Knife Buying Blog

[abier]

Thanks everyone--when I make it to Korin, I'll be sure to take some notes and report back!

[commodorewheeler]

I have skimmed the thread and I have not seen any mention of Viking cutlery...

I was just given a slicing knife as a gift. I never even knew they produced cutlery nor have I ever heard anything about it. It has a good weight and feels pretty good in my hand. Does anyone know anything about them or have any experience with them?

I've seen their knives, and they look real nice, but I've never had a chance to use them. I would imagine, though, that they're probably along the same level as most of the top end German stuff.

[Chad]

Thanks everyone--when I make it to Korin, I'll be sure to take some notes and report back!

Great! Take along a digital camera, if you've got one so we can drool along with you.

Chad

[rbm]

Earlier in the blog Chad wrote:

I like wide blades. I tend to scoop with my knives after dicing a tomato or onion. A wide blade (at least 2") makes that much easier. However, there is such a thing as too wide. I sold my Tichbourne K6 because it was just too damn big. At 10" long and 3" wide it was more like a cleaver than a chef's knife. Then again there are some wonderful chefs who rave about George Tichbourne's knives.

And later Cruzmisl wrote:

I Also had a Tichbourne Santoku but I returned it for the same reason as Chad. Just too big especially in blade width. It would just end up splitting the food rather than cuting it.

I'm contemplating buying a Tichbourne K6 and read these comments with interest. The problems I have with the Henkels I own today is that my hands are so big that my knuckles hit the cutting board when I use my larger butcher knives. The width of the K6 blade looked like it would solve this problem. I thought I'd "try out" a K6 for its size but I am in no position to just pop over to Mississauga to get a loaner. So, I made my own K6 today in the workshop. I took a picture of the knife from the Tichbourne web site, printed it full size and made a wooden model (pictured below).

It does not emulate the weight of the knife or the balance but I can test drive the knife in other respects. I kind of like the size of the knife so I think I will persue buying one in the next little while. The only thing I don't understand from the comments above is cruzmisl's comment that his knife split food rather than cut it. The only explaination I can think of is that the knife he had was not as sharp as it might have been.

[sizzleteeth]

That's correct. Daniel told me that Ryusen makes the "cheaper" Hattori line.

So Ryusen makes the knives for Hattori?

To add a twist, it's been mentioned that Hattori owns the patent for the laminated steel used in the blade. Perhaps they license it Ryusen to do the actual manufacturing?

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Edited September 9, 2004 by sizzleteeth (log)