Good quality knives?

nolaegghead · June 2014

Here are my lucky stabbin' knives.

gdenby · June 2014

"I guess since I'm going to build my own set, the price range is $100-200 per knife. I'm not ready to go the custom route yet. I'm new to this whole cooking thing and would like to gain a lot more experience before making a decision on what I actually need. I'm leaning towards Shun or Henckel at this time but will try to actually hold them before I make a final decision.

I will be buying the Tri-Angle Sharp-maker and practice on the crap knives I have.

Thanks for the advice and I will keep you in mind when I get to the point of ordering a custom knife."

Getting a sharpener is a really good idea. You may find your crappy knives are not so crappy after all. As I started buying better knives, I decided I needed to learn to sharpen. Bought lots off stuff at 2nd hand stores. Many were crap, would not hold an edge. Some were mediocre, worth sharpening and using but nothing spectacular. A few were quite good.

My old Sabatiers, once properly sharpened, returned to their original quality, and remain in constant use.

Both Shun and J.A. Henckels are good knives.

While I've ogled custom knives for years, the cost continues to give me pause.

Chefknivestogo.com has a wide selection, good descriptions of the knives, and demo videos. Worth visiting just for the info. They have their own brand, "Richmond," with a line called "Artifex." I have one of their parers, which has a blade steel called AEB-L. Really nice material in terms of performance and maintenance. Only the cleaver is over $100. Designed for the tough environment of a line cook.

FanOfFanboys · June 2014

Custom knives do not need to be out of the world expensive. If you are currently paying $150-$200 per knife you are in the custom price range anyway. And could always just get custom for the 1-2 knives you use the most. The cost with custom usually goes up when you start getting exotic with materials like snakewood, carbon, Damascus, etc.

The great thing about custom is there are hundreds of guys who are making world quality knives but no one knows who they are yet. So you can get a world quality knife but at a regional quality price, if you look around a bit. With custom you will need to know what you want though. 8 or 10 inch? Thin or heavy? A blade that rolls or straight?

The best knives in the world are being made right now in America. The knife world is seeing what beer was seeing a few years ago with microbrews. You have more options than ever before, more backyard and small guys involved and pushing the industry. There has never been a better time in history to buy a knife. The quality is up almost everywhere, which makes the companies making low quality knives even more embarrassing.

tksmoke · June 2014

The thing about truly sharp knives is that they will bite if not handled with respect. People are used to really dull cutlery - they think that because they have a Henkel or Wusthof, it is sharp. Typically those consumer knives need to be sharpened out of the box. Shuns are scary sharp out of the box. Handle with care.

SJ21XDC · June 2014

gdenby said:

"I guess since I'm going to build my own set, the price range is $100-200 per knife. I'm not ready to go the custom route yet. I'm new to this whole cooking thing and would like to gain a lot more experience before making a decision on what I actually need. I'm leaning towards Shun or Henckel at this time but will try to actually hold them before I make a final decision.

I will be buying the Tri-Angle Sharp-maker and practice on the crap knives I have.

Thanks for the advice and I will keep you in mind when I get to the point of ordering a custom knife."

Getting a sharpener is a really good idea. You may find your crappy knives are not so crappy after all. As I started buying better knives, I decided I needed to learn to sharpen. Bought lots off stuff at 2nd hand stores. Many were crap, would not hold an edge. Some were mediocre, worth sharpening and using but nothing spectacular. A few were quite good.

My old Sabatiers, once properly sharpened, returned to their original quality, and remain in constant use.

Both Shun and J.A. Henckels are good knives.

While I've ogled custom knives for years, the cost continues to give me pause.

Chefknivestogo.com has a wide selection, good descriptions of the knives, and demo videos. Worth visiting just for the info. They have their own brand, "Richmond," with a line called "Artifex." I have one of their parers, which has a blade steel called AEB-L. Really nice material in terms of performance and maintenance. Only the cleaver is over $100. Designed for the tough environment of a line cook.

Thanks - I will check out the link and do some more research!

