Knife Collecting

Santokus are Thanksgiving cutters, Japanese style. A design that originated in the Land of the Rising Sun, the santoku is a specialized tool well suited to preparing holiday meals. From cutting meat to dicing veggies and cutting fruit for creative holiday salads and such, santokus are perfect for Gobbler Day.

Santokus have a wide blade sometimes with scallops, which are supposed to create less friction than a solid blade, a sheepfoot tip, and are lighter and thinner than a French or German chef’s knife. Their length runs between 5 and 8 inches. The Thanksgiving cutters do not have a bolster. They have a straight edge with no curve.

San-to-ku is Japanese for the three cutting tasks for which the knife is designed: slicing, dicing and mincing. It is a specialized knife that, in the Japanese view, is optimized for the three aforementioned tasks. The straight edge of a santoku does not allow for the rocking motion commonly used with a French or German chef’s knife.

Cuts are made straight down with little or no forward movement, almost a guillotine action, which, again in the Japanese view, allows slicing very thin pieces of whatever’s being cut with precision. The Thanksgiving cutters are not meant to be all-around kitchen knives. An all-around knife used to cut many things is not a Japanese concept. The Japanese chef will typically have a vast array of knives, each one designed for a specific function.

Japanese kitchen knives typically have a chisel grind, which also contributes to cutting very thin slices with precision, as you may have seen sushi chefs do. The chisel grind is optimal for slicing, say, very thin slices of turkey, with the caveat that there are left and right grinds. If you are right handed you’ll need a blade ground on the right side. The chisel grind doesn’t work well for cutting through thick media, such as roasts and ribs because the chisel grind—since the edge is off center—will cause the blade to cut off center, and to wander. Also, the thin edge of a Santoku should not be used to cut through joints or bones, or to disjoint, say, a chicken.

HAPPY MARRIAGE

With its hefty blade, full tang, nicely sculpted bolsters and maple scales, the Boker Forge Santoku Maple is a happy marriage of a classic santoku and a German or French chef’s knife. While it lacks the acute point of a chef’s knife, the slight point is usable. The edge does have somewhat of a curve, which allows the rocking motion Western-trained chefs, and many domestic home cooks, are accustomed to using. It is the only one of the four knives reviewed that I would use to cut through pork rib joints, chicken backs, etc. The Boker is almost a mini cleaver as well as being an excellent slicer. It is a handsome knife and comfortable for long periods of work.

STURDY STUDY

With its walnut scales and full tang, the Case model is also a sturdy example of a Santoku. It has a barely perceptible curve to the edge and a scalloped blade. The Case looks more like a classic santoku than the Boker, but like the Boker has a thicker blade than a standard Japanese santoku. It felt solid in hand and while not as sculpted as the Boker, the traditional American handle was comfortable during extended use. The Case sliced, diced and minced as well as thin-bladed Santokus while giving the impression that it would be up for harder work if need be.

21^st-CENTURY SHARP

With its wide blade, classic Santoku profile, comfortable, molded grip and graceful overall appearance, the Spyderco K08 looks like a 21^st-century interpretation of a classic—which is pretty much what it is. It is a very lightweight knife with an extremely thin blade, which is optimal for doing what a santoku is supposed to do. The Spyderco does have a slight curve toward the tip, which I think adds to its smooth lines. Since I am accustomed to using a French or German chef’s knife, the curve also made it easier for me to work my way through piles of squash and mushrooms, especially mushrooms, which I find hard to slice. The blade also made it easy to slice salmon smoothly and evenly.

ENTRY-LEVEL PRO

Victorinox makes the knives The American Culinary Institute gives to its students: chef’s knives, paring knives, bread knives and, yes, santokus. Pro chef Shawn Carlson’s first professional knife roll contained only Victorinox knives. So, he was familiar with the Victorinox characteristics: thin profile, very sharp, fairly soft steel that requires frequent steeling but which comes back to a fine edge quickly, and which does not chip if dropped on a kitchen floor. It has the standard santoku shape: flat edge and sheepfoot tip rather than a curved profile and pointy tip. I missed a curved edge and had trouble adjusting to the flat straight edge. Shawn did not—again, a pro is a pro. It is an entry-level professional knife.

