knife blades to be true triangles (straight edge on the cutting edge and the spine) and not very wide,thin tips
@@bastienpabiot3678If you are finding kitchen knife handles short you probably aren't using a normal grip. You usually get better control with a pinch grip where you usually only have 3 fingers on the handle.
@@garethbaus5471 i also hold my pencils with all my fingers, i think i'm just weird
@@bastienpabiot3678 Do you have a neurological condition or some other issue that limits dexterity?
I would add that I've noticed that a patina on a knife does noticeably add to the cutting resistance, so that could have given the new bigger knife an advantage, as well as any slight differences in edge geometry and sharpness.
Love them both though! I aspire to make knives as nice as yours someday.
Larrrin Thomas did some interesting tests on how corrosion affects sharpness. Acid (lemon juice if I remember correctly) significantly decreased the sharpness after just a short time. It makes sense when you think about how fine the edge is. That's why I think stainless is the way to go for kitchen knives. Aebl or 14c28n seem to be some of the nest steels when it comes to kitchen knives.
I appreciate seeing the progress. Good looking knives.
I’m a chef and I have purchased many custom knives. The gyuto in 240mm is definitely the standard for most guys. Typically most people have a workhorse thicker heavier knife and a laser thinner lighter gyuto in their kits as each serve a purpose.
The forum kitchen knife forums is an awesome place to see the top trending knives in the industry.
The most important factors of a knife are the geometry, thinness behind the edge, and the grind. Most often the S grind has been coined as “best”. Some makers to check out that you may already be aware of are Devin Thomas, Marko Tsourkan, and Luke Snyder of bloodroot blades.
Will, you’re such a beauty, I’m glad my thoughts could make for such a fun and interesting step in your knife making journey. I am unbelievably excited to see what you get up to next.
A lot of people dont realize that there is no perfect chefs knife - It all comes down to preferance. I am a pro chef and I have 180mm santoku, 210mm german chef, 210mm and 230mm gyuto. I always use my 230mm gyuto for vegie and meat prep because of the reach, edge profile and behind edge thickness.
I worked in a kitchen for two years. By FAR my fav knife was the massive victorinox with a very heavily curved (over sharpened) belly. When I left, I talked the manager into letting me buy the kitchen a new one so I could take the old one with me. Zero regrets. I’m now convinced the belly curve is the most important part of a knife.
I always get anxious when somebody has a very sharp knife in his hands and is gesturing very energetically while explaining stuff... 👀😁😜
I know how much you LOVE hand sanding but I've always admired his much skill you have on the grinders. Blinking brilliant Will.
Always great to see someone willing to be wrong. And on the internet of all places! My go-to kitchen knife is a Walmart paring knife and my usual prep tool for fruits and vegetables is a can opener, so I have no knowledge in the area of good quality kitchen tools, but I really enjoy learning about them here.
@13:13 You're using your blade like a _cudgel._ _Straight _*_down_* through the meat.
Try slicing through the meat /veg moving it _towards_ you so it makes a 15% angle off the vertical from the top of that ever you're cutting to the bottom.
You'll see a distinct improvement in the slice and in your control. (Right now you're not using you wrist *and* forearm.)
It should also help with the food sticking to the blade as and after you cut. (It's less your knife's geometry and more your technique.)
I think as long as you keep making them better you are doing it right! Keep up the good work.
Better knife skills than alot of cooks I have hired. Keep up the great work. Master is in your future !!!
As a japanese knife enthusiast I am very happy that you know how to sharpen knives properly!
I like the geometry of thinning behind the edge to allow the fruit/vegetables to fall away from the blade is wise. Great job.
At about the 5 minute mark, I spit out my coffee from laughter.
A deer caught in headlights.
I've been working in a kitchen for a bit over a year and I think a couple things. One: I would love to try a bigger-handled knife since I have blistered my pointer finger where it touches the spine of the knife. I'm very curious how different it would feel. Two: I have been loving long knives for many tasks in the kitchen, especially slicing things. A longer blade means I can slice at a more shallow angle which gives a much smoother cut than a simple push cut, especially as the blade starts to dull throughout the day/week. Except for small prep tasks (like mushrooms) or tasks that require tip dexterity, I always default to the longer knife. Three: Oh how I wish I had enough disposable income to purchase one of your chef's knives; they are so beautiful and look so comfortable. Alas, being a college student makes that dificult. Hopefully one day.
Thank you so much for the kickass content throughout the years. Love your work.
