Rembrant Wood

For a commercial cook, The Forschner's edge on a Forged Wusthoff/Henckel is in part that it's relatively light,quick,thin and the Rosewood handle I favor is very comfortable for an all-day knife. I can't be slowed up by a too heavy blade or a boxy handle. The thinner Forschner blade is also a bit harder and can take a surprisingly steep edge. If you use a compound bevel-it holds up well Mac's original line took the idea further,even thinner-harder,but they never had a 10" The higher end Macs are great..but they are pretty close to the price of a Shun. At home,my board is 1/4 the size of the boards at work and my trusty 10" is overkill. in a pro kitchen, however,everyone tends to use a 10" mostly. I've used a 430-10 Forschner for 30 years so nw it feels like part of me. I have a Tojiro DP on the way though and expect it takes part of the Forschner's role. My lightweight is a Kai-Kershaw 7700 clad 7" i got 1/2 price and it's an amazing little razor of a knife. It has all metal construction with a remarkably ergonomic handle. The handle is offset-like a chef's but the blade isn't wide and is very thin. It has a core of VG7 steel, similar to VG 10 but without the cobalt. However being so light + thin it's very effortless to use. Kai didn't stick to the norm,sort of merged Chefs,Nakiri, Petty to do a great light duty knife. I may find something better...but at more than 3X what I paid.

Out of those you really only need to spend money on stones. Papers, strops, and compounds are all unnecessary items that are used to take the edge finer than anyone would actually need to take it. I use my Japanese knives in a professional setting and there is no need whatsoever for me to have a knife that has been stropped. Honestly, in my experience, I don't need to do anything past an 8000 grit waterstone to have the sharpest knife in the kitchen. As for costly educational materials, the internet is quite free. ← I messed around with stropping MANY years ago,and got a bit keener edge,but after an hour or two on the job,that little extra was pretty much gone. I did go with a fine finish stone and I refined my steeling a bit,which was a bit more efficient for the knives I had. I now have a harder knife and at least one more on the way, might try stropping again. Until you can get good results on the stones,don't worry about a strop. I don't even have an 8000 waterstone,and pretty much any of my knives are sharpest in the kitchen. My low $ Deba is much sharper than the house knives can get.....and the house knives only get decent if I sharpen them. I do cutting in large volumes and a "perfect" edgeon my MAIN knife isn't practical as it's good for maybe 1 hr of non-stop work. I do a compound bevel aiming for an all day edge. My small blade gets the max edge treatment as it's dealing with soft targets and low impact push-slice. I have Light-Medium-Heavy duty knives so each gets tailored to its role ....it's like the difference in a defensive tackle,a linebacker and a cornerback.

Any knife with a core,whether a Carbon core, VG 10 whatever won't usually be a single edge as that would not give much cladding on the flat side or the usual concave. Tojiro likely did about a 90-10 or so to center the working edge on the core.

The rather popular Tojiro DP is Swedish Carbon core and SS clad,with western handle. Some Japanese country style blades have carbon core and iron clad,and those are always asian handle and mostly single bevel (except Nakiri) A nice cheap RUGGED Deba is the Kershaw Wasabi 8 1/2. Any time theres a question of dulling my main knives or chipping,,,the Deba comes out. Froxen food and chicken bones don't pose any problem,no chips and it hardly dull this thing. Too bad it does not have a western handle. I don't advocate spending massive cash on a big deba. The Wasabi is hard and tough,single edged,VERY easy to keep sharp for such a brute of a knife. Some of the other guys at work like it as a chef's knife. I have a Tojiro DP on the way...but after 30 yr using the 430-10 Forschners,it will stay in my kit too. I'll probably reshape the Tojiro handle more rounded like the Forschner. One often overlooked thing is that acidic foods will degrade the edge on a carbon knife,possibly contributing to some chipping. For the Tojiro,the edge is Carbon,so even though the sides are stainless it won't get used on acidic foods. We have Mexican dishes often so Peppers and onions..I'll use one of my SS blades.

Mineral oil the tracks underneath and on the food holder-never use cooking oil it will get gummy. I've used Hobarts as old as 60's vintage and yours is older..probably early 50's...so DON'T lose any parts loke set screws. Hobart kept almost the same design from mid 60's until probably the late 80's or beyond,but the older ones like this may not share parts with those. Note you can yery thin slice red onions on this...a treat, but very thin sliced carrots are a nice salad thing,as are Zukes.

