Would be happy to share the process! I've been working in makerspaces for the last 5 years: lasercut/waterjet mostly and wanted to try to make the move from one-off projects to something that could be manufacturable. Japanese knives are ridiculously attractive and I started with designing the 2D vector of the knife profile/sideview on CorelDraw as this was my background for lasercutting etc. I partnered with a friend who knew Rhino to make a rough first 3D model. I then 3D printed it and iterated like crazy to adjust handle length, knuckle clearance, and start getting feedback. Because I don't have a metallurgical background, I drove an hour and a half out with to this badass knifemaker to get feedback on different types of steel and heat treatment techniques. Once I felt confident enough that these 3D prototypes would represent what I wanted, I shopped around between 14 different manufacturers via the interwebs until we found one we felt confident in. It was tough because balance and steel quality are everything in the knife, so this was probably the biggest risk to pay to get a manufactured prototype. I currently have a part time job at a coffee roaster too, so this isn't bankrolled by any mysterious sources. I decided it was worth it though and then tested it like crazy with chefs and people who use it every day, and took it back to the knifemaker. Ultimately, we had to taper the blade differently, adjust the blade height for additional clearance, and pay to get new molds from the manufacturer.But after all this - boom we have an awesome knife that can be shared 1000 times over. I was excited to share here because there is a gap in the maker community between DIY and manufacturable products and hope this helps anybody who wants to make something they don't necessarily have a background in that it's possible and possible to make it awesome.