Last things first: what you said about patina is one reason I don’t like stainless knives which typically come mirror polished. I think the mirror polish increases food stick. My favorite chef’s knife is well-used, very patinaed carbon steel that almost never has stick issues.
(I had to go measure my knife. It has an eight inch by two inch blade, one sixteenth thick spine, 5.1 ounces, kinda average)
I definitely agree that a chef’s knife needs that palm swell. Mine doesn’t have one which makes heavy chopping very tiring. It aggravates my arthritis to the point that I’m about ready to go find a knife more like the one you just made. Isn’t it amazing how long we will put up with a tool that’s suboptimal until we get a little push from outside to change things up? Thanks for this episode.
Awesome! You seem to have stumbled upon the reason that good Chefs have between 10 and 20 knives. Cooks of my experience and skill level tend to have 5 to 10 and a professionally trained Waiter like myself will have 4 or more on our tableside trolleys. Keep making and selling the smaller one. It has its advantages.
Bottom line: You weren't actually wrong, you just needed to expand your offerings.
Exactly, I dont like big knives in general, prefer smaller ones with exceptions, but you always need to have a big one around. Keep making all sizes will, they’re all important!
Correct. Half of my family is professional cooks and all of them have a big arrangement of knifes of all sizes for different tasks.
A Chinese chef will tell you that you only need one cleaver and maybe a paring knife, that's it. They use the same knife for everything. Just because you were trained one way doesn't mean it's the only way.
@@junkname9983 Well, yeah, a good Chef can get away with one or two, maybe three knives. A proper chefs knife is specifically designed to be able to do nearly anything. The specific design a Chef chooses as their main knife depends on their specialty, or chosen style. In most restaurants, the Chef has maybe two knives that they use a solid 75% of the time; even if they use the other 16-18 knives on a daily basis. The large number of knives in a Chef's bag or block is to take advantage of all the Chef's/Cook's skills. For something to be considered a true Chef's Knife, it has to be shaped to handle the majority of kitchen tasks depending on how and where you hold it.
I can use a French Style blade to pare, slice, chop, chiffonade, julienne, carve, crush, doppel, etc. And that's just the blade. The back and a properly designed handle have many uses as well. But a lot of the things I can do are better done with specialized knives. And I'm just a Cook and Waiter. A good Chef, like many I've worked with, can do more than I can with all their knives, but work miracles with the specialized knives and tools. For instance, I can do about half my paring duties with just a Chefs knife. But the detail a Chef can put on a carved piece of fruit with a basic paring knife and a birds beak paring knife, is well beyond my skills.
Of course, another reason for collecting so many is because, if you can afford them and have the room, you really can't have too many tools. 😉👍
Hi Will , remember me ? You came over to the UK to work with my neighbour, Alec ."At Harford Manor" Norwich. Met you at the home and also at the Barker Street workshop. Must be at least 6 or 7 years ago now. Still following you . Like I have always said , creating a knife , and using a knife are two totally different skills. Keep up the great work, love from the UK.
You can thin out the 240 and the extra length will still have more "tip weight" to carry it through product. For mushrooms try cutting closer to the belly/tip on the bigger knife you'll find it moves faster. Different types of cuts can get around the slight stiction. Great video 👏
Former chef here. Started working on learning knife making. My standard wedding present is the 10 inch/8inch kitchen set from Sams along with the 10x20 nylon cutting board. No one knows they need it until they try an 8 inch with a massive watermelon.
Love this! Would love to see a video where you make a full matching set!
I like to use a shorter Santoku for most of my vegetable cutting. The size and comfort are perfect. I only use bigger chef knives if I'm cutting meat or watermelon.
I would personally(a chef) like the handle to not be downswept, but to be honest for people who want a knife to love.. go and find a place that sells hand forged knives(a number of places in canada) and also learn how to shape the spine and heel of your own knife. Makes a world of difference
Will the filming of the forging in this video is 110%. You could see a lot of detail good work!
I have 3 sizes of chef’s knives. Boning knife, salmon slicer, Chinese vegetable slicer, cleaver, several Japanese single bevel knives, Inuit crescent blade, etc. was a butcher and cook a great deal. Don’t care what trends are in knife buying. Have made micarta handles when needed. Best thing anyone can do is learn how to sharpen knives and use a steel before each use.
I am very much not a chef, but I definitely think that having more than one knife at hand is best.
Tiny knife for peeling and cleaning fruit and vegetables.
Small knife for deboning chicken and stuff like that.
Medium knife for general cutting and chopping.
Large knife for when the medium knife isn't enough.
