Gallery: The Blade Runner: Inside the Brooklyn Workshop of Master Knife-Maker Joel Bukiewicz
01the-storefront-2
__The Storefront__ Cut's top floor is for "clean work": gluing handles to blades with maritime epoxy, light sanding, and, you know, selling $500 knives.
02the-wuertz
__The Wuertz__ Nobody touches the TW90 grinder except Bukiewicz. It can do anything the shop's other two models can—and costs almost as much as both of them put together.
03knife-blanks
__Knife Blanks__ Bukiewicz hand-cuts his blanks out of sheets of steel. He uses the AEB-L stainless shown here for his more modern shapes and 1095 carbon steel for some of his more old-school models.
04the-bader
__1 // The Bader__ A knife's bevel—its shape in cross section—is one of its key characteristics. Bukiewicz used to bevel-grind only on Mondays and Tuesdays. To do it right he had to get so close to the belts that he'd take all the skin off his knuckles, then need a week to heal. Until he found this 60-plus-year-old Bader grinder on a scrap pile in Massachusetts and modded it. __2 // The Mod__ A magnetic shuttle holds the blade blanks while a stream of water cools them. The system lets Bukiewicz grind bevels faster, without pulping his hands.
05the-shuttle
__The Shuttle__ Bukiewicz quantified each model's specific bevel using a series of shims and screws on the Bader grinder's shuttle. This transformed Cut's process from art to science..
06beaumont-metalworks-horizontal-grinder
__Beaumont Metalworks Horizontal Grinder__ The horizontal grinder, which uses the same belts as the Bader and the TW90, handles precise finishing work that requires perfect, crisp lines.
07the-belts
__The Belts__ Thousands of 2- by 72-inch abrasive belts hang throughout the shop's lower level. They're the grinders' teeth, how Bukiewicz shapes all of Cut Brooklyn's knives.
08epoxy-station
__Epoxy Station__ Downstairs is for the dirty work. Upstairs, which also serves as Cut's retail storefront, is for the clean stuff: hand-sanding finishing work and gluing the scales onto the blades to create a handle. Bukiewicz prefers a marine epoxy that's designed to patch holes in boat hulls. Should be tough enough for your kitchen.
09the-shop
__The Shop__ Cut's Brooklyn storefront is half workshop, half hangout. Customers can watch Bukiewicz work on knives while they ogle and demo the finished products.
10knives-for-sale
__Knives for Sale__ Bukiewicz makes five to eight knives a week. Once they're done, they go up on a magnetic strip in the shop and are officially for sale. They generally don't stay that way for long.
11the-storefront
__The Storefront__ If you're walking down Third Avenue in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn, you might pass by this storefront. Stop in; it's home to some of the coolest knives you'll ever see.
