Charles Atkinson Pass Around

[cooknola]

Third is where it’s gonna be heard. Let’s the warsongs commence.

[keithmarder]

Final order with Keith added.

Bluenoser87
delmar
cooknola
cutuu
J david
Marc4pt0
keithmarder
raleighcook15
STPepper9
Nmiller21k
datster

Thank you

[Bluenoser87]

Received. First impressions are the features are a little more subdued in person and it’s not quite as extreme looking as I was expecting. It’s less zombie killer and more Game of Thrones test kitchen, if that makes sense. Off topic, but I cannot wait for that to start...

I’ll post some pics and thoughts as I use this more this week

[cooknola]

Hey. I’m sick as shit. And can’t seem to keep up with anything. Before it heads my way let me know. I may have to pass on this one if I’m still down.

[ChoppyDan]

Beautiful knives, I wonder how the blacksmith gets such thick portions of the handle after forging. Is the original knife blank that thick before working the steel?

[mauichef]

Hey. I’m sick as shit. And can’t seem to keep up with anything. Before it heads my way let me know. I may have to pass on this one if I’m still down.

I'll keep you informed Cliff.
Get well soon mate!

[Mustyblowfish]

Beautiful knives, I wonder how the blacksmith gets such thick portions of the handle after forging. Is the original knife blank that thick before working the steel?

He's not using blanks. It is made using 20mm rounds and hammered to shape. Have a look at the video on the first page and you'll see the process.

[mauichef]

Knife is on route to delmar.

[Bluenoser87]

I’m curious to hear what others think of this once they get their hands on it. I had fun playing around with it for a week. It’s an interesting knife but not for me if I’m being honest. The integral handle is surprisingly well balanced. I was expecting it to be super handle heavy based on the look of it. I find the handle pretty comfortable but I could imagine someone with really large hands might find this super annoying as the handle would not accommodate well.

My main gripe about this is the wavy spine. It really limits how useful this is in a kitchen. Anything larger than a carrot and the waves are an issue. Looking at the info at the beginning of this thread it looks like there are a lot of other blades without the waves. I’m not sure what the intention was for the waves, but it does look cool.

My other gripe is the KU finish. It transferred to food pretty easily and was pretty sticky. Ok for swords, not for kitchen knives. I’m guessing this could be cleaned up pretty easily if someone wanted to though.

If I wanted to use this seriously in a kitchen I’d want to thin it a bit, do something about the KU and have a straight spine somehow. I don’t think that’s really the point of this knife though. It’s a conversation piece and an interesting one at that.

Coincidently, I went to a Scottish Fair over the weekend. There were a lot of folks in period clothing with swords and historical reenactments and such. This knife would’ve been right at home there.

[Bluenoser87]

Also, here’s one of the balance point

[Altadan]

Nice write-up! Thanks for the close-up photos.
I was wondering whether those waves would be an issue, or perchance they would create some surprised food-release... apparently the former :\
That choil shot does seem to indicate the need for thinning.

[delmar]

Arrived today. I'll be passing along Saturday a.m. as I'm heading out of town. I'll post my impressions, but don't know if that will get done before I return.

[mauichef]

So let me add my thoughts.....

It is a very interesting knife in may ways. Good and bad!
Obviously the aesthetics are at the core of its existence. And in that regard it is very successful.
But unfortunately that is where it ends at least for me.

First off the handle.
It is an intriguing concept that might be fine for the person who made it, but for anyone else with a different hand size or shape it is most uncomfortable and demands that the user grips it in only one way.
I hold knives slightly differently depending on what I am processing. This handle simply does not allow for this action. The finger indents demand you hold it one way and one way only. and if you have a larger or smaller hand you are faced with these hard spines digging into your fingers.

Number two.....the finish.
This is the stickiest KU I have ever encountered in trying dozens of similarly finished knives.
It stains many ingredients and just clogs down any thin slices you try to make.

Lastly and most importantly...the wave!
The spine waves go almost all the way to the edge.
Imagine cutting with a seriously bent blade. Now imagine it with 6 bends!!!!
Like Blue said...anything larger than a carrot and it is useless. Not much better with tomatoes and other ingredients that have a tall aspect.

This knife is a looker and would go down well at a knife show or in a collectors cabinet. But in my kitchen it was a fail.

