New Chef's Knife

buzzard767

buzzard767

golfaknifeaholic
Yesterday the FedEx man dropped off a new Devin Thomas 240mm Gyuto. I ordered the knife a couple of months ago and had posted about the incredible enthusiast demand here. Devin Thomas is an excellent custom knife maker and supplies a lot of his damascus steel to other makers.

I've been waiting for a knife like this for about three years and this is the first time one has been available. The Swedish Uddeholm AEB-L stainless steel is normally used for making razor blades but it is also and excellent knife steel. It is easy to sharpen and the extremely small carbide particles can produce a pun intended razor edge. I have another AEB-L Sakai Takayuki (the top one pictured below) but the Takayuki is hardend to Rockwell C scale 57 whereas the Thomas is 61-62. The scale is not linear and 4 points is a huge difference.
 

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Rob Babcock said:
Ooooh, The Precious!:w00t2: I hope to get my hands on one eventually. Well, we know it's a looker...but how does it cut?
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Devin Thomas put a fair edge on it and it cuts okay. I'll be thinning behind the edge and give it a 10 degree bevel with no added primary in the belief that it is hard enough to retain the edge yet not so hard that it would be susceptible to chipping.

UnConundrum said:
Buz, How could you order a knife from Hoss and not get Damascus? Still a beautiful addition.
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$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Any questions? :yum:

This is one of the KF Forum knives being distributed by chefknivestogo in Madison.
 
I gave the Thomas an edge today. First I checked the stock bevel with my EdgePro and it was about 15 degrees. I cut a 10 degree bevel with the EP and a Congress Tools 80 grit pink stone. After that it was free handed. The stone sequence is Naniwa Omura 150, Bester 700, GlassStone 1, 2, 4, and 8K, Naniwa SuperStone 10K, and finally a leather strop charged with .5 micron chromium oxide.

First the EdgePro then the stones and strop.

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There is a flaw in the blade I had not previously noticed. The final 1 1/2" at the tip is dead straight. I'll fix that with a DMT diamond stone the next time I sharpen it.

The original bevel is shown in the picture at the top of this thread. Here's the new one.

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It now push cuts paper under it's own weight 2 inches out from the pinch grip and that's excellent performance. It should cut about the same as the following video by an acquaintance on a knife forum. He's a chef and restaurant owner in the Milwaukee area and the knife is the same as mine.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmCqSFpaCxk[/ame]
 
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That video is incredible. I've never handled a knife that could do that to a tomato. Amazing!

You need to have a contest where you (again) sharpen some user's knives. I'd like to have a knife sharpened by you. Scary sharp (was that a band-aid on that guy's finger in the vid? :w00t:), but how cool!
 
I've got a Chicago Cutlery 8" Chef's Knife. Had it for years (10 to be exact) and she does fine......for me anyway.
 
Your knife has relatively soft steel, somewhere around 54-58 on the Rockwell "C" scale. From the factory, and maintained with something like a Chef's Choice electric or one of those pull throughs, your edge is around 22-25 degrees per side. This is ax-like. Sorry. I could give you a 10 degree secondary (back) bevel, and finish with a less acute, 15 degree primary bevel. This would make Chicago Cutlery, Wusthoff, and the others cringe but I know for a fact that your knife can handle it. Any more acute than 15 degrees per side and you would lose the edge in short order. The problem is on going maintenance. You can extend the life of the edge for a long time by using a stropping motion with an Idahone fine ceramic rod. Beyond that, another sharpening with stones would be required.

If you'd like to experience a really sharp edge shoot me a PM with the details. All I would require is a little cash along with your knife to cover the USPS Priority Mail return.
 
All I ever wanted to know about knives but was afraid to ask..........but congratulations on your new toy Buzz!
 
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