I worked in the kitchen at a Jr College that had a Culinary Arts program and the Students got whatever they wanted,though there were suggestions. So some students had Forschners,some had Wusthoffs, some had a variety with a couple of good pieces and whatever else could be found cheap. It's a good program and low $

Hello Oliver, I'm not familiar with the brand of stone you referenced but I'm sure that 1k/4k combo would be fine for a while. You'd be surprised how long these stones last. The 1k will wear out faster than the 4k though. This would mean you'd eventually only have 1/2 of a combo stone as the 1k wears out and you still have plenty of 4k. I am familiar with Norton stones as they are pretty good for the cost. Check them out. Given what I said about wearing down of the lower grit stone, I would suggest getting a single 1k stone and a combo 4k/8k stone. The latter combo stone will last a very long time as they wear much slower. Yes, you very much need to keep your stones flat or they will not do the job of sharpening your knives correctly. A simple flattener is fine. Lee Valley calls it a truer. It is a must. Other considerations as time goes on and you get more proficient at sharpening. An even lower grit of around 600 will be needed for a couple of reasons. First, to make quicker repair of your knives if they ever get chipped. A 1k can do the job but it will take a longer time to gte the job done. Second, with frequent sharpenings over time, your edge/bevel will need to be thinned out. Same reason...a 1k would make the job very time consuming but a 500-600 grit would be much quicker. But this is not an immediate must have. Another optional but very convenient item is the stone holder also shown at Lee Valley. It holds the stones higher up on the counter giving you better knuckle clearance. The diamond stones that others have spoken about are the DMT Diasharp stones. I have three of them all in the lower grits (XXC, C & F). Nice but pricey. If you're serious about learning the art and continuing, I would suggest getting good stones one or two at a time until you have a complete and efficient collection of stones. Shapton Pro stones are damn near the best you can get...and they don't require soaking. A huge plus. Shapton Glass stones are also good but I've heard opinions on both sides of the spectrum. A few other sites to check out to make sure you're getting the best price are... Japan Woodworker Craftsman Studio Tools for Working Wood This should keep you busy for a while. Bob ← I learned to sharpen 30 yr ago on the Norton tri-stone set and a hard Arkansas for finish. I'm probably going to get a black arkansas and maybe a very fine Shapton or waterstone to see which is the best finisher. I STILL like the Norton red India Fine for getting all but the last step. It's available in a handy 11x3" that means a long broad stroke and the big stone stays put,but also can be handheld. For a "heavy duty" like a big German chefs of my 8 1/2 Deba it's fine enough as a dinish up with the steel glazes the grains smooth. I've been using my Hard Arkansas (a great 10" tri-stone rig from a company in Arkansas) on my 7" "mini-chef" and generally cooks I work with are quite surprised a knife gets that sharp. It's a VERY thin blade. Unlike water stones,Norton Crystolon + India stones are not disintigrating into slurry,so they last many years before dishing. Water stones are said to be faster-but I feel the larger 11" size offsets that. A Hard Arkansas won't dish or wear out for....who knows...20-30 yrs? Diamond steels are sort of fine diamond stones in stick form. Handy by don't do a glaze like a smooth steel. Steeling is less obvious in technique and even few Pro cooks do it right. The ideal method is to use each hand,ne for each side of the knife with every stroke full heel to tip and a quick light whip without altering angle. It took aboit a year before I got it right. You can hear and feel the blade trying to tell you what it wants. ← I should note.....the USUAL method with both the Norton india and Arkansas stones is to use mineral oil. DON'T. You use water. with water these stones let you lay down a steeper angle,they grind a bit faster too.