FLAIR GAME

If you enjoy cooking and take pleasure in using specialized tools, you’ll find a santoku a welcome addition to your quiver of Thanksgiving cutters—keeping in mind that a santoku is a specialized tool. If you like to keep things simple, an 8-inch chef’s knife and a 4-inch paring knife will do most any kitchen job—if not with the flair of a santoku.

If there’s such a thing as the First Family of Knives, the Buck family is it.

Buck Knives has been run by a member of the Buck family—Hoyt, Al, Chuck or CJ—since “H.H. Buck and Son” set up shop in 1945. Since that time, the name Buck has become synonymous with fine hunting, sporting and other knives, and Al, Chuck and CJ help comprise the only family with three members to be inducted into the BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall Of Fame*.

According to The Story of Buck Knives … A Family Business by Tom Ables, in 1946 “Buck’s knives were all created from used metal files that had been discarded by Consolidated Vultee, the huge aircraft manufacturing plant that later became Convair. These worn-out files, with their heavy carbon content, were perfect for the toughness and edge-holding qualities that Hoyt Buck required in his knives.”

Al joined his father full time in 1947. “[Al] learned how to laminate the thin strips of Lucite plastic used on the handles,” The Story of Buck Knives noted. “He learned how to separate and drill the handles themselves. Later, he learned how to temper the blades so painstakingly sharpened by his dad.”

Sadly, Hoyt learned he had cancer in 1948 and the dreaded disease claimed his life a short year later. He was only 59. Al assumed the company reins and guided it successfully through the 1950s and into the “modern age” of the 1960s. Buck incorporated in 1961, with a young Chuck Buck on the board of directors. The company began making the iconic Buck 110 Folding Hunter on a full production basis in September 1964. The knife’s sales jumped in 1965, increased 63 percent in 1966 and vaulted another 60 percent in 1967.

The knife industry would never be the same again.

Buck flourished under the direction of Al in the 1970s and ’80s, offering the latest in knife designs, materials and more. Along with the legendary Jimmy Lile, Howard Cole and William R. Williamson, Al was inducted into the Cutlery Hall Of Fame at the 1984 BLADE Show.

As the September/October 1984 issue of BLADE® noted in reference to Al and the 110. “Buck didn’t invent the lockback, but he certainly popularized it, and despite a flood of other lockbacks, the Buck knife still leads the way. If you are carrying a lockback today, you can thank Al Buck for his enduring promotional efforts. You have a safer knife for it.”

Chuck was next in line to be inducted into the Cutlery Hall Of Fame, being inducted along with Blackie Collins in 1996. Chuck was a part of the Buck family business from childhood. By 1970 he was corporate vice president for manufacturing, involved in all aspects of the process, from purchasing to personnel to packaging. In 1979 he became company president. Through Chuck’s leadership, the company completed a modern new plant and corporate headquarters in 1980 with 4.5 acres under one roof.

Under his direction the company grew and prospered, winning several BLADE Magazine Knife-Of-The-Year® Awards. By 2004 he was Buck Knives chairman and helped oversee the company’s historic move to Post Falls, Idaho, from El Cajon, California, in 2005.

CJ was inducted into the Hall in 2016 following a career that saw him begin by working on the Buck production line in 1978. For 21 years he handled numerous company promotions and responsibilities. In 1999 he was named president of Buck Knives and, in 2001, CEO. In 2015 he was named Buck chairman of the board. He is a co-founder of the American Knife & Tool Institute (AKTI), serving multiple terms as AKTI president, and is the AKTI’s current CEO. He played a pivotal role in the AKTI’s historic defeat of an attempt by U.S. Customs to classify all one-hand-opening knives as switchblades in 2009. Ironically, today, thanks to the efforts of such organizations as AKTI and Knife Rights, switchblades—better known now as automatics—are being legalized in more and more states, and there’s even an effort under way to repeal the archaic Federal Switchblade Act of 1958. In addition, under CJ’s leadership, Buck has an entire line of automatics, including one of its latest—a version of the iconic 110 in full auto mode, no less.

The only family with three members in the Cutlery Hall Of Fame, the Bucks can legitimately lay claim to being the First Family of Knives. Their contributions speak for themselves.

•Uncle Henry and Al Baer of the original Imperial Schrade and A.G. and Goldie Russell are the only brothers and husband and wife, respectively, to be inducted into the Cutlery Hall Of Fame.