Espagnole's Collection

[Espagnole]

This is the sort of support group I need for my addiction. Each Christmas my mother buys the kids one nice gift of our choosing. Until 2004 I would just say "oh anything's fine." That officially ended for good that year. I have procured others along the way and there you have it.

The first shot is the entire collection. The second is what's in the work kit right now. Those after are closer shots of the special ones, but all the photos are fairly crummy. Sorry.

Here's the list left to right with some notes about each:

Mac Superior 10.5" Serrated. Hated the serration and had it re-done.
Blazen 10.75" Slicer. Use it for portioning fish/meat slicing. Fantastic knife.
Kitaoka Suminagashi 9.5" Yanagiba. Not too much action in the stable yet. Gorgeous and, if I need to be able to read through what I'm cutting...
Sabatier 12" Chef's Knife. Thinner than current style I'm told. Very balanced for such a large knife.
RyuSen Damascus 9.5" (now 8.75" and thinned) Daily driver and the work horse of the stable since acquired. Had the spine rounded for comfort as I do some of my chefs and gyutos.
Shigefusa 8.25". Perfectly balanced and elegant. Best feel in the hand of any knife I own. It sees work more and more.
Kobayashi 7" . My first Japanese blade. A whole lot of knife for the money.
Takagi 7" Honyaki. Becoming a daily user. Light fast and perpetually sharp. Ground slighly thinner and rounded the spine.
Michael Rader 7" Mustard Patina. Completely functional work of art. Home use only. Certainly soon to become a Master Smith. Scratched the finish and Michael said he'd reapply and sharpen it as needed. Astounding work.
Oishi 7" Great edge and very pretty. Lightly used though as it's a little narrow for my large hand.
Sakon 6" Petit Gyoto. A razor for scoring duck breasts.
Tadafusa Shirogami 7" Deba. Abused by hardy herbs, chocolate, ginger and frozen food.
Unknown Swedish 7" Filet. Acquired by father on business in Sweden. Love it for sentimental and functional reasons.
Global 7" Filet. Got it to replace above as I'll never be able to replace it. A little too flexible. Should give it another go.
Global 5" Utility. Good for boning out chickens. A good little knife.
Michael Rader 3.5" Mustard Patina. Paring. Another gorgeous and well made knife.
Sabatier 3" Paring. Parers should be LIGHT and sharp. Gets hair shaving sharp and will be replaced for cheap when the day comes.Attachment 1663

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[AFKitchenknifeguy]

You got some gems there!

[Espagnole]

Thanks. I really enjoy using them. I mean, I get to play with these toys for a living.

[Messy Jesse]

Great, versatile collection there! I'm not a fan of flexible knives as well.

Beautiful yanagi. And I will one day own a Shigefusa... one day.

[blwchef]

Nice stuff! Nice to have yet another Seattle knife nut here. We seem to be multiplying steadily. Where are you working if you don't mind me asking?

[Espagnole]

Hey Brandon,

These days I'm working at Boom Noodle and Bis on Main in Bellevue. I do a fair amount of catering privately as well. Prior to taking most of 2007 off to travel around Asia, I was Banquet Chef of the Willows Lodge in Woodinville.

I like it out here and have been for over ten years. Every now and then I think to myself I really don't need any more knives, and then reality and reason step in. Trips to the EE definitely encourage this. I can't get out of there in under an hour it seems. Love talking to those guys.

Cheers, George

[xdrewsiferx]

George I am glad to see you on here. You really do have some great knives in your collection

[Espagnole]

While assembling my post and actually spending a great while on it, I seem to have not actually attached the photo of the entire collection. Sincerest apologies. I'll do better next time. Oh, wait there isn't a next time. Aargh. At least there's bourbon. Cheers, GIMG_6618.jpg

[Espagnole]

Also forgot to post a snap of the Takagi. A damn fantastic knife. Thought there was a problem with it initially and actually found out that the problem was with the cutting boards at one of the places I work. I don't use knives there enough to bother taking them anymore and am forced to use the house knife service knives. Like using stone tools. Yeah, I'm a snob, but there are reasons for it and I experience them every day.IMG_6633.jpg

[Messy Jesse]

What was the problem with the cutting boards?