Hello Oliver, I'm not familiar with the brand of stone you referenced but I'm sure that 1k/4k combo would be fine for a while. You'd be surprised how long these stones last. The 1k will wear out faster than the 4k though. This would mean you'd eventually only have 1/2 of a combo stone as the 1k wears out and you still have plenty of 4k. I am familiar with Norton stones as they are pretty good for the cost. Check them out. Given what I said about wearing down of the lower grit stone, I would suggest getting a single 1k stone and a combo 4k/8k stone. The latter combo stone will last a very long time as they wear much slower. Yes, you very much need to keep your stones flat or they will not do the job of sharpening your knives correctly. A simple flattener is fine. Lee Valley calls it a truer. It is a must. Other considerations as time goes on and you get more proficient at sharpening. An even lower grit of around 600 will be needed for a couple of reasons. First, to make quicker repair of your knives if they ever get chipped. A 1k can do the job but it will take a longer time to gte the job done. Second, with frequent sharpenings over time, your edge/bevel will need to be thinned out. Same reason...a 1k would make the job very time consuming but a 500-600 grit would be much quicker. But this is not an immediate must have. Another optional but very convenient item is the stone holder also shown at Lee Valley. It holds the stones higher up on the counter giving you better knuckle clearance. The diamond stones that others have spoken about are the DMT Diasharp stones. I have three of them all in the lower grits (XXC, C & F). Nice but pricey. If you're serious about learning the art and continuing, I would suggest getting good stones one or two at a time until you have a complete and efficient collection of stones. Shapton Pro stones are damn near the best you can get...and they don't require soaking. A huge plus. Shapton Glass stones are also good but I've heard opinions on both sides of the spectrum. A few other sites to check out to make sure you're getting the best price are... Japan Woodworker Craftsman Studio Tools for Working Wood This should keep you busy for a while. Bob ← I learned to sharpen 30 yr ago on the Norton tri-stone set and a hard Arkansas for finish. I'm probably going to get a black arkansas and maybe a very fine Shapton or waterstone to see which is the best finisher. I STILL like the Norton red India Fine for getting all but the last step. It's available in a handy 11x3" that means a long broad stroke and the big stone stays put,but also can be handheld. For a "heavy duty" like a big German chefs of my 8 1/2 Deba it's fine enough as a dinish up with the steel glazes the grains smooth. I've been using my Hard Arkansas (a great 10" tri-stone rig from a company in Arkansas) on my 7" "mini-chef" and generally cooks I work with are quite surprised a knife gets that sharp. It's a VERY thin blade. Unlike water stones,Norton Crystolon + India stones are not disintigrating into slurry,so they last many years before dishing. Water stones are said to be faster-but I feel the larger 11" size offsets that. A Hard Arkansas won't dish or wear out for....who knows...20-30 yrs? Diamond steels are sort of fine diamond stones in stick form. Handy by don't do a glaze like a smooth steel. Steeling is less obvious in technique and even few Pro cooks do it right. The ideal method is to use each hand,ne for each side of the knife with every stroke full heel to tip and a quick light whip without altering angle. It took aboit a year before I got it right. You can hear and feel the blade trying to tell you what it wants.

If you want to do a full length julienne on a carrott...you set the edge on the thick end-holding the thick end firmly while also holding the tip in position,then you smoothly bear down-halving the carrot. A Very good edge really helps as you don't need much pressure. If you do not-for whatever reason---have a really sharp edge....don't try cutting a 6-8' julienne carrot. Settle for 1/2 length.

First....you generally are not looking to cut the full length 6-9",cut it in half first. It's easier to deal with a cut only 3-4" Then ... You set the tip into your carrot and cup the holding hand so the thumb and fingers steady the vegetable and the palm presses the spine. The other hand-on the handle,helps this "rocking" pressure and also keeps the blade centerd. You don't hurry this cut. Once halved-you have a flat side-can use a quicker style. Another method-you start the blade on one end- hold the carrot on the other-keep the edge in contact with the carrot-rock-don't saw.....and as you get most of the way-you can shift your hold to the end already cut. Do it slow and deliberate-have a reason behind what you do-keep the Carrot (or whatever target) under control. "Fearful Fingers" can be there own worst enemy, just as a dull blade is often the most hazardous. If all that fails...get a Forschner "Cut Glove". We have to use them at work. I find they make me feel a bit awkward-but then I also can get reckless and hasty and not get nicked. That's not all good as i may get into some bad habits. As I mentioned elsewhere...I cut veggies by the case,dice meats 20-40 lb at a time. That's enough practice that I don't give much thought to technique----it's habit. A home cook who's not getting 6 hours "practice" a day has to be more DELIBERATE. For example,Mushrooms,you slice a bit off a side to create a flat side so it wont roll. you hold with the fingertips curled back-so the flat of the blade may hit your knuckles but the cutting edge can not get your fingertips. Where I work is a college dining hall. Beautiful coeds can be a powerful distraction. NEVER move the knife if you are for any reason not focused on the task. My motto is to NEVER cut anyone unintentionally-----especially myself.

Oh my.......my fav deserts have long been a really good punkin' pie,a decent cheesecake and just about anything with plenty of pecans.

