I Was Making Chefs Knives Wrong?!

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[markrico]

The forging sequence earned an immediate like. It's refreshing to see and hear the actual process without commentary sometimes. Nicely done!

[krissteel]

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.

[rorydonaldson]

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.

[UncleManuel]

I always get anxious when somebody has a very sharp knife in his hands and is gesturing very energetically while explaining stuff... 👀😁😜

[owlwoodworks]

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.

[lasersailor]

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.

[foh]

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.

[charlesrovira]

@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.)

[jamielee]

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.

[jgraeff]

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.

[johnoconnor]

I know how much you LOVE hand sanding but I've always admired his much skill you have on the grinders. Blinking brilliant Will.

[davidhill]

Better knife skills than alot of cooks I have hired. Keep up the great work. Master is in your future !!!

[Merennulli]

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.

[taitano]

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.

[OsmanAli-wrkg]

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.

[EliotChildress]

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.

[adam-bfli]

Every time I see a sentence starts with "Have I been doing <activity> wrong?", my mind immediately makes the "No, it's others who are wrong" meme

[danielpaquette]

I think as long as you keep making them better you are doing it right! Keep up the good work.

[mauriceryton]

I like the geometry of thinning behind the edge to allow the fruit/vegetables to fall away from the blade is wise. Great job.

[obsessedimaging]

As a japanese knife enthusiast I am very happy that you know how to sharpen knives properly!