Knife-a-Holic

[bilrus]

What are the good ones they make and what are the cheap ones?  These were selling for about $100 for the 10 inch chef's.

ALso what are the advantages / disadvantages to the one-sided edge vs. the more traditional two sided bevel?

And will the Japanese knives work as well (or better) for Chopping as the Western Knives (I currently have Henckels 4 star 10 inch chefs) or are them more suited for slicing?

Let me take a Stab at answering this (har har har)

$100 for the 10" chef is pretty okay.

For a Chef's Knife: definitely go for a Forged blade (dropped forged is even better).

Other knives like a breadslicer, paring knife or fillet knife you can get away with Stamped.

Kai's good line: Shun (they also have a Damascus line)

cheap but reasonable: KaiCut

Cheapooooooo: Steeler

KAI is HUGE! they're like the Seiko of the knife world.

One sided edge: need a left handed knife if you're south pawed

you can get a keener more acute angle with one sided edge.

straighter cuts with one sided edge[?]

you can cut thinner slices cuz the other side is perfectly flat

advantage of two sided bevel....erm...dunno

is there? other than the fact that it's more common.

Thanks. That's what I figured. I really liked the handle on the Shun - it is shaped to fit a right hander (like me).

There is one of the Hattori ones discussed above on eBay for $150 that looks pretty nice.

Does the two sided hold its edge better?

[Toliver]

For Christmas, a friend gave me this set of Forschner knives.

I'd never heard of them before. They're made by the same company that makes Swiss Army Knives. They're sharp as heck but very ordinary looking, kind of like the Ford Taurus of knives. And the longest knife scares the heck outta me. It looks like something out of "The Lizzie Borden Story". I'm not sure what to do with it.

Now I need to buy knife guards so I can store them safely.

Has anyone dealt with Forschners before? Will they keep their edge for a while?

[dano1]

Toliver, they are not "bad" inexpensive kitchen knifes. Will hold an edge and easy to sharpen. Drawbacks are they are way light and the grips suck imo. Good all purpose beater knifes found in just about every restaurant kitchen. Don't get me wrong though, I've used them many times and wouldn't mind a gift like that :).

hth, danny

[AzRaeL]

dammit! i wish i lived in the States, sometimes.

Just so that I can get stuff on eBay easily

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...&category=20639

[ExtraMSG]

What, not this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...bayphotohosting

I went into Portland's George & Sons this weekend to drop off a knife to get sharpened and test them out. Looked through their collection of knives, which included the typical German ones, the Globals, and the Shuns, among others.

But they also had a couple unique knives, entirely hand-made Japanese knives.

The were very similar in style to these:

http://worldknives.com/product.asp?produid=528&manuid=40

http://worldknives.com/product.asp?produid=527&manuid=40

The story I got was that the guy who made these had gone to a Washington (can't remember the city) knife show to sell his knives. He entered a custom knifemaker rope-cutting contest. He got second, whereas the guy who got first always got first. But the Japanese guy pointed out that his cuts were cleaner.

Apparently, he makes his knives with "white steel" (if I remember right) as opposed to "blue steel". The Japanese chef's in town when they see his knives buy them up. They were about $100 each. The handles were custom made, as well. They seemed thick to me, but obviously hand-hammered. The guy's "signature" was etched into the side of the knives.

[oraklet]

Toliver, they are not "bad" inexpensive kitchen knifes. Will hold an edge and easy to sharpen. Drawbacks are they are way light and the grips suck imo.

depends. if they're wood, they're allright imo. the plastic handles are bigger, and leave less room for your knuckles.

probably the best stamped knives out there. after all, victorinox has a reputation to live up to.

[AzRaeL]

What, not this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...bayphotohosting

Grrr! are you rubbing it in?

[Chad]

What, not this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...bayphotohosting

Grrr! are you rubbing it in?

You really should consider that one. I purchased my Hattori from the same seller. Read the conditions down below -- she doesn't rule out shipping outside the US, just asks for an email first. Not unreasonable. And that's a damn good price for that knife.

Chad

[AzRaeL]

What, not this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...bayphotohosting

Grrr! are you rubbing it in?

You really should consider that one. I purchased my Hattori from the same seller. Read the conditions down below -- she doesn't rule out shipping outside the US, just asks for an email first. Not unreasonable. And that's a damn good price for that knife.

Chad

i KNOW it is!!!! grrr! gotta wait till i get paid for some big project first.