SJ21XDC · June 2014

FanOfFanboys said:

Custom knives do not need to be out of the world expensive. If you are currently paying $150-$200 per knife you are in the custom price range anyway. And could always just get custom for the 1-2 knives you use the most. The cost with custom usually goes up when you start getting exotic with materials like snakewood, carbon, Damascus, etc.

The great thing about custom is there are hundreds of guys who are making world quality knives but no one knows who they are yet. So you can get a world quality knife but at a regional quality price, if you look around a bit. With custom you will need to know what you want though. 8 or 10 inch? Thin or heavy? A blade that rolls or straight?

The best knives in the world are being made right now in America. The knife world is seeing what beer was seeing a few years ago with microbrews. You have more options than ever before, more backyard and small guys involved and pushing the industry. There has never been a better time in history to buy a knife. The quality is up almost everywhere, which makes the companies making low quality knives even more embarrassing.

Thanks for all the info! I can see a custom in the future, but I need more knowledge on what I want before going that direction.

SJ21XDC · June 2014

tksmoke said:

The thing about truly sharp knives is that they will bite if not handled with respect. People are used to really dull cutlery - they think that because they have a Henkel or Wusthof, it is sharp. Typically those consumer knives need to be sharpened out of the box. Shuns are scary sharp out of the box. Handle with care.

I agree and do give all my knives respect. Don't like the sight of my own blood

Farbuck · June 2014

+1 on the Victorinox 5.2063.20. The knife is better than other knives I've got that cost 3 times as much.

Note that it's got a 15 degree bevel - like most Asian knives so the Chef's Choice Pronto Asian Manual Knife Sharpener is a great addition

tksmoke · June 2014

I'd like to add that in homes where there are children, sharp knives are probably not the best thing to have accessible. I've had adult friends who have picked up one of my knives to cut something, and ended up slicing their own flesh. If folks aren't familiar with sharp knives, they typically do things that can make a bloody mess. I can imagine serious problems with a bunch of unsupervised kids. Of course that could also be a reflection on my friends...

SJ21XDC · June 2014

tksmoke said:

I'd like to add that in homes where there are children, sharp knives are probably not the best thing to have accessible. I've had adult friends who have picked up one of my knives to cut something, and ended up slicing their own flesh. If folks aren't familiar with sharp knives, they typically do things that can make a bloody mess. I can imagine serious problems with a bunch of unsupervised kids. Of course that could also be a reflection on my friends...

Great advice. My boys are 16 & 21 and have been taught to have a healthy respect for ALL knives and guns!

SJ21XDC · June 2014

Farbuck said:

+1 on the Victorinox 5.2063.20. The knife is better than other knives I've got that cost 3 times as much.
Note that it's got a 15 degree bevel - like most Asian knives so the Chef's Choice Pronto Asian Manual Knife Sharpener is a great addition

Thanks, I'll check them out also.

SJ21XDC · June 2014

nolaegghead said:

Here are my lucky stabbin' knives.

Very nice!

SJ21XDC · June 2014

What sharpener is recommended for use with Shun, Henckel's, or Wusthof? Tri-Angle Sharpmaker, Ken Onion Work Sharp or other? Thinking about purchasing a sharpener before I make a final decision on the knife.

Lit · June 2014

I keep reading about people stating they take a steel to their knives and they are sharp. Steels are 500 grit unless you get a ceramic rod and even that is only 1200 grit. If a steel is making your knife sharper your knives are super dull and need to have a real sharpening done. Most people when honing their knives on stones finish with a minimum of 6000 grit and picky people go much higher. I finish my sharpening with a half micron loaded leather strop or roughly 60,000 grit. Also all my knives are very hard 62 plus hardness and they all need to be honed at a minimum every couple uses or they will start dulling. My favorite knife I have to say is my 240mm Takeda gyuto but there are many cheaper options out there that will get very sharp and stay very sharp if you learn to sharpen yourself. You can get a 1000/6000 king stone for $50 and watch some YouTube video on how to use it and keep your knives sharp enough to shave with.

KenfromMI · June 2014

A good blade holds a good edge. A steel re aligns not sharpens for the most part. An over sharpened knife gets dull quick when the edge is too thin. My knives are not dull at all so I guess I disagree with all the fancy grit this and grit that. I just know what works without a scientific approach I guess. I've been gutting and cleaning fish my whole life and gutting and butchering my own deer for 30 years with nothing more than a double sided wet stone and a steel.

