If you could only have 1 knife

hornhonk

hornhonk

Guess I'm doing something wrong.

hornhonk

58.photobucket.com/albums/uu307/hornhonk/knife.jpg[/IMG]

hornhonk

Aw, forget it, but I do have one!

stike

pretty interesting. jersey doug posted the same EXACT thing.

are these heavy cleavers? i like the idea of control that the big blade might have with your finger on the opposite side, and the edge on those is really rounded, so it looks like it rolls comfortably.

but i can't imagine my cleaver (a wustie) working well as an all-round knife because it is really heavy, and the edge is like a 45 degree double bevel. more about whacking and cracking than it is about finesse.

are yours a little thinner and more able to be used as a knife-knife?

lowercasebill

thin cleavers not at all like your wustie// will mail you mine if you want to try it

Darnoc

Where do you think I mastered that move from?It's better than AZRP tossing a pizza.

lowercasebill

http://i658.photobucket.com/albums/uu307/hornhonk/knife.jpg

nice cutting board what is it ?

hornhonk

What the heck? How did you get the pic? What did I do wrong??

stike

after i posted, i realized that they were japanese (the writing on the top was a bit of a giveaway! hahaha), and i "got it". yes. i've seen them. not heavy like a whangin' and bangin' cleaver. more of a big, squared chef's knife, right?

i have a great little restaurant supply house near me. i'll check there. for $35, what the heck. no sense sending me yours, but i really appreciate the thought. thank you

hornhonk

It's bamboo.

lowercasebill

i am late for bed to much to type help you tomorrow on e-mail or now at 215 362 5089 takes 3 minutes
call is easier
bill

Darnoc

I have had these for twenty five to thirty years.The blade is 3 1/4 inches wide and I don't consider it to be a heavy blade.OT When my daughter was thirteen and had the looks and every thing else that a seventeen year old would have two young adult males were hanging around the house waiting to talk to her and I came out with both cleavers in hand because I was playing around in the kitchen whipping something up and they took one look and never returned.Silence must be golden.

hornhonk

Gator Bait

Hi Conundrum,

Shun Classics are hard to beat. I have had these for years and with proper care they will last a life time and hold an edge for ever.
At the top is the 8" chefs, then the 6" utility w/10° Alton's angle to handle (gives more room for fingers under handle), last is 4" paring w/ Alton's angle also.

I have probably been using these knives daily for close to ten years and they are still like new.

Gator

Willie Lump Lump

Count my vote for my MAC also. WLL

Seattle Todd

I've met the man and had him sharpen my Henckels and Globals.

When I got the knives back they were SCAREY sharp. Like nothing I've experienced.

He was a chef in a past life which is why I think he makes such great knives.

It appears that to get on the waiting list for custom knives you have to get on a waiting list.

http://www.kramerknives.com/ordering.htm

stike

that's some funny sh!t, conrad. hahahaha

Bill S

stike wrote:

real damascus or damascus veneer?

but i would LOVE a true Damascus blade. most you see are actually veneer, and not really Damascus. they just LOOK like a Damascus.

I think what you are referring to is San Mai material. It's two layers of pattern welded (AKA damascus) steel sandwiching a core of HC or some other material. This is what the Shun blades are made of. Nothing wrong with it, really.

This discussion is a recurring one on the straight razor forums I frequent. An even finer distinction is drawn between pattern welded steel (folded over and forged together) commonly called Damascus and the more authentic Wootz material. I have razors made of SanMai, pattern welded and Wootz and there isn't much distinction between them in terms of sharpness although the Wootz does seem to have a slight advantage.

Of the current stablein our kitchen I would go with a 10 Santuko. Mine is made by Lido Livi in Italy.

Seattle Todd

My birthday is within a few days of Father's Day so I feel like it's fair for me to get this as a combo present. But my wife doesn't cook and isn't a foodie although she knows good food when it's put in front of her.

