finally.....

They look great to me, Bruce. The thing to always remember about kitchen knives is that comfort in the hand is king, and performance is dictated by geometry above all else. The simplest steel with the best geometry will run absolute rings around a knife made of super steel that is shaped and ground poorly.

I really love the lines on these. That parer looks just about as perfect as can be. A long, straight cutting edge is my favorite for delicate work, peeling, and paring. I'm a firm believer in having a straight cutting edge running back at least for the last 1/3 of a chef knife. If the heel is off the board at the bottom of the stroke you will get accordion cuts and that is maddening. The user has to overemphasize the push down in their wrist to get the heel to the board, and that will eventually drive the user crazy. Your Santoku looks fantastic in this regard. Your slicer / utility has a wonderful shape for its length. That knife just screams to be used for boning out chickens and prepping meat.

The only watch-out I see is that you have a couple of your lightening holes really close to the edge. You're going to have be very mindful when grinding out your handles that you don't grind into those holes. Only you know the style you are going for. If you like lots of flats on your blade for aesthetics then by all means, but use thin stock. No kitchen knife ever suffered from a full height grind. The less "wedge" a bevel has the less cutting resistance the knife will encounter. Simply taking your grinds up higher reduces the fatness of the wedge considerably. You won't have those sexy flats, though. If you like flats, go thin on the stock so that the wedge is still as thin as you can make it.
 
Very nice work you did a great job!
They look great to me, Bruce. The thing to always remember about kitchen knives is that comfort in the hand is king, and performance is dictated by geometry above all else. The simplest steel with the best geometry will run absolute rings around a knife made of super steel that is shaped and ground poorly.

I really love the lines on these. That parer looks just about as perfect as can be. A long, straight cutting edge is my favorite for delicate work, peeling, and paring. I'm a firm believer in having a straight cutting edge running back at least for the last 1/3 of a chef knife. If the heel is off the board at the bottom of the stroke you will get accordion cuts and that is maddening. The user has to overemphasize the push down in their wrist to get the heel to the board, and that will eventually drive the user crazy. Your Santoku looks fantastic in this regard. Your slicer / utility has a wonderful shape for its length. That knife just screams to be used for boning out chickens and prepping meat.

The only watch-out I see is that you have a couple of your lightening holes really close to the edge. You're going to have be very mindful when grinding out your handles that you don't grind into those holes. Only you know the style you are going for. If you like lots of flats on your blade for aesthetics then by all means, but use thin stock. No kitchen knife ever suffered from a full height grind. The less "wedge" a bevel has the less cutting resistance the knife will encounter. Simply taking your grinds up higher reduces the fatness of the wedge considerably. You won't have those sexy flats, though. If you like flats, go thin on the stock so that the wedge is still as thin as you can make it.
Thanks for the reply ,John. I didn't mention that the stock thickness is .078 and it's 26c3 steel. These are very light at this point and handle very precisely. They really feel like they'll be a joy to use.....but we shall see. The handle material is some of the maple that I sent you. It's really tough stuff , so should be very good for kitchen knives.
Any other considerations? Comments?
Thanks again.
 
Thanks for the reply ,John. I didn't mention that the stock thickness is .078 and it's 26c3 steel. These are very light at this point and handle very precisely. They really feel like they'll be a joy to use.....but we shall see. The handle material is some of the maple that I sent you. It's really tough stuff , so should be very good for kitchen knives.
Any other considerations? Comments?
Thanks again.

Sounds perfect. At that thickness they will feel and perform like hotrods!
 
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