Every time I see a sentence starts with "Have I been doing wrong?", my mind immediately makes the "No, it's others who are wrong" meme
is it possible the slight patina on your older knife could be slowing a cut as it passes through the food, while your brand new knife has no such resistance? Just wondering
That absolutely does happen to some extent.
Great video Will! More of this in the future. Really enjoy a direct comparison like this as someone who doesn't have the time to make a bunch of extra stuff just to test it out!
A few tips I've learned from making Kitchen Knives: From UK Bladesmiths -> You absolutely need to be water spraying your kitchen knives as you grind. It's messy. It's miserable when you grind. Especially when it's cold. But the hardness you lose from not grinding under a water spray is a BIG difference.
From Nguyen Knives -> If you grind a crude edge onto the knife before doing the final grinding, it allows you to visually inspect edge thickness as you grind. AND it makes it harder to burn the edge / ruin the temper as you're grinding because there's still material below where you grind. So this allows you to grind thinner, too.
From Me (Spring's Knives) -> Bolsters look cool, but every single time I've cut the total weight I've made customers happier. My thinner and lighter knives sell first.
No one asked
Thanks for the tips! Ignore the Douchebag that said nobody asked. Actual makers appreciate the free information :)
@@pinheadlarry9495 Nobody asked you either. Nobody asked me to comment, but at least I'm not giving a snippy comment to someone who was giving the benefit of their personal experience in their craft. What's your craft? Making knives, or something totally unrelated? In case you ask, I make knives as a hobby. They are terrible knives because I'm still learning but I still know a little something about the subject.
I make knives and if you know what you're doing you can keep the blade plenty cool with just dipping.
@@lancehandmade The problem is that on really thin kitchen knives, without water spray cooling you can get a measurable hardness difference between the edge and the spine. For the worse. Even if you never see the material change colors.
Wow, 4mil at the edge is a veritable chopper...my most used kitchen knife, personal use only, is 1.5mil from 5160 and I just love it for its sharpness.
Ngl, i love this editing.
I could easily have a full length forging video (minus furnace time) with a gentle voice over. Like blacksmithing AMSR
No need for flashy music or quick cuts sometimes
I thought you were going to have a paid ad for that crazy hair gel you're using. Is there Dykem in the formula?
Dykem is for lesbian women. This guy forges his hair in shape.
It's grease from the beaudry
@@Vivallamannenwhat he actually kept it working?! (Sorry will)
3in1
Dykem and a leaf blower. That's how he does it.
It's great having a big heavy knife for lots of chopping. I have a huge old wusthof my grandmother owned and it's so much nicer than any new knife i own
I have been a cook for over 20 years. my favorite knife has been a Kai Wasabi Deba right-hand single edge kniife. Because I have big hands i held it with my thumb and poinnt finger on the blade. the thickness of the blade helped with that. all the other peop[e in the kitchen were scared of using my knives, All japanese style single grind.
I am so tired of using my 9in chef knife. Its too heavy, the handle geometry sucks because the person designing it thought the whole handle is held. Make some putty style knives, or like the misen 6in, cause thats literally what i use for 98% of prep, no matter what im making. Ive been cooking for 15 years and i have 3 paring knives, a boning knife, and my misen. Wish i could find a cheap, good, petty.
Also, I have a shun ken onion 8 in and a messermeister 9ish inch, German style. The ken onion edge has chipped too much, and the Messer is just bad to use.
Your garden is amazing, it looks like you live in the Teletubbies landscape
Really enjoyed this one Will! Would be cool to see other chef knife making vids! 😊
I come from a chef background..I think each person and knife are different. Some people have bigger hands. Some people cut differnt. It's all about what fits comfortably in ur hand with ur motions. But I love all ur blades. And ur thought. Much love .
You should experiment with sizes more, that could be fun and interesting. Make a chefs knife that’s too big, and one that’s too small, but just to have the experience of using both
good god your machines run so GOOD. They sound as if theyre right off the showroom floor.
You have extremely good cutting techniques! So fun to watch :)
Im a casual fan of blacksmithing, I watch you, and several other creators as well as forged in fire, and the latter is my only reference of time it takes to forge. Just for curiosity sake how long did it take you to forge this knife? And could you throw a total forging time somewhere? Simply just cause im curious on references and Im sure others are as well
Beautiful knife looks crazy sharp. Small tipp from a chefs perspective: try to do a slicing motion when cutting. What you did some times was more like pressing it through the vegetable/fruit. And please try to hold your fingers like a claw to not cut yourself. Sorry if my english ain‘t the best but english isn‘t really my strongest language. Amazing knife. Would love to bea able to work with it.