Only 150 people make these knives total and the Blademaster met with each of them before they started production.

http://www.surlatable.com/product/cutlery/brand+collections/shun+bob+kramer+santoku.do

stike

there's nothing wrong with it, but there IS a difference (even if it is incidental) between the damascus and the sandwiched stuff.

it's a bit of a situation where, if you are buying it because it looks cool, it really doesn't matter. but if you want a premium piece, and are paying a premium, you might be chagrined to find that you really don't have what you think you have.

i used to collect watches. there is very little difference in useage and appearance (virtually no difference, in fact) between 12k gold-filled and 18k solid. but let's be clear, though. there's a reason one costs 10 times what the other does, and it ain't just marketing.

i'm absolutely sure you know way more than i do about knives, and would probably be the guy that appreciates the difference. i'm the dipstick who is happy with a 90 dollar wusthof... hahaha

Hoss

This is NOT a Birthday knife.If I could have only one knife and my SURVIVAL depended on it.Hands down an OLD HICKORY BUTCHER KNIFE.They are indestructable and can be sharpened on a cut piece of glass and take off a human head in one blow.As far as CULTURAL knives,get the chef a gift certificate to a really cool knife store.Let the chef pick!

Bill S

Stike, you are 100% right that one should get what is represented when you buy a knife(or anything else, for that matter). Interestingly, in a lot of cases the SanMai actually performs better than a blade that is solid pattern welded steel.The "damascus" is purely decorative and could actually degrade the blades performance if it went all the way through. BTW, my personal experience here is limited to razors which are not quite the same thing as knives, so the recipe calls for a grain of salt here

porterhouse64

Bark River Santoku.

An amazing knife from a great company.

Check out

http://www.knifeforums.com/forums/showforum.php?fid/59/

RVH

Benchmade Auto Stryker.

Jersey Doug

stike wrote:

pretty interesting. jersey doug posted the same EXACT thing. --- are these heavy cleavers? i like the idea of control that the big blade might have with your finger on the opposite side, and the edge on those is really rounded, so it looks like it rolls comfortably. --- but i can't imagine my cleaver (a wustie) working well as an all-round knife because it is really heavy, and the edge is like a 45 degree double bevel. more about whacking and cracking than it is about finesse. --- are yours a little thinner and more able to be used as a knife-knife?

The Dexter Russell Chinese chef's knife is THE standard knife in the kitchens of Chinese restaurants in the US. The chef friend who showed me how to use it many years ago cuts radish roses with his. The best I can do is peel apples I've used them for so many years that I can't honestly compare it with a "standard" French chef's knife. I do know that there is nothing I see the TV chefs doing with their FCK's that I can't do with my CCK, plus I use it to scoop the ingredients from the cutting board to the pan, use the end of the handle as a mortar with a heavy ceramic bowl as a pestle, hammer things with the back of the blade, etc.

They come in different weights/thicknesses, ranging from the delicate little vegetable prep knife that Jersey Girl uses to big crushers that make the standard European cleavers look like toys. Check out the Wok Shop in S.F.

http://www.wokshop.com/HTML/products/cleavers/index.html

fishlessman

my carbon steel dexter russel fillet knives are super nice knives, really take a great edge with minimal work. actually much nicer than my expensive global fillet. which size cleaver do you find the most useful
http://www.dexter1818.com/Universal_Prod_Display_2.asp?Line=T&Type=08.1

Jersey Doug

fishlessman wrote:

my carbon steel dexter russel fillet knives are super nice knives, really take a great edge with minimal work. actually much nicer than my expensive global fillet. which size cleaver do you find the most useful

Dexter Russell makes even more knives than those shown on the site you referenced, but both of ours are there. Mine is the 8"x3.25" in the middle of the top row and Jersey Girl's is the 2"x7" in the middle of the bottom row. (The veggie knife doesn't have the sharp square corners that I use for a lot of thing.) We have a few other Chinese chef's knives, but those are the only two that sit out on the counter.

TheHulk

Always been a fan of the cleaver.

stike

hey that's great. thank you. i always try to scoop the ingredients with my chef's knife, butit usually takes a few trips. hahaha

thank you. would love to have a thinner cleaver. i like the look of the edge, looks nice and rounded for rocking the thing as you slice.