I hate being so negative but this is not a "kitchen" knife in pretty well every regard.

[delmar]

Much like Ray and Blue, I found the knife to have a certain aesthetic value, but not so much on performance.

Aesthetically, it is just cool. Reminds me of something you'd see on a wall in a medieval castle or perhaps dungeon. The styling is aggressive. The KU finish, especially the notes here and there on the handle, are a great effect. A metal handle isn't unique (Global, anyone?), but this one is.

On shorter product, it did okay. The profile was functional and allowed all types of cuts I tried. Reminded me of a generous J-knife profile, maybe something like the Masamoto VG. Not a ton of flat spot, but a little. Mince, dice, julienne were fine. Chopping okay. There was some transfer with the KU finish, although it wasn't as pronounced for me as others. Food stuck to the blade without much fall-off at all.

On taller/denser product, different story. Wedge monster for me. Halving cabbage heads was brutal, with the knife bogging down before the spine entered. I suspect both the wavy spine and the grind contributed. With that spine, you are looking at an effective 8-10ish mm spine width, maybe more. And as Ray pointed out, you can feel the waves all the way to the shoulder, about 1/2" from the edge. I do think that if you knocked that shoulder down it would lessen the effect, but that spine is gonna impact cutting anything close to its height or more.

I didn't like the carve-out on on the choil, kind of like the TF 'finger notch' but much bigger. In a forward pinch, there was edge under my second knuckle. I didn't really care for that. I don't like cutting food that far back in my grip. Disconcerting. Maybe just a personal preference thing, but thought I'd point it out.

The handle was very problematic for me. I did find it heavy and clunky. And it was annoyingly uncomfortable. The handle is very specific, and if you 1) don't hold the knife exactly as intended; and 2) don't have the hand size as intended, it's unpleasant. I found my middle and ring finger on the ridges between the finger rests, and that sucked. Couldn't imagine trying to use this more than for a onion or two. Any type of processing would be painful in the long run. I tried to push my pinch all the way forward, but still couldn't get my fingers into the slots. I also tried a racket grip and it still didn't work. As well, the butt of the handle is paddle shaped, and not symmetrical. For a lefty with a paddle grip, it caused me to have to twist my wrist to get the blade to cut straight up and down - palm facing downwards. Not comfortable. In my right hand, it felt better.

The saya was curious too. The design is minimalist and kinda cool, but has a major design flaw - it is metal and comes into direct contact with the cutting edge. No cork, leather or any padding to protect the edge. That is a big no no to me, especially if this knife traveled with its owner.

If asked, I'd suggest to the blacksmith to refine the grind, work on the KU finish to have less transfer and stick, and tone down the handle.

Last, I'd be interesting in seeing what the edge retention is on this.

I didn't sharpen. Came pretty sharp. Stropped briefly on some leather before use, not loaded.

[delmar]

Cliff, if you are out there please let Ray know you received the knife. I have a PM out to you that has been in my outbox for a few days. I hope you are well. Knife delivered 4/15 per USPS 9505 5160 3510 9102 2939 23.

[Kalaeb]

I actually don't mind the forged handle. I have one from Will Catchesides that I enjoy. If the maker puts some love into a thinner grind (and a straight spine) it may end up being a fun knife to use.

I would like to hear how the steel is performing. Looking on his website, it appears as if it might be taken as high as 67RC? Have any of the participants used it enough to really test the steel? How does it sharpen? Chippy?

[mauichef]

Matt, I think you would change your comment if you had actually used this knife. The handle is a disaster
As for the other stuff....edge retention, sharpening etc.
There was no way I could push myself to using it enough to determine these things without hurting my hand, cutting myself or just getting pissed off having to use such a poorly designed tool.

[Kalaeb]

Haha, fair enough. I feared that might be the case. Everyone was saying it did not need to be sharpened, lol, I guess it's because it has not really been used.

[nevrknow]

Really waiting on the comments. Especially the handle "feel". Interesting to say the least.

Edit: late to the party but glad I was half right. Handle remarks right where I thought. Still, an absolutely stunning artistic work. Which may be the purpose?

[raleighcook15]

Thanks guys. For now the list is closed.
I will get the info out later today.

Can you please remove me from the list, sorry for the late notice, might be moving soon.