[teamfat]

As some of you may be aware, New West Knifeworks sponsored a knife giveaway last month, and I happened to get lucky and win the 'The 9' as they call it, a 9 inch chefs knife from their Phoenix line. It is a nice piece of work, high quality, light, well balanced, I really enjoy using it. That is, except for two things.

First, the handle comes in two colors, stone and granite. The first is a light, mottled rose color. Very nice, and that is what they sent me. The second color, granite, is a darker gray. When we redid our kitchen a few years back, I choose a light maple for the cabinets, and a dark slate color for the countertop. The knife would have looked SO much better on the counter with the granite handle instead of stone. Woe is me, I'm too embarassed to have guests over anymore, whatever shall I do?

For those of you who took the previous paragraph seriously, I suggest you contact the local authorities. Your sense of humor has been stolen.

The second point, though, is not really a complaint, basically an observation. The knives I am used to using all have fairly straight handles, the New West knife has a curve to the top of the handle, with a bit of a hump peaking about the second rivet. The presence of this little hump has me changing my grip slightly. I find myself tending to pull back my hand a bit, resulting in a slightly different pinch grip than what I am used to, my thumb just not quite where I want it to be. It isn't bad, just different.

I don't know if this observation proves or refutes BDL's comments in other knife threads about trying out handles before you buy. I do know, however, that I'll probably get used to the shifted grip, because I REALLY like this new knife.

Thanks again to New West and Nicko for making this happen.

mjb.

[KYHeirloomer]

Teamfat, I hope you enjoy your knife for many years.

When I read Nicko's review one question popped into mind. It seemed to me that the handle material was likely to get slippery when wet. Just a guess on my part. But can you comment on that?

[boar_d_laze]

Team,

Please keep us updated on your adventures with the 9. I'm interested in how you react to:

The weight -- which is cut considerably by most of the blade's design, but increased because the knife had to be thick enough to take the kullenschiffen.

The kullenschiffen (non-stick dimples) themselves. (I'm left handed, and those puppies are just lost on me. I've never had a problem getting a knife to separate from the body of the spud after taking a lyonnaise slice -- if you know what I mean.

The handle material -- Slippery?

Sharpening -- Issues? Did you set your own profile, or using New Wests? Using your steel? It's a pretty hard knife for oil stones, what are you using?

About the grip change -- If you're choking up a little more, it's probably a good thing. Your previous grip was probably placed by the bolsters of the knives you learned on, rather than what was best for you anyway. Wherever you set your pinch, try and keep your back finters -- especially the pinky -- really relaxed. You don't want any more pressure than is necessary to keep from dropping the knife. A soft grip is a lot more accurate -- really helpful in taking thiner slices. If you're moving your hand forward on the knife, you'll also find that your point control increases as well, especially if you keep a straight wrist. And that's easier with the move forward as well.

In defense of my own idiocy, even if I didn't manage to articulate it very well; what I meant was that for "normal handles" without a lot of known issues, the trip to the store could be more confusing than helpful. I've read marketing reports showing that consumers tend to overweight (non-utilitarian) qualities in the showroom. For instance, they often correlate "heft" with quality, and prefer the aesthetics of certain finishes over others. Also, the whole Global phenomenon was incredibly revealing. Everyone loves them in the store, everyone hates them after 6 months because their hands hurt. What can one say? Finally, you don't actually get to use a knife in any meaningful way in most stores.

Anyway, keep us posted.

BDL

[teamfat]

I've waited a while to reply as I wanted to get some more knife time under my knuckles before responding. As I've mentioned, I'm only a home cook now, so the knife is in my hands just minutes a day, not hours.

Overall, though, I do like this knife. I've adapted to a slightly different pinch grip on the slightly humped handle, no big deal. The balance and overall weight are nice. And somewhat akin to BDL's comment, the kullenschiffen are, in my opinion, more fashion than function. This is the first knife I've owned that has had them, and I don't really see any benefit. If I were slicing and dicing for hours a day, though, I might have a different opnion on the purpose of those ground in dimples.

As for the handle material, it isn't that slippery when wet, but it does have slightly less grip under damp conditions than my wooden handled knives. I'd say it isn't really an issue.

As for sharpening, I'm thinking it is time to get some new stones. What I've got now is a pair of much too small oilstones from Buck, I believe, of unknown grit. A nice knife like this deserves better support tools. I do like the New West profile, have run it over the steel a few times, but I can tell it will need to be sharpened in the not too distant future. Gosh, shopping for new tools, something most guys always hate! Maybe I'll reluctantly force myself to start with Norton's web page...

mjb.

[phatch]

That's an AUS 8 blade as I recall. I like AUS 8 for a lot of things but I've never had a kitchen knife with it. It can take a pretty good hardness and will likely be a different sharpening experience than most common kitchen knives.

Check your PMs soon.

[boar_d_laze]

Yes, AUS-8. It's used as the high-end stainless for some second tier knife manufacturers like Cold Steel. It's a "balanced" steel such that strength and toughness aren't fighting eachother, but neither quality is exceptional either. As a balanced knife steel, it's pretty good -- say a step behind ATS 34, 154-CM, VG-10, 13C26, and AEB-L; and half a step behind 440C and D-2.

Of course, the "behind" is highly theoretical. Good maker can make great blades with steel less good than AUS-8.

I don't quite understand the purpose of san mai construction with a steel like AUS-8, since clearly it can function without the softer outside layer. I mean it's not a super hard metallurgical powder or tool steel like SKD 11 for instance. Nevertheless a lot of good Japanese makers do the same thing -- and some of those knives are pretty darn good.

We had a few san mai Hiromotos with Aogami Super cores. They were good knives which grew legs and took of on their own. They were allowed to follow my son home, was Linda and my I preferred my old carbon Sabs -- a big part of that being the feel of separation I attribute to the cladding. If (okay, when) I buy a new knife it won't be san mai.

I'm not sure which steel(s) are used to create the damascus-look pattern of the cladding. I assume that like Shun, it's a single 4XX series like 404, and the pattern is revealed by acid etching. On Shuns the pattern's very fragile and fades with cleaning scratches. It will be interesting to see how the suminagashi holds up on Team's knife.

BDL