Cookware: Photos of Our Unique Cookware

The fact you found this post and added your original moose to the story makes my heart happy. I’ll be sure to let him know.

Not overly hard to find the post, since there isn’t a lot of action here in the cookware section of HO. I usually bounce back and forth between here and Chow. (I do find this site a bit more cumbersome than Chow - even considering Chow’s makeover.) I see some familiar posters are here.

My contribution to uniqueness –
A kitchen knife that I made. :smile:
I used D2 steel for the blade and had it hardened to RC62.
I made the handle from black walnut, “stabilized” it with natural wood sealer, and finished it with tung oil.
I made the mosaic pin, incorporating three different metals for their color progression from light (center) to dark (outer).
I designed the logo stamp myself, which I then had made for me, and I hand-stamp the blade.
When I originally made the knife I sent it around to a lot of friends and family members for opinions and feedback. (I’m incorporating the information into the new designs.) When I finally got it back (after about a year) I decided I wanted a slightly better feel to the handle and rehandled it, again using black walnut and the same finishing methods.
The pictures show the full knife with the original handle prior to finishing, and then the rehandle after finishing.


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Gorgeous knives!

Are you in full business mode?

Impressive! Don’t tell me it’s only a hobby.

Can you take a choil picture, looking down the blade of the knife? I would like to see the grind of the blade.

Hey Chem!

Not yet. I’m still struggling with getting my house organized! I’ve got the next batch of ten started, but it’s too cold in the garage to do anything on them right now. (Of course, the garage is too packed with moving boxes anyway!)

To keep me busy during winter (as if I needed another thing), I’ve started my own beer blog! I plan to tie in my knives eventually, but that’s a ways off. Is it okay for me to post a link to it here?

Hi naf,

Well, the goal is to replace my day job. :grinning: I’ve made seven different knives so far – 240mm and (two) 210mm gyutos, 170mm and 150mm santokus, 8" chef, and 6" utility. After sending them out for feedback, I kept the 8" chef knife and gave everything else away to family (I donated the 240mm gyuto to the local food bank charity auction). I’ve used black walnut, cherry, and golden oak for the handles, and have maple, red oak, and hickory waiting in the wings.

Hi Brian,

I made all of these blades with a slight convex grind (except for the 6" utility), but the feedback prompted me to change to something flatter.

[Edit]
CBAD took a choil/grind picture in his review on Chowhound. :slight_smile:
Here’s a link to that review:
CBAD’s review of the 240mm gyuto

Lookin’ good, Eiron!

Convex grinds are great, but you need at least as good a smith to resharpen. What’s the point?

Aloha,
Kaleo

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Thanks It came really nice i am super happy with it. I brought it to Fante’s here in Philadelphia but they send them out somehere I am not sure where. I dont know the history of it at all i wish i did. It is bigger than i imagined it would be still have not used the thing i feel like i need to christen it with someging special. I am loving my copper overall though.

I just got this thing, and I don’t know what to even do with it! It’s called a tomoeyaki pan and it appears to be cast iron. The web says it is related to Imagawayaki, a type of filled pancake (like a flat, molded version of an aebleskiver or poffertjes). Now, I just have to find a recipe.

Hi, Gooster:

I can’t help you with a true tomoeyaki prep, but this looks like what my great grandmother would have called a “plett” pan. A Googling of that name should keep you busy.

It’s a pretty pan, for sure.

Aloha,
Kaleo

Thanks, Kaleo. I think the wells on this pan are a bit deeper (3/4 inch? 1/2 inch?) than your typical “plett” pan. I’ve seen those plett pans in the “antique” shops

Hi, Gooster:

I’ve never owned a plett pan, but I think their depth varies. I was mostly suggesting an alternate way of finding recipes to use in your beautiful new pan. I don’t know where “plett” ends and “gem” begins…

Aloha,
Kaleo

This is my homemade bean pot, chili pot ext. I bought the steel pot at a yard sale for $5, the lid is an old disk blade from my uncle and the legs are concrete stakes. This has been used to cook chili over an open fire and also on a butane cooker and even on the inside stove. The family reunion always seems to end up at our house so feeding 50 or more people this comes in very handy. Now if only the family would bring their own alcohol. Wishful thinking!

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Chem !!! (and Kaleo!) I thought you’d like to know that I’m just now setting up production of the next knives! This is my attempt to elevate my hobby into an actual career.
Any and all encouragement appreciated and gratefully accepted! :smiley:

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Knock 'em dead, Greg. You have the eye for profiles. Sweat the handles.

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Congrats for the courage of changing career. Very promising from what you have showed us!

@gearguy $5 is really a bargain! The metal already worths more than that.

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