Every knife has it's own place in a kitchen. If I could afford a good quality chef knife right now, I'd be happy with either blade shown in this video. I do believe the edge profile makes the most difference when it comes to cutting. From the knives I've used I always preferred a thinner blade with an edge of around 15 degrees. (I sharpen by hand so the geometry could be off by a degree or two)
This was great. Well put together
I rarely use anything but my 10" chefs knife for chopping and prepping food. I have a couple 8" ones, but im 193cm (non freedom units, 6'4") tall. So i find with the 8" ones my knuckles tend to hit the cutting board because my hands arent exactly small. I would love to have a properly custom made one to be honest as i cook a few times a day for my family. But alas. Other expenses have to come first unfortunately. It's a nice looking knife Will. Cheers from 🇨🇦
Hope everyone is staying safe.
Very interesting! My thoughts lean toward the heavier Gyuto maybe not being as well suited for commercial kitchen work as it could fatigue the hand/forearm quicker over hours of use. For a home cook though, even for a large family, I doubt that'd be an issue unless Arthritis is a concern.
I think my experiences with Japanese-style knives (maybe outside of a Santoku) have been traditional; as in thicc spines and chisel grinds like a Deba, Usuba, Yanagiba, etc. and I'm not much of a fan of how they cut since I'm so used to double bevel knives.
I've been a cook for years. My go to is a 10 inch chef's. For everything just about. I have a filet knife and a boning knife. Also a kiritsuke for when I'm feeling fancy. To be honest though my favorite knife at work is a 10 inch victorinox 👍
Love the windows theme backdrop lol. Beautiful
That hands free thin slice of the tomato does things for me.
Professional knife sharpener here. What is that cutting board made of? Sounds really hard.
Great video! I have been focusing on making my knives obnoxiously light, but I will also be making some heavier options.
I like the angles on the handle, and the knife overall- very nice build! I hope you're going to use those vegetables for something.
In terms of a larger knife in a professional kitchen the length is to break down more items at once. Two onions instead of one or four cucumbers rather than one, etc etc. Try getting the blade in the hands of someone in a kitchen and ask to shadow them for a shift and see what you learn.
Or large items, whilst still having the tip grounded on the board, plus longer knife equals slice not saw so your cuts look smoother, but the really important bit is does the knife allow the food to stay together so that you don’t have to tidy and restack it to make further cuts, so with a longer knife there is less chance of moving the food back and forth as you make fewer slicing movements. And a nice tall blade means you graze your knuckles less.
Beautiful knife, well done. Wonderful seeing a chefs knife that slices like a razor
As a retired chef of many 4 star restaurants and high end hotels I like the longer, heaver chef knifes. One day when I get a ton of excess cash I will order one from you, for now I will stick with my 40 year old forged Japanese Serco chef knife. I do half to say that you do beautiful work
Will making guacamole "for work." 🤣
Gyuto actually have way less curve or belly than other knives. They're made for push cutting so they would not need the belly or curve of an European chef knife
I started switching to thicker material and then using a convex platten and doing a high hollow grind.
platten?
I loved the ornate marshmallow sword 🗡. I challenge you to try and make fancy EDC safety scissors
Looks excellent. I will keep this in mind when buying my next Chef's knife.
I prefer the 7-8 inch knife by far. The bigger one used to be my go-to but after 5 years i switched to daily driving the 7 incher and it’s been much more nimble and overall easier to use in more situations.
I'd be happy to put one of your knives through our prep kitchen any time!
Nicely done and great demo.
@9:09 That is a *_beautiful_*_ blade_ and _knife._
Myy long-suffering wife just waved her arm at the kitchen wall, gave me a look sharper than her *Chinese* cleaver, and said: _Really, an _*_other_*_ knife..._
I'm talking the hint, rather than taking the hit. (That cleaver is _wicked _*_sharp._* )
Thanks for translating to metrics!❤ That's great.
How bout you’s learn you some freedom units
@@abaguettewithacomputer415 They can't. You need freedom to learn freedom units, and we haven't exported enough of it there yet.
@@Merennulli just remind me where your freedom units originated from.
@@chrisosborne6957 We took them from the British. That's why the Brits only have metric units left now. 😛
@@Merennulli we have both imperial and metric, not just metric.
in actuality, i would imagine that every chef may have a personal preference as to how they want their blade to handle etc. since you can design/build to order, the best knife is the knife the chef feels most comfortable with. mind you, you now have a good starting point. when you did the avocado, i was thinking, hmmm, wrong knife. he needs a good paring knife (which should also be in a chef's arsenal of knives). after the paring knife, you need to add a good meat knife, fish knife and a bread knife: that would be the beginnings of a basic knife set for the home chef. santokus are nice, but how do they put the little divots in the knife surface?
