Shun knife set - good deal?

Focker

Thanks.  May be x-mas or income tax time and I will be ordering.  Since you took the green and black, Hawkeye is for Iowa, so that is out.  Frosty is too loud.  Leaves me with red and black. )

MikeG

You guys talking your Shun luv need to have realistic sharpening strategies in mind if this thinness & hardness is new to you.  

Shun's vg-10 is a chip prone steel and won't respond well to burr straightening on a grooved steel as do the Wustoffs, Victorinox, Henckle's etc.  When stoned by beginners it does tend to produce a stubborn wire edge that will feel razor sharp at first but then not so much after the wire rolls over in use.  Good jap water stones and some time invested in watching (some) youtube sharpening videos will give the desired results.

If you really want to understand kitchen knives go to cheftalk.com forum and research BDL's posts over the years.   It's a great free education if you are serious about moving beyond $30 knives.

 

Optiontrader

I'm a little late to the discussion, so I apologize if I'm at all repetitious, but I am a knife collector.  Not kitchen knives, but hand forged hunting knives, swords, etc.  Traditional Damascus blades are made of alternating layers of high and low carbon steel.  As such they take on the strengths, and minimize the weaknesses of both metals combining hardness and flexibility.  Damascus was used often to make swords, for that reason.  For some time, it was touted as being a miracle steel.  When they are sharpened, the etching that occurs creates a microscopic serrated edge that is very durable.  Stainless does not provide the same qualities as true Damascus.  It only looks good.  (Just my two cents.)

nolaegghead

MikeG said:

You guys talking your Shun luv need to have realistic sharpening strategies in mind if this thinness & hardness is new to you.  

Shun's vg-10 is a chip prone steel and won't respond well to burr straightening on a grooved steel as do the Wustoffs, Victorinox, Henckle's etc.  When stoned by beginners it does tend to produce a stubborn wire edge that will feel razor sharp at first but then not so much after the wire rolls over in use.  Good jap water stones and some time invested in watching (some) youtube sharpening videos will give the desired results.

If you really want to understand kitchen knives go to cheftalk.com forum and research BDL's posts over the years.   It's a great free education if you are serious about moving beyond $30 knives.

 

Good advice.  I have the sharpening covered.  My wet wheel doesn't care if it's a CPM alloy or carbon steel.

Little Steven

Fishlessman,

Do you steel it? I wouldn't even touch the damn thing. I can see my fingertips lying on the counter the first cut.

fishlessman

havent had to touch the leech yet. most of my knives are single bevel with japanese stainless or the japanese stainless with very tight bevel angles, i dont use a steel on them, i think a steel would do damage to them. i do have a diamond stone thats maybe 1500 grit 3 by 14 inches and a couple swipes with most knives puts them back on track, i have water stones down to 12000 grit or so but those are for razors, way overkill for a kitchen knife. the leech hasnt seen a stone yet

Little Steven

Sorry, I said steel but I meant a ceramic "steel"

nolaegghead

The leech steel:

"The blade is made from a specially designed high carbon/semi-stainless alloy steel. The steel is then hardened and tempered to Don's specifications. Each blade is signed and dated as well as marked with an "SS" that signifies Don Canney's "SUPER STEEL"."

It doesn't sound like your usual alloy.

Little Steven

high carbon/semi-stainless alloy steel. Sounds like Jumbo Shrimp to me

nolaegghead

Little Steven said:

high carbon/semi-stainless alloy steel. Sounds like Jumbo Shrimp to me

Basically that means the chromium content is under 13%. I doubt it's really high carbon - it would be brittle.  Probably call it high carbon because the blade is thin and the carbon was added though the hardening process.

svendangle

Focker, I have a 6" Shun Hiro Santoku blade I use for all my veg. and I have a 8" Shun Reserve for my reg. blade. Before I was able to spoil myself, I cooked with Wustof due to the feel of the handle. Hankle's have that sharp edge that cut into my hand. I no longer cook for living so the rest of my blades I don't use very often. 

svendangle

nolaegghead said:

Little Steven said:

high carbon/semi-stainless alloy steel. Sounds like Jumbo Shrimp to me

Basically that means the chromium content is under 13%. I doubt it's really high carbon - it would be brittle.  Probably call it high carbon because the blade is thin and the carbon was added though the hardening process.

Chromium content? High carbon? Shuns are made of Damascus steel composed of 32-56 alternating layers of nickel and stainless steel. This is why they keep their edge and are easily sharpened.....

nolaegghead

We were talking about the leech.  The Shuns hold their edge because the core is VG10.  The "Damascus" layers mostly look purdy - they don't do any cutting.