Black Lotus Knives

See what's happening with current or completed "Pass Arounds". Forum members occasionally send knives or sharpening stones around to a hand selected group of participants for short term use and feedback/reviews.
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pd7077
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Re: Black Lotus Knives

Post by pd7077 »

Thanks guys. I firmly believe that the polish wouldn’t have turned out this nicely had the knife not been a fantastic piece to begin with. I’ve been thinking about things, and with the number of people that are participating in this passaround, the polish is going to fade after a few weeks of use. I have no problems if people would like to remove the patina with BKF or metal polish, but you will invariably lose much of the kasumi that I laid down. The wrought iron is fairly reactive so the patterns will definitely jump out after a little bit of use, but I’m considering sending a couple different types of fingerstones with the knife in the event that someone would want to use them on the passaround knife. The softer FS are much easier to use, but the bulk of the contrast was achieved with harder FS that are not the easiest to use if you haven’t worked with them before.

I guess the other option would be to keep the knife in the west coast first. The knife can then be sent back to me for a touch up before heading out east.

What do you guys think? 🤔
--- Steve
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Re: Black Lotus Knives

Post by STPepper9 »

Looks amazing...
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Altadan
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Re: Black Lotus Knives

Post by Altadan »

pd7077 wrote: Thu Jun 06, 2019 9:51 am Thanks guys. I firmly believe that the polish wouldn’t have turned out this nicely had the knife not been a fantastic piece to begin with. I’ve been thinking about things, and with the number of people that are participating in this passaround, the polish is going to fade after a few weeks of use. I have no problems if people would like to remove the patina with BKF or metal polish, but you will invariably lose much of the kasumi that I laid down. The wrought iron is fairly reactive so the patterns will definitely jump out after a little bit of use, but I’m considering sending a couple different types of fingerstones with the knife in the event that someone would want to use them on the passaround knife. The softer FS are much easier to use, but the bulk of the contrast was achieved with harder FS that are not the easiest to use if you haven’t worked with them before.

I guess the other option would be to keep the knife in the west coast first. The knife can then be sent back to me for a touch up before heading out east.

What do you guys think? 🤔
I was just gonna ask if you'd allow people to "meddle" with it. Your idea of sending some FS for those who are willing sounds enticing :)
“If we conquer our passions it is more from their weakness than from our strength.”
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Re: Black Lotus Knives

Post by pd7077 »

Altadan wrote: Thu Jun 06, 2019 3:11 pm I was just gonna ask if you'd allow people to "meddle" with it. Your idea of sending some FS for those who are willing sounds enticing :)
Seeing as how I am going to restore the knife before putting it up for auction/raffle, I am okay with the participants doing minor touch-ups to the knife as long as it is something that they are comfortable doing. The same goes for sharpening. I’m not too worried about including FS, and I would be happy to walk people through some of the basics if they don’t already have experience with them. It’s not the most difficult thing in the world to do, but it does require a certain degree of knowledge and patience.
--- Steve
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Re: Black Lotus Knives

Post by Ut_ron »

Stunning 👏👏
Home cook that enjoys sharp knives.
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Re: Black Lotus Knives

Post by Jeff B »

pd7077 wrote: Wed Jun 05, 2019 9:22 pm The polishing is now complete. I’m gonna send the knife to Sean tomorrow so that he can start working on the handle. I’m extremely happy with how this polish turned out. The knife that Jeff forged was the perfect canvas for me to build upon, and the amount of contrast that I was able to get on the wrought iron cladding surprised even me. I’ll ask Sean to post some progress pics of the handle...hopefully he won’t be shy 😂

Here are a few pics that I just took of the knife...

Image
Absolutely stunning Steve!

You can send a few finger stones with it and I'll use them my own knives and leave this one alone. :P

As long as this pass around is going to take already I'd say just let it ride and clean it up in the end. We can see how amazing the original polish is in the pictures.
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Re: Black Lotus Knives

Post by pd7077 »

Jeff B wrote: Thu Jun 06, 2019 6:49 pm
pd7077 wrote: Wed Jun 05, 2019 9:22 pm The polishing is now complete. I’m gonna send the knife to Sean tomorrow so that he can start working on the handle. I’m extremely happy with how this polish turned out. The knife that Jeff forged was the perfect canvas for me to build upon, and the amount of contrast that I was able to get on the wrought iron cladding surprised even me. I’ll ask Sean to post some progress pics of the handle...hopefully he won’t be shy 😂

Here are a few pics that I just took of the knife...

Image
Absolutely stunning Steve!

You can send a few finger stones with it and I'll use them my own knives and leave this one alone. :P

As long as this pass around is going to take already I'd say just let it ride and clean it up in the end. We can see how amazing the original polish is in the pictures.
I have your address so I’ll just send you some fingerstones for personal use. I’m gonna be making some this weekend anyways so I can make a few extra for you.
--- Steve
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Re: Black Lotus Knives

Post by Jeff B »

pd7077 wrote: Thu Jun 06, 2019 7:10 pm
Jeff B wrote: Thu Jun 06, 2019 6:49 pm Absolutely stunning Steve!