Good point. We have to not only wear the basic anal-probe plastic glove-but also a cut-glove,one of those goodie to protect from self amputation. Of course...you then blow away 25% of your knife skills and become a klutz /butterfingers. In our kitchen--we get the disposables by the case-in each of 4 sizes. I'm pretty immune to "harsh chemistry" and to some degree,heat. I'm a 30 year veteran of kitchens. 25 yr ago-got a cut that needed stitches. After that I went and bought my OWN knife. No problems since. I ate where I worked. In the "pre-gloves/wood cutting block era" I did NOT get sick more. What the hell super germ would I add to a food that's gonna survive 60 min in a 350 oven? Gloves? More placebo than anything else. There's the ILLUSION that it's all healthier. The irony is that the prep cook may be wearing gloves to slice shrooms grown in horsemanure...which then get sauted...but the waiter/waitress delivering the plate....no glove. There's nobody bleaching your tablewear or napkin before you are seated...and how clean are the diner's hands? One chef was really fussy about any of us washing up extra careful after taking a break to smoke a cigarrette. It's a CIGARETTE...not a leper or a cholera victim. The 3-4 molecules of...whatever...that-worst case can get transferred are irrelevant. It's about image/illusion. Years ago....I worked as a cook sometimes-also as a house painter. There was a fuss if there was a stubborn paint residue on my hand from a oilbase paint. That would be a stain that defied paint thinner,soap,and a scotchbrite. A piece of lettuce is not gonna suck out some lethal dose of toxins from a stain you'd need a LOT of work to remove. My current gig is a college dining hall. We are REAL considerate about the Vegetarean/vegan students....we have Veg only sinks and fryers. We have plastic color coded cutting boards,we have to change gloves often. However.....unlike the average restaurant-we really don't fret a whole lot about the cost factors. If we have to take extra steps,use up gloves,not be max efficiency....that's an acceptable trade-off. The precautions,frankly,border on the obsessive-compulsive,but that's the game and so that's how it's done. I began as a dishwasher in the main cafe in a small town. I figured I got exposed to every germ that was going around. Did it make me sick? No. It made me immune. There's your irony,huh? In theory...I SHOULD have been sick a lot. Hey..we had no gloves..wood cutting boards,washed the dishes in a sink-no hi-tech machine....yet I was never sick. Go figure. Health? I frankly think undue paranoia is as much of a factor as "unsanitary" food service practices. I believe that 90% of bacteria are pretty harmless....and having those 90% in you-actually is one of the best defenses against the pathogenic germ. You ARE an ecosystem. If you have a lot of vacant niches in that ecosystem-anything ca move in. However...the normal condition is that we all have a population of harmless "germs" and they do not willingly give up their niche in the system to newcomers-who may be pathogenic. So......there's your irony. Pushing sanitation to the max is possibly counterproductive.

The working edge is not protected by cladding. Read Chad Wards tutorial. He's right that acid....Citrus..Jalapenos..onions,can rapidly degrade your very high priced ultra hard edge. Also....the POINT of ultra hard is to get a very thin,acute edge...but Hard = Brittle. Have a tough Wusthoff or Forschner (generally QUITE stainless) for some things and have the ZDP for others. These "ultra Hard/Sharp" blades are NOT do -it -all,in fact,they are relatively specialized. Further...to get the benefits you need to LEARN sharpening skills....not gizmos and shortcuts....

That's curious. I've had a number of carbon steel and cast iron pans, all well seasoned. I love them ... in many ways more than non-stick pans (which bug me, because of their disposable nature). But the non-stick pans have always been way more slippery, at least before they started getting destroyed. ← I have a variety of cast Iron all purpose pans,and an all purpose teflon type 10",but my 8" EGG PAN (Silverstone) is only used by me and ONLY for eggs. I'd expect such a pan at $8-15 lasts 5-10 years if used ONLY in that fashion. And it works PERFECT.....ALWAYS.

I've cooked eggs in restaurants and learned to have a NON Stick EGGS ONLY pan. Mine is I think a Foley and is cast Aluminum and has a beefy wood handle. Not expensive. Roomates are NOT allowed to touch it. Ever. Thus....after about 7 years---it's still very no stick and I can wrist flip 3 over-easys or an omelet no problem. If housemates/family are scraping it up with forks and spats and someone cooks a buger or bacon at too high heat--the pan is no longer a proper egg pan. Not non stick? That's just masochistic. Spend the damn $8,get a Pure Eggs only pan and HIDE it so nobody else messes it up.

