Provision Knives

03/29/2025

Knife resurrection and resto-mod!

I found this exceptionally abused WÜSTHOF Classic 10" chef knife (normally $200) a few years ago at the thrift store. The spine was hammered, the cutting edge was dented and twisted, and the handle was delaminated from putting it in the dishwasher. (Current Wusthof Classic knives come with polymer handles, but this one is obviously plywood and epoxy laminate. This is a great example of how torturous the caustic chemicals and heated drying can be to even a robust commercial knife.) It was completely unusable, but I saw an opportunity -- and challenge -- to transform it into something better than its original version.

While cleaning up all the hammer marks on the spine, I also gently rounded the sharp spine edges for increased comfort. Repairing the dinged and bent cutting edge meant the “new” edge needed a bit of thinning for better cutting performance. I created a new, taller edge bevel on both sides of the blade, then put the actual cutting edge (micro-bevel) onto that. Since I dislike full bolsters from both a user perspective and a sharpening perspective, I took advantage of the salvage opportunity to modify the knife’s bolster design. I used ironwood for the new handle and fastened it with brass pins instead of the original stainless steel rivets. I also ergonomically contoured the handle for improved comfort and control. The most fiddly part was fitting the front edges of the scales into the angled back sides of the bolster.

I did this as an, “I wonder what it would take to refurbish and improve” project, and as an opportunity to show that you don’t always have to throw out a nice thing just because it’s been damaged beyond use. 😊

11/30/2024

11/20/2024

Another re-handle project! This 170mm (6.75") santoku is, by far, my most abused knife. I made it about 8 years ago and have used it exclusively as a "customer demo," giving it to people to try out for several weeks at a time in their own kitchens.

The original handle was Russian Olive, and it held up reasonably well even when the knife repeatedly came back heavily abused. The full-tang D2 stainless tool steel blade was easily restored to like-new condition. I replaced the original handle with Amboyna Burl wood, one of several unique woods gifted from my son. The new mosaic pin has a metallic teal fill, which really reveals its brilliance in sunlight.

Since I'm not focusing on knifemaking right now (i.e., I don't need a customer demo knife!), I've decided to return this one to my own kitchen arsenal. Beautiful, comfortable, light, well-balanced, and supremely sharp, this versatile knife makes me smile every time I use it!

11/12/2024

I got the opportunity to re-handle one of the first 7 kitchen knives I ever made (the owner had accidentally run it through the dishwasher 🙁).

I made this 6" Utility knife nearly 12 years ago and used Cherry Wood for the handle. Cherry is considerably softer than other hardwoods, so I think it fared well considering the unknown life it has lived.

The full-tang D2 stainless tool steel blade was still in great shape, so all I needed to do was remove the old handle, clean everything up a bit, and make a new one. I decided to use Rock Maple for the new handle since it's much more durable than Cherry (the owner has a couple other Provision Knives with Curly Maple handles, so this will be a closer match). I also added a "jewel" of color by replacing my old black-fill mosaic pin with one of my custom-colored coral-fill pins.

The D2 steel was originally hardened to 61HRC, and still provides a razor-like edge that resists wear and won't ever chip! (I offer free lifetime sharpening on all of my knives, but, surprisingly, I rarely ever get them back for sharpening!🤷)

03/29/2024

I was sharpening a couple of chef’s knives for a friend and learned that she never used her santoku because she didn’t like the shape – the blade profile was too tall at the nose and didn’t provide a pointy enough tip, and the cutting edge was too flat. I asked if I could play around with reshaping it, to see if she liked using it more.

As is typical in commercial santokus, the spine is slightly “swayback” and the nose has a reasonably steep drop, creating a very obtuse point.

I flattened the spine and gave the nose a more gentle slope down to the tip. I also created a slight amount of belly to the cutting edge by adding some curve to the sections at both the heel and the tip.

Now it’s more like a hybrid “chef-toku” knife. I won’t find out for a few days if she likes it any better or not.

12/15/2023

It's been a while since I've shaped steel on a lathe and a mill. My first summer job out of Vo-TEC was working lathes and mills in a machine shop, but only because I was one of the few students who lobbied for machinist training in our CAD classes.

I made this 1 inch long coupler to enable this 16 foot long Nacelle Yoke tool to operate by linking the electric motor to the hydraulic pump.

Thanks to Eric Krug for the use of his machinery (and making sure I didn't hurt myself!)

11/24/2023

Thanksgiving on the Yellowstone River

11/19/2023

Always love getting new green coffee for roasting at home!

This order has 6 different varietals:
2 Kenyan
2 Ethiopian
2 Yemen

New coffees for the holidays! ☕😋

10/08/2023

Had a blast singing the introduction to The Greatest Showman as part of Loveland Choral Society's Fall performances. So many great people in this group!

09/08/2023

Pre-sunrise (~05:45 AM) reflecting in the creek running alongside the bike path.

After only 2 months (July & August) I need all the bike lights again.

Daylight Saving sucks if you're one of tens of millions of workers with an early morning start.