Spyderco Forums

A little show and tell. What are your thoughts? Not a Spyderco, but I did float the idea. This is one of my designs that I collaborated with a custom maker to come to fruition. It is the first test model. It will come in two thicknesses for a kind of all purpose kitchen chef knife and a thicker utility camp knife. The next one will be prettier and show the hamon line as it is quenched on the bottom portion. This one is the thicker version, weighs 14 oz. but the kitchen one should be around 11ish oz. both are 10 1/4” overall length with a 9 3/8” cutting-edge.

The image only showed up after I hit reply to say there wasn’t any image. And what showed up looked like a hunting knife. After posting my reply I saw the bearded knife and then it made sense at last.

Edited a second time to add:

For chopping vegetables the bearded pattern looks like it puts less strain on the user’s wrist than a conventional chef’s knife.

Looks good for making homemade pasta. Might be a little beefy for other kitchen work, but it's a fun design.

Sorry, I had some technical issues. Thanks for your patience. Yes, part of the design is the less stress on the hand and wrist due to the placement of the object being cut is underneath your hand or close to that. Good catch.

Bill1170 wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 19, 2021 10:31 pm

The image only showed up after I hit reply to say there wasn’t any image. And what showed up looked like a hunting knife. After posting my reply I saw the bearded knife and then it made sense at last.

Edited a second time to add:

For chopping vegetables the bearded pattern looks like it puts less strain on the user’s wrist than a conventional chef’s knife.

Part of the inspiration is the Chinese noodle knife. Good catch as well. Add your finger in the hole to rock the knife and chop herbs like a pro. The kitchen version will be thinner and this lighter. The hole also makes the forward grip quite sturdy when your thumb and middle finger tough through it while your index finger rides on top towards the tip for more precise work. Another favorite quality is the blade length to overall length ratio.

TenGrainBread wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 19, 2021 10:36 pm

Looks good for making homemade pasta. Might be a little beefy for other kitchen work, but it's a fun design.

Great design mate, very practical, nice work.
I'd be very tempted to have a throw of it if it was in my hand lol.

I like it very much. The question is: when it decides to shave, does it shave itself, and if so will that create a paradox, as the shaving would be done by the part that was being shaved off.

Nice knife, Fireman.

It reminds me of a soba kiri.

Random link from a site I have no affiliation with:

https://hitachiyausa.com/collections/soba-kiri

I like how yours allows a rocker cutting action. I guess it might be useful for mincing too?

What’s the steel, and how thick is the bladestock?

Is the hole for a forefinger to go in?

The flat end of the classic soba kiri serves as a kind of shovel or scraper too, to push noodles from the cutting board into the pot.

I like it! Seems like there are a number of cutting jobs that it would kick butt doing, vegetable prep & pasta are the first things that come to my mind... neat design, keep us posted.

Cheers,

John

My initial impression is that it’s kinda weird looking. But I probably thought same about Spyderco 27 years ago...

One of the things that I find annoying when slicing veg with a santoku (while pinching the blade with index and thumb) is the slices stack and push up until they hit my fingers. This design looks like it might mitigate this. It also looks like it will be adept at scooping diced food off a cutting board to drop into a pan. It’s an interesting design I’d like to try before I buy.

Cheddarnut wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 20, 2021 12:59 am

I like it very much. The question is: when it decides to shave, does it shave itself, and if so will that create a paradox, as the shaving would be done by the part that was being shaved off.

I’m going to have nightmares about this now lol

It looks interesting, but I wonder how overall cutting dexterity would fare with my knife hand being 3x as far away from what I'm cutting.

Salty Dog wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 20, 2021 12:55 am

Great design mate, very practical, nice work.
I'd be very tempted to have a throw of it if it was in my hand lol.

A long edge and the controlled power slicing hard veggies is something of a revelation in food prep.

I use a Cai Dao a lot in the kitchen. I wonder if I'd prefer this bearded style if it had a totally flat blade?

I might have to buy a Soba Kiri and try it out.

Is the thinner version of your knife better suited to the kitchen?

vivi wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 20, 2021 11:04 am

It looks interesting, but I wonder how overall cutting dexterity would fare with my knife hand being 3x as far away from what I'm cutting.

It’s pretty much the same as using a Chinese cleaver but better body mechanics. I use a Chinese cleaver a lot so it feels good for me.

Hmmmmm....

Very much reminds me of an Ulu, which is a Very Capable knife kind of "all arounder" used up north.

Interestingly... a quick search for "ulu knife" popped up some strikingly similar designs being made, marketed & sold already......







Of course there are other variations of the ulu...

The ones shown above are not what I think of when I think of "the traditional ulu", but they are pretty reminiscent of it (to me)...

The ulu has been around & and in use for centuries, millennia even depending on sources, for good reason.

u.w.

I get the try before you buy. This is the only one right now. Perhaps make a cardboard cut out to see if you jive with the form factor.

Woodpuppy wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 20, 2021 7:59 am

My initial impression is that it’s kinda weird looking. But I probably thought same about Spyderco 27 years ago...

One of the things that I find annoying when slicing veg with a santoku (while pinching the blade with index and thumb) is the slices stack and push up until they hit my fingers. This design looks like it might mitigate this. It also looks like it will be adept at scooping diced food off a cutting board to drop into a pan. It’s an interesting design I’d like to try before I buy.

Fireman wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 20, 2021 11:15 am

Salty Dog wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 20, 2021 12:55 am

Great design mate, very practical, nice work.
I'd be very tempted to have a throw of it if it was in my hand lol.

A long edge and the controlled power slicing hard veggies is something of a revelation in food prep.

Would be fantastic for food prep, might make an interesting throwing knife too.

Ulu is a strong influence on this design. It is a great combination of a few different styles put together in a functional knife with some nice lines imho

u.w. wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 20, 2021 11:37 am

Hmmmmm....

Very much reminds me of an Ulu, which is a Very Capable knife kind of "all arounder" used up north.

Interestingly... a quick search for "ulu knife" popped up some strikingly similar designs being made, marketed & sold already......







Of course there are other variations of the ulu...

The ones shown above are not what I think of when I think of "the traditional ulu", but they are pretty reminiscent of it (to me)...

The ulu has been around & and in use for centuries, millennia even depending on sources, for good reason.

u.w.

Lol! please don’t throw it!

Salty Dog wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 20, 2021 11:53 am

Fireman wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 20, 2021 11:15 am

Salty Dog wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 20, 2021 12:55 am

Great design mate, very practical, nice work.
I'd be very tempted to have a throw of it if it was in my hand lol.

A long edge and the controlled power slicing hard veggies is something of a revelation in food prep.

Would be fantastic for food prep, might make an interesting throwing knife too.