Knifemaker making knives.

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Look what the mailman dropped at the door.

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Last night we had Sockeye Salmon and I bought the fish so I could do my own fillet.  My new knife glided across the bone and cut through the riib-bones cleanly, lifting off clean fillets that I was easily able to separate the rib bones.  What a pleasure to use a sharp, accurate knife with this kind of feel and  ability to cut tender flesh and tough skin.  Seared the salmon on a hot 500 degree grill and served with lemon.  Cut the remaining servings and vacuum sealed for freezing.  It's like artwork with a better brush.

 
Since snow wasn't in the list of things that won't stop them from their appointed rounds, we've not had mail (or power even) since Sunday/Monday. We're back now though so all the heavy sighs can commence. ;)

 
Here are the Damascus blades available:

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From left to right:3.5 inch paring knife5 inch Santoku Serrated bread knife not available 6.5” Chinese Cleaver 8” Chefs knife7” Santoku 7” Nakiri
Not shown is the 8.25” Extra Wide Chefs Knife like I made for Auburn.

Mosaic pins are standard on all blades. As is High Contrast Desert Ironwood. Exhibition grade Ironwood Burl (as used on Bounces Cleaver) is $29.00 extra. Other woods are also available upon request.The 7” IRT fillet knife is still available at this time, as is a boning blade and a 9” carver.

Prices range from $180 to $200 for the larger blades and around $150 for the 5” Santoku and paring knife. 

  I charge an additional $11.50 for USPS shipping. Sometimes it costs me a bit more, sometimes a bit less. I just went with an average here simply because it’s easier. If you want some other type of shipping let me know ahead of time.

 
Sign me up for a 5" Santoku. I love the chefs knife so I need something to go with it.

Let me know when to send funds.

 
Coming soon. 10” honing steel. Electroplated diamond surface over carbon steel. Oval shape with option of open butt for hanging up, or closed end. Your choice of handle material, mosaic pins. Blanks supplied by the same company I get my Damascus blades from.
Price (depending on handle material chosen) will be in the $80-$90 area.
PM me if you’re interested.
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Very nice work @Knifemaker! A number of years ago I also made knife handles and cutting boards for personal use and friends. I got my blanks mostly from Woodcraft, from their Zhen collection with S10 blades. I made the handles from a variety of woods - whatever species my friends wanted (cocobolo, bocote, olive, redwood burl, lignum vitae, bubinga, even beech - for my baseball-loving friend). I stabilized the wood blanks at home with a homemade vacuum setup I made. I loved working on the knives and boards, because it gave me relief from staring at my screen, writing code for 10+ hours-a-day. The knives on the cutting board picture below is the set I still use, and love. The end-grain purple heart/rock maple cutting board concept is from the Woodwhisperer's YouTube channel. Keep up the great work!
 

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Those look great RJ. I’ve always wanted to try making a “checkered” wood board, using different woods. But they look like a lot of work, and not sure I’d want to pass that extra time/cost to a customer.
Are you still doing this? You made it sound like you retired from it.
 
Thanks, @Knifemaker ! I really enjoyed making them for several years, and I just got too busy with work and riding since. I don't have a garage or workshop to work in, so the weather has to be nice and it has to be daytime for me to be able to work on them in my back yard. Summers here in So. Cal. can get a bit too toasty to work comfortably outside during the day, so late spring and early fall were most productive times for me. Maybe one day I will start making them again though. There are a few things to keep in mind if you want to make them for customers. 8/4 thick wood stock for these boards are expensive, especially more exotic ones like walnut or purpleheart. (Expect to spend at least $50-$70 on wood alone for one 12" x 18" size cutting board.) Then a sturdy, well-calibrated, sharp table saw is a must to make consistent, accurate cuts through the thick, heavy, hardwood stock. A planer is also necessary to produce consistent-thickness boards. I used a hand-held belt, and random-orbit sanders for final sanding and shaping, and a router for rounding edges and cutting the juice channels. Count about an hour of sanding time per board at a minimum. The results look awesome though, and the end-grain boards hold up amazingly well even under heavy daily use. For maintenance all they need is cleaning, and a generous coat of mineral oil every month or so. I am still using the first one I made 10 years ago, and we cook a lot in our house. Cost-wise there there is no way a home woodworker can compete with mass-marketed boards. The retail price of the wood, sanding, finishing supplies and time are way higher for a woodworker than what factories can produce them for. So make them for good friends as gifts, and for clients who really appreciate the beauty, uniqueness and durability of hand-made products (of course, you know this already - that is why you are making knives). Custom jobs are also fun, a lot of patterns and custom sizes can be created with relatively little extra effort. Keep up the great work, your creations are truly awesome!
 
Nice work there. I am cutting up some Black walnut for next years heating to go into the wood stove. I have a variety of wood on the property to burn.
Beach, Black cherry, Holly, Oak (Red & White), Maple and some Locus. There may be a few other types but I couldn't tell you what they are called.

Dave
 
The wood for my cutting boards is all locally sourced. Everyone in the area knows to ask me if I want the wood for any tree they cut down.
All the oak goes to a neighbor that burns it for heat. All the cedar and black walnut are cut to 4-6 ft logs that I take to a friend who has a sawmill that cuts them into planks to any thickness I want. The Hickory or fruit woods are cut and split by the guy that gets the oak for use in my smoker.
So none of it really costs me anything, although I do slip the sawmill guy some cash for his time.
All the wood for the knife handles comes mostly from Jantz supply, or my own stash of exotic woods I’ve collected through the years.
( I have a good size Black Walnut tree cut up waiting for a trip to the sawmill sitting in my driveway, that hopefully will yield some good pieces for Bounce’s cutting board)

Not sure how much longer I’ll be making knives, as my eyesight through the years has worsened.
 
Been awhile. Haven’t been doing any knives as of late, but this week made this 5” Santoku for a 89 year old woman my wife cares for twice a week. Seems all her kitchen knives were 8-10” chef and butcher knives and she wanted something smaller.
Ironwood handle on this one.
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