That's the best idea. I have a "Quick" knife,a very sharp 7". I find that in a pro kitchen-a 10" is a must. I cut things by the case. When I have to do a case of cantelope....forget finesse,it's whak wack Whak. I also like a knife or two that's "brute force',that I can chop up a chicken with without worries. It does not NEED to do "finesse"....got a tool for that. Often....I have to fine dice 20-30 lb of onions. I grab 2 of the house 10" Dexters in one hand and use the bounce-chop. The hand holding the handles basically provides a spring recoil-and with the other hand I "dribble" the dual blades like a basketball. It's easier than it looks and it's damn fast when you have to do bulk. I crave a beautiful Kasumi Damascus Kyoto...but practically? Better to have a 7" Mac and a 10" Forschner and let each do what it's best at.

Hi Chad, Thanks for a phenomenal tutorial. After much deliberation I got myself a forschner fibrox handled chef's knife, it is good and I plan to care for it well. I think I made one little discovery that might be helpful to others. The mousepad trick you mention can also be done with a "sanding sponge". This is a thick spongelike item with a sandpaper surface on one side; search the term on google for many places to get one. Thanks, Aaron ← You'll find the sanding sponge is a bit limited as I have never seen one with a very fine grit. Of course...you can use it as backing for a fine grit paper in phase 2. Look at the tutorials descriptions of double bevel. This REALLY works great on a Forschner. Forschners -it's worth note....are quite compatible with most any steel-even ridged. I'd NOT use the electric sharpeners-you want an edge more acute than stock. Your working edge will need a tune up more often than a harder steel but if you "thin" the blade with a low back bevel,you can get the working edge right in just minutes.

Something else... I just got a good ebay deal on a Arkansas Stone system-the tri hone with Med and Hard Arkansas. I'm old school + low $,so a batch of waterstones at $50 each..and they wear fast....no gonna happen. At work we have Diamond"steels" and the classic Norton triple stone (which I finally purged of salad oil),so I'm looking to the Arkansas to slightly improve on that. Waterstones come with a "grit #" like 1000 or 4000. What's the approximate "Grit" of a hard Arkansas or the finer Black Arkansas? How do these do with the steels at 60+ hardness,like VG 10?

Yow. I feel your pain. A funayuki-bocho is a general purpose knife. They're not as delicate as, say, a yanagi-ba. This shouldn't have happened just cutting through cartilage or even soft bone. Murray Carter uses Hitachi #1 White steel clad with softer stainless. The carbon steel edge is usually up in the 60-62 Rockwell C range, making it extremely hard but prone to chipping when it encounters hard material. Doesn't sound like that was the case here. Frankly, I'm not sure what to tell you. This is outside my experience. I do know, though, that Murray is a true gentleman and will probably be more dismayed than you are. I'd e-mail him exactly what you posted here. This is the address I've used to contact him in the past -- Murray Carter. Let us know how it turns out. Take care, Chad ← I would NOT risk ANY $100 + knife with a rated hardness around 60 or more on parting chickens. You can get a basic workhorse Forschner or a cheap Chicago to do the dirtywork. I've dismembered MANY chickens with no damage to my forschner or the Chicago (which I can't even get very sharp). Of course a middleweight Cleaver or something like my Wasabi 8 1/2 Deba can also do this and again....the WORST that happens is some damage to a $20 knife. I have a light-very sharp knife I use for speed/finesse,but when the job calls for a tough Dump Truck of a Knife...I'm not gonna use a " Corvette" as a dump truck. I'm looking to get a spiffy Damascus/VG 10 luxury knife (by my humble standards) but the Forschner will always be on the job. Incidentally.....I'd used the double bevel method for about 25 yrs and it's the way to go unless you have a REAL thin blade. The stamped Forschners really shine with a double bevel. I used to win bets off guys who spent big $ on a knife.....just lacked the sharpening skills and the relatively thin blade. There were a few tests that are far more difficult than shave your arm or slice paper. Try dropping a cherry tomato onto the edge from 6". If you are SHARP....it's impaled and halfway cut through. Dull? It will bounce off. I won a few beers on that matchup. I'm wondering though about double beveling a laminated or damascus knife. I'd worry that the back bevel may weaken the protection of the hard but somewhat brittle core. Chad makes a good point about micro-corrosion of the edge on a Carbon blade. This of course can also apply to a knife like the Tojiro DP. I would not mind having a real nice (and hard + affordable) Carbon knife,or Carbon core...even in a commercial kitchen IF I had options to use something else to slice the onions,peppers,limes etc. For instance,for a pro cook...the Tojiro or one of those nice Hiramoto Carbon Gyotos,could be REAL cost effective--but you'd whip out a Mac or Forscher or whatever for the acid foods..and stuff with bones.