How did I even start making knives?
Sometimes I don’t even know. It was an interesting transition in my early college life; I was stressed, not sure where I was going, and bouncing around a bunch of different majors. I wanted to be a musician, I was getting into chiropractics, I dreamt of being a theoretical physicist – all of these weren’t for me, they were for other people. When I was a kid I wanted to be a car designer – I loved the aspect of taking an idea and having it become a physical thing. That was a joy that was buried when I started getting into “real life”.
During college, I cooked a lot as an escape from coursework. I was at a friend’s house making something with a lot of onions (curry probably). Well, I look in his drawer, and all he had was a small serrated knife. That was the catalyst; it was horrible. In hindsight it’s pretty hilarious, trying to saw through multiple large onions with a tiny steak knife. That moment triggered me to bring my own knife, which led me to learn how to sharpen from YouTube, and many hours later watching videos late at night, I saw Japanese bladesmiths making sushi knives. That was it; I wanted that, I wanted to pursue that craft – as a living. It was sudden; I wanted to drop out of school right then and there to pursue a knifemaking career. Obviously my parents weren’t super pleased, and naturally there was a compromise – I started making knives part-time while studying machining and welding at the community college, then graduating in Materials Engineering at the University of Arizona.
I went full-time shortly after in 2016 and I’ve been full-time ever since. The long term goal is to keep improving the craft, growing the business, and eventually building with more people who care about what we do. I want to be designing and making the best knives possible.
“A UArizona alum, Nguyen admits that he stumbled onto knife making by accident, as the result of a bad experience using the wrong blade for culinary duties. After immersing himself in all the requirements of making his own knives, he began producing dazzling specimens. These days, he has a devoted following among cutlery connoisseurs and professional chefs alike, who appreciate his melding of craft and creativity. Though there are many knife makers around, he certainly has an edge!”
“What do professional chefs look for in a chef’s knife? We asked two pro chefs, both fans of knifemaker Don Nguyen. Their answers are instructive not only on Nguyen’s work but chef’s knives in general.”
“Don Nguyen didn’t know what he wanted from life when he was in college. An evening cooking at a friend’s apartment changed him forever. He was frustrated using his friend’s subpar, dull knives and wanted something better.”
“When chef Maria Mazon of Boca Tacos traveled to New York to film her episode of Chopped, she brought one very important item that was specially made for her here in Tucson. It was a handcrafted chef knife, one that she describes as “flawless.”
Craig chats with Don from Don Nguyen Knives about his extraordinary kitchen knives, his process, and Craig & Don discuss the differences between forged and stock removal knives.
“Vail-based kitchen knife maker Don Nguyen, 25, originally wanted to design supercars. However, he had a painful experience at a friend’s house trying to cut an onion with a serrated knife. He tried to use his own santoku knife, but it also wasn’t nearly sharp enough.
After obsessing over-sharpening, he started to make his own knives.”
“We love chefs because of what they create with their hands. But their hands always have help. Fruit, the vegetables, and meat don’t cut themselves. Which brings us to the people behind the scenes if you will, that also have a hand in bringing the dish that you love to your table. I’ve set out to learn more about them and bring you yet another series of those outside the kitchen who make your plate taste exquisite. For this piece, I made my way out West to meet with Don Nguyen, knife maker extraordinaire. If you’ve heard of Don before, you know his creations are perfection itself. And if you haven’t, let me introduce you to him with this video and take you through his passion for knife making.”
“Don is an awesomely talented, science-minded blade maker with degree in engineering, and is one of the best chef's knife makers of our time. Not only is he a dear friend whose work I own, but he’s also a great guy with a lot of hard-earned wisdom to share.”
“TUCSON – Trong số báo ra giữa tháng Giêng vừa qua, tuần báo Tucson Weekly tại Arizona đăng bài viết của Mark Whittaker. Ký giả này đã tường thuật về một ngôi sao trong một nghề mới tại Hoa Kỳ. Đó là nghề chế tạo dao đặc biệt cho các đầu bếp. Và ngôi sao là anh Don Nguyễn, một người đã bỏ trường đại học để trở thành một nhà chế dao nổi tiếng.”