You can send a few finger stones with it and I'll use them my own knives and leave this one alone. :P

As long as this pass around is going to take already I'd say just let it ride and clean it up in the end. We can see how amazing the original polish is in the pictures.
I have your address so I’ll just send you some fingerstones for personal use. I’m gonna be making some this weekend anyways so I can make a few extra for you.
Very generous of you Steve! This kind of generosity is what makes this community so great!
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Re: Black Lotus Knives

Post by J david »

I like patina, but I would be willing to give it a rub down with some fingerstones when it come through me. I used to polish all my stuff, and still do when I first recieve them most of the time, but after that, not so much. I haven't had the opportunity to polish wrought iron cladding, so I would be keen on the idea, though my skills are not up to the professional level of Steve.
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Re: Black Lotus Knives

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J david wrote: Thu Jun 06, 2019 7:22 pm I like patina, but I would be willing to give it a rub down with some fingerstones when it come through me. I used to polish all my stuff, and still do when I first recieve them most of the time, but after that, not so much. I haven't had the opportunity to polish wrought iron cladding, so I would be keen on the idea, though my skills are not up to the professional level of Steve.
Don’t forget....you are the person that introduced me to fingerstones. I bought some koppas from you few years ago, and you graciously included a bunch of fingerstones in the package...so you are literally the person that led me down this path. I think I’m gonna make some for you this weekend too as a thank you.
Last edited by pd7077 on Thu Jun 06, 2019 7:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
--- Steve
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Re: Black Lotus Knives

Post by J david »

pd7077 wrote: Thu Jun 06, 2019 7:25 pm
J david wrote: Thu Jun 06, 2019 7:22 pm I like patina, but I would be willing to give it a rub down with some fingerstones when it come through me. I used to polish all my stuff, and still do when I first recieve them most of the time, but after that, not so much. I haven't had the opportunity to polish wrought iron cladding, so I would be keen on the idea, though my skills are not up to the professional level of Steve.
Don’t forget....you are the person that introduced me to fingerstones. I bought some koppas from you few years ago, and you gratuitously included a bunch of fingerstones in the package...so you are literally the person that led me down this path. I think I’m gonna make some for you this weekend too as a thank you.
Thanks Steve. I will accept them with gratitude and return the favor with lots of raw uchi and what I suspect is a soft suita suitable for fingerstones. I know you will get more use out of it than I will.
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Re: Black Lotus Knives

Post by pd7077 »

The knife is with Sean, and the handle is underway. I’ve organized the list order in such a way that it makes its way back to my area so that I can pick it off after a few users. That way, I can clean it up and take some more photos of the full package. Then it will keep trekking through California before make its way east by way of Texas, then the south east, then up to NY before moving back through the Midwest. This seemed to be the most logical way to keep the shipping distances shorter. The list order is as follows:

1. nakneker
2. Andreu
3. Bluenoser87 (I’ll pick it up from Jon and send it to #4)
4. BobZ
5. Slobound
6. Altadan
7. Appleton
8. Cutuu
9. Jdavid
10. JeffB
11. Keithmarder
12. Ashy
13. GeorgeK
14. BoydC
15. JustinP

The usual passaround rules will apply. 1 week time limit. Participants are welcome to sharpen the knife if they feel comfortable doing so. Removal of any patina buildup is fine but nothing more than metal polish/BKF/fingerstones please. Once you are finished with the knife, please write a short review of your impressions here on the forum. If you have an IG account, please post photos there as well and tag @blacklotusknives. When shipping, please send the tracking number to both myself and the recipient.

Once the passaround has been completed, I will clean up the knife to get it back to “like new” condition. From there, we will either do an auction or a raffle...not sure which one yet. Have fun fellas!!!!!
--- Steve
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Re: Black Lotus Knives

Post by Jeff B »

$20 says this runs into 2020. 8-)
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Re: Black Lotus Knives

Post by Drewski »

Jeff B wrote: Wed Jun 12, 2019 2:22 pm $20 says this runs into 2020. 8-)
Not gonna take that action with someone on the later half of the list
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Re: Black Lotus Knives

Post by JustinP »

Jeff B wrote: Wed Jun 12, 2019 2:22 pm $20 says this runs into 2020. 8-)
About this time next year I'll get to see it :D
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Re: Black Lotus Knives

Post by pd7077 »

Someone will be in trouble if it comes to that 🥴 15 participants with one week each and a few days of transit between each person should take this passaround to mid/late October.
--- Steve
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Re: Black Lotus Knives

Post by J david »

Best case scenario, in my experience, is 10 days per person (includes shipping time) x 15 persons = 150 days or 5 months. It will be close.
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Re: Black Lotus Knives

Post by Altadan »

Best.
Case.
Scenario.
Hahaha, where I served, we had all sorts of rhyme and sayings about "should"
In any case, I'll try to make sure I've got a good cut/mince/slice/dice/chop menu for the week, and send it trucking to the next in line. Make the best of it.
I'm excited to handle this thing.

Also, please forgive my ignorance, but could someone explain the difference
between this wrought iron, and regular iron cladding? Is there a difference? And lastly, are we looking at layers that can be considered damascus?
Thanks!
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Re: Black Lotus Knives

Post by J david »

Wrought iron is low carbon steel with lots of slag (low grade). The slag gives it its lines that looks similar to Damascus but they are not nearly the same in composition. What we refer to as regular iron cladding is much more refined and likely higher carbon (though it varies greatly from one smith to the next). The Smiths use the good steel for the core and sometimes whatever bullshit they can get cheaply for the cladding. This is a marginal amount of money per knife, but x 1,000 it makes a big difference in bottom line. Some wrought iron is sold as "vintage" and can be pricey, but for the most part, it is cheap material. It is polishers like you, Steve, that makes it sought after. 😉
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Re: Black Lotus Knives

Post by pd7077 »

Haha, thanks David. I’m far from a metallurgist, but the pattern that can be seen in wrought iron is due to the slag, which are oxide impurities like silicon dioxide. They are present as fibrous bands, and it are these bands of slag that give it that patterned look. I’ve worked on some really clean wrought iron that had minimal slag, and there were significantly less patterns within the cladding. This stuff that Jeff used was super slaggy, which is why the polish came out as cool as it did. Dirty wrought is where it’s at!!!
--- Steve
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