Both are incredible knives and remember all chefs have more than one knife for large tasks and small so I dont think you have been doing anything wrong. Great video see you on the next one
Will is always bee very good at sanding things down. I used to watch you on Alex's channel. Continue the great work!!
I think both sizes are perfect, depending on the cutting board and the amount you are working on, and also the size of the person, which help with better handling and work more efficiently.
When you said you had a bar of O2 you really meant a BAR of O2! Lol
Your personal knife is an absolute blister making machine. My index finger is quivering just looking at it. I am a 15 yr professional cook veteran and I can say watching a ton of the youtubers that make chefs knives universally do this part of te knife absolutely wrong if you are trying to build a knife that a cook would use for any sizeable use. You ABSOLUTELY need to round of the part of the knife that your index finger wraps around. I know how sexy those sharp edges look to a knife maker but they absolutely destroy indrx fingers if you us it profssionally. I have literally sanded down and rounded that part on my work knives in the past before I found a brand that was made properly. Anyways, you do amazing work and I love your channel.
Looks like you indeed ruined your fingers with badly crafted knives, telling by the way you type.
I am currently working on a knife of similar size and this was helpful! Thanks
Your original knife design looks very like kitchen knives I inherited from my grandmother especially the handle style, and they were production factory made 80+ years ago
I also wonder about the choice of steel for a knife like this. Many years ago, I had a knife made by a friend of mine who used D2 tool steel, and that thing is a tank. I haven't kept it properly sharpened, but I'm certain I could drive it through a car door if I had to. Soon after I got that knife, I met another guy who said he only used O2 tool steel.
But I've seen some recent articles that talk about a bunch of other steel types. I'd love to see you make the same exact knife in various different steels, to see which works best for you -- and more importantly, why it works best for you.
When you were cutting up the food, I didn’t realize that Colby Jack cheese grew in the ground
incredible i love every one of these videos! would that thinning on the disc sander while maintaining the convexity end up benefiting the food release? i always struggle to get to that really solid food release and everyone always just says it’s the edge geometry but what way should it be tweaked?
Very nice work on the knife and interesting testing mate.
There's always more to learn, and not just in smithing. Great video.
I remember back before Alec Steel moved over to the USA when he was chasing the perfect chef's knife, and he had some input from someone who makes chef's knives a LOT. Alec was told about the S shape grind, where the S shape is going from the edge of the blade up to the spine of the knife. Apparently the thinner part of the blade means that food doesn't stick to the blade as much. Not sure if I'm making sense here so you might need to get a proper translation from Alec 😂😂😂
Great video, Will. I think I noticed a sneaky Isiah finishing the voiceover on the ad spot haha
Nice knife Mr. Stelter. You should be proud of the result. Stay safe young man.
I am not a pro chef. But I have two sometimes three knives of different weights and profiles depending on what I am cutting. Loved the video.
What is the word that he said at 5:52 "austhanizing" (I'm guessing how to spell it, but can't find it online) does it just mean normalizing/ resetting the grain structure?
Austenising.
Wikipedia "austenite".
When I’m cooking at home, I also reach for a santoku style knife.
What you lack in cutting skills you skilfully hide with that beautiful knife. Well done! It's a credit to you
This is one of the most informative video I have watched and it’s not even really a how to
once upon a time, i tried to emulate all the big names in kitchen knives, Bob kramer, yu kurosaki, etc, then i learned, a knife is a very personal thing, most people in idaho dont seem to like thin and light blades, so i have to leave a little more heft
Just as a cutting comment, you can roll the cilantro up tight into a kind of tube and cut it from there. A lot less work, as it is all condensed and you get better, more even results.
100% I know I'd cut my finger off if I ever had a knife that sharp in my hand. 😂 Nice knife Will.
I'm a big fan. I think you make great videos and you are an incredible talent. That said, all i can think while watching this video is "The Heat Miser"
You see, as somebody who's been using straight razors for many years now exclusively, you were making the handles far too bulky. Until you use one, you won't understand how you need to handle them to make a comfy handle. Learning is progress though! Great video, thanks
Would love to see Cooking with Will.
blade utility, local history, good food..
Thanks for your content Sir Stelter
4:59 wtf, i laughed so hard 😂
Will, I'm not used to your videos making me hungry. Enjoyed it, as always. ;)