GRRRR..i want i want!! it is an extremely good price for a Hattori

[JC]

But they also had a couple unique knives, entirely hand-made Japanese knives.

The story I got was that the guy who made these had gone to a Washington (can't remember the city) knife show to sell his knives. He entered a custom knifemaker rope-cutting contest. He got second, whereas the guy who got first always got first. But the Japanese guy pointed out that his cuts were cleaner.

Apparently, he makes his knives with "white steel" (if I remember right) as opposed to "blue steel". The Japanese chef's in town when they see his knives buy them up. They were about $100 each. The handles were custom made, as well. They seemed thick to me, but obviously hand-hammered. The guy's "signature" was etched into the side of the knives.

Hmm... I wonder if this is Shinichi Watanabe? He visited that area sometime last year and some shops bought stock from him.

FYI, white steel cuts better than blue steel, but blue has better edge holding.

[bilrus]

What, not this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...bayphotohosting

Grrr! are you rubbing it in?

You really should consider that one. I purchased my Hattori from the same seller. Read the conditions down below -- she doesn't rule out shipping outside the US, just asks for an email first. Not unreasonable. And that's a damn good price for that knife.

Chad

i KNOW it is!!!! grrr! gotta wait till i get paid for some big project first.

GRRRR..i want i want!! it is an extremely good price for a Hattori

I saw several similar Hattori knives on eBay last month for about the same price, so keep looking when you are ready.

[AzRaeL]

I saw several similar Hattori knives on eBay last month for about the same price, so keep looking when you are ready.

Philosophical question: do we find the perfect knife or does the perfect knife find us when we are ready?

[JC]

oh one brand that consistently almost never turns up in Knife discussions. WMF

are they any good? they sure are pricey. They're german forged blades but are they good or crap?

I tend to think of WMF more for cookware and utensils. They probably contract out the knifemaking to some other German firm. Their normal range is nothing to shout about.

That said, WMF does have something different in their knife range that is the series made from damasteel. Only commercial brand I know of with knives of damasteel. Problem is the range only has 3 pieces and the chefs knife is only 6" (the other is slicer and something else). If they had it in 8" I'd be tempted.

[ExtraMSG]

I saw several similar Hattori knives on eBay last month for about the same price, so keep looking when you are ready.

Philosophical question: do we find the perfect knife or does the perfect knife find us when we are ready?

There is no knife.

[commodorewheeler]

So, I'm considering getting a Hattori as a gift for someone. What's the best source? Ebay?

From what I hear, the best source is Seki-Direct over at seki-cut.com. They're based in Japan, but international shipping is cheap, and their prices are outstanding. You won't see the Hattori kitchen knives listed on their website, though; you have to email them to get their selection and prices. Here's their reply to me:

Hi Ken,

Here are the information for Hattori Damascus kitchen knives:

Thank you for your interest in Hattori kitchen knives. Although they are not listed on our website, Hattori produces two different types of fine Damascus kitchen knives as per the attached photos.

Premier series are the hand-made custom knives from the nickel stainless steel Damascus blade with a core of Cowry-X powdered steel, and black Micarta handle with brass bolster. Available in:

Gyuto 270mm blade Retail $1500.00 SD Special $1,099.95

Gyuto 240mm blade Retail $1200.00 SD Special $899.95

Santoku 180mm blade Retail $1,000.00 SD Special $749.95

Petty 140mm blade Retail $400.00 SD Special $299.95

It will take about 30 days for delivery.

Regular series are made of 63 layered nickel Damascus with VG-10 Cobalt/Vanadium steel core and Black pakkawood handle with stainless steel bolster. Availabe in:

Retail SD Special

Gyuto 300mm $322.00 $229.95

Gyuto 270mm 264.00 189.95

Gyuto 240mm 207.00 149.95

Gyuto 210mm 167.00 119.95

Gyoto 180mm 146.00 109.95

Santoku 170mm 146.00 109.95

Sujihiki 270mm 264.00 189.95

Steak 240mm 253.00 179.95

Deba 240mm 368.00 259.95

Honesuki 150mm 180.00 129.95

Petty 150mm 125.00 89.95

Petty 135mm 100.00 74.95

Petty 105mm 97.00 69.95

This series are available for immediate delivery.

Please add $7 for shipping, and we will ship to you by EMS (Speed Post) directly from Japan.

Thanks,

Jemmy Iwahara

Seki-Direct/Kencrest

[ExtraMSG]

I think those prices are in line with the ebay buy it now prices. On their website they're saying they have free shipping right now, though.