Lit · June 2014

If you have a double sided stone why would you ever put a steel to them? I tried a ceramic rod and after several passes could visibly see I was dulling my knife and a steel is much worse. A steel doesn't realign the blade at all you are putting the pressure from the steel in one small area and just bending your burr back and forth and never getting it to stand up straight. Google chasing the burr its a common problem when putting too much pressure on the blade when sharpening. If you are using a steel your knife has a very tooth blade so you are basically sawing not cutting. Also a soft blade brought to too sharp of an angle will dull quickly but a good hard blade will chip not dull.

FanOfFanboys · June 2014

SJ21XDC said:

What sharpener is recommended for use with Shun, Henckel's, or Wusthof? Tri-Angle Sharpmaker, Ken Onion Work Sharp or other? Thinking about purchasing a sharpener before I make a final decision on the knife.

they do different things. The Tri-Angle is a touch up. You use it every couple uses or so to maintain your edge. The KO worksharp is more resharpening your dull knife.

The KO can also do your lawn mower blade, shovel, axe, etc.

Hope that helps.

SJ21XDC · June 2014

FanOfFanboys said:

SJ21XDC said:

What sharpener is recommended for use with Shun, Henckel's, or Wusthof? Tri-Angle Sharpmaker, Ken Onion Work Sharp or other? Thinking about purchasing a sharpener before I make a final decision on the knife.

they do different things. The Tri-Angle is a touch up. You use it every couple uses or so to maintain your edge. The KO worksharp is more resharpening your dull knife.

The KO can also do your lawn mower blade, shovel, axe, etc.

Hope that helps.

Thanks - I'll just let my wife know, you suggest I need both

gdenby · June 2014

SJ21XDC said:

tksmoke said:

I'd like to add that in homes where there are children, sharp knives are probably not the best thing to have accessible. I've had adult friends who have picked up one of my knives to cut something, and ended up slicing their own flesh. If folks aren't familiar with sharp knives, they typically do things that can make a bloody mess. I can imagine serious problems with a bunch of unsupervised kids. Of course that could also be a reflection on my friends...

Great advice. My boys are 16 & 21 and have been taught to have a healthy respect for ALL knives and guns!

My wife would not listen to me when I started buying good knives, and sharpening the decent ones we had. "Do not put them into the sink w. the other dishes." But she did until the day I came home, and she told me "I cut my finger on one of your D___ sharp knives when I was doing the dishes."

So now the old beaters are ina drawer where she can find them. The better knives are ona magnetic strip up high enough that she doesn't like the reach. The really good ones are in their boxes on a shelf.

And speaking of scary sharp, when I got my Kikuichi, whose bevel is 12 max, I turned my head to look for something and the blade brushed my left fore arm. I didn't feel anything, but when I looked back, and saw the blood spreading, and the thin slice of skin on the blade. I gained great respect.

SJ21XDC · June 2014

Great Story!

When I decide which knives I want, I will be putting them out of my wife's reach also. Not only for her safety but for the health of the knives, every knife we own has bent tips

That's crazy a knife can be made that sharp!

Lit · June 2014

If you choke up on your knives when you cut the handle is not near as important. I get WA handles on all my knives that's just the straight Japanese style handle and if you hold a knife like I do that's what I would recommend. The knife in this link is one many people on the forum have its the tojiro 210mm WA Gyuto from chef knives to go and is an amazing knife for $60. Sharpens easy and retains a good edge and as you can see in the link will get very sharp.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2D7_10cIY7w

Farbuck · June 2014

For easy sharpening on non-Asian beveled knives, I like the Chef's Choice M130. I got it from Amazon about a year ago for $150 and I've been using it regularly. It sharpens and polishes nicely and it's very easy to use.

It brought some of my really 40 old knives back to life.

Biggreenpharmacist · June 2014

What makes the Ken Onion edition worksharp better? I have an original worksharp thats great, but Im curious as to the difference.

Good quality knives?

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