House of Knives

[mtigges]

So, my wife, bless her heart, saw fit to purchase me a new santoku. She purchased this one:

http://www.cutleryandmore.com/large/645.jpg

A very good knife to be sure. Her choice of vendor, Ming Wo, didn't not have them, so she purchased it at House of Knives. I've never had a very good feeling about that chain, but without any good reason, other than I don't think I would buy cooking knives from a retailer that also sells commemerative hobbit daggers.

Now, looking at this particular knife that she bought shows quite clearly that it has been butchered. Not used to butcher, but butchered. The edge is no longer a nice smooth constant curve. The edge has been badly dented and re sharpened, obviously scallops in the edge, and the edge protrudes quite deeply into the blade scallops near the tip.

There's another issue with this knife, the left side of the hilt is about one to two mm shorter than the right side, and the edge of the hilt is very sharp on that side compared to the other.

Are House of Knives selling refurbished knives? Do they take brand new knives and try to sharpen them themselves to "improve" them? Has anyone else seen this? Luckily she was told she can return it.

My suspiscion is that they purchase factory seconds (or even knock offs heaven forbid), refurbish and sell them at premium prices.

HOK is a Western Canadian chain I believe, so I hope this is the right forum.

[winesonoma]

I'd return it and avoid the place in the future. Let's face it new is new, junk is junk.

[Sam Salmon]

Sounds like someone returned a defective knife and someone else then tried to repair it-whereupon it was sold to your spouse.

That place is notorious for clueless staff and sharpening jobs from hell.

[andiesenji]

There are several online vendors who are extremely careful about their wares and their service.

I have been a long-time customer of The Knife Merchant and recommend them without reservation.

They will also be more than happy to speak to you by phone

Knife merchant phone number

and answer any questions you may have, even if the question may be a little quirky.

Before it was in their catalog, they found a 14 inch mezzaluna for me and it was very reasonably priced, compared to other vendors.

[winesonoma]

I second the Knife Merchant good people and superior service.

[Ben L.]

I am not sure about House of Knives selling refurbished knives, but I do agree with Sam that their sales staffs don't know anything about their products. I have a Shun 10" chef knife that I got from House of Knives and it was brand new in a box wrapped in plastic. They gave me two free sharpening coupons when I purchased the knife from them, but I will never let them sharpen it for me. Which outlet did your wife purchase the knife from?

[Ducky]

I can confirm that I recently had 5 knives sharpened at their Oakridge shop - and these knives were returned to me duller than when I took them there.

[makanmakan]

^^ that's good to know. i was given a gift cert for there and now i have to figure out what to get with it. i was going to get my knives sharpened, but with your experience, i think not.

guess i'll just have to get another knife!

[Matt R.]

^^ that's good to know.  i was given a gift cert for there and now i have to figure out what to get with it.  i was going to get my knives sharpened, but with your experience, i think not. 

guess i'll just have to get another knife!

←

I brought one old knife into HOK because it needed to be refinished. Not just a new edge, but totally ground down as it was in my parent's kitchen drawer for about a million years. And we all know that a drawer is not someplace to store loose knives. Not having the equipment at home to do this kind of thing, in it went. For about $10 (I think) they did a decent enough job of grinding it down. Unfortunately, I still had to put it through a stone and my steel to make it sharp.

I personally recommend the Kinfex mobile service here in Victoria, and they have a Vancouver franchise too. Cheaper than HOK, a much, much better job, and they come literally right to your door at home or work. They even give a better industry discount on tools than House of Knives.

My two cents.

-- Matt.

[mtigges]

Which outlet did your wife purchase the knife from?

Metrotown. We've taken the knife back and we didn't bother to point out to them why. It was obvious that the knife had been very poorly sharpened. But the other problem with it that the hilt was unevenly machined is really strange. I own two other Wusthofs and they're perfect. It's quite strange. I truly believe that HOK must be buying factory rejects and selling them at reg prices. Anyways, I think we're going to get a damascus shun, they're so sexy.

[ColinD]

In the long run when it comes to keeping your knives sharp you are better off to learn how to use a stone properly. KnifeX, HOK and the dozens of other places that will grind a blade for you only do that grind the blade, if you take a chunk out of a blade or an edge is worn beyond repair then by all means have someone grind it for you. But for everyday household use a good stone should suffice.

As far as buying knives, Ming Wo gives a great industry discount as well they have a great selection at their Chinatown location (40 years old and still cautious about buying on line)

Colin

[D90]

Which outlet did your wife purchase the knife from?

Metrotown. We've taken the knife back and we didn't bother to point out to them why. It was obvious that the knife had been very poorly sharpened. But the other problem with it that the hilt was unevenly machined is really strange. I own two other Wusthofs and they're perfect. It's quite strange. I truly believe that HOK must be buying factory rejects and selling them at reg prices. Anyways, I think we're going to get a damascus shun, they're so sexy.

←

I was looking at the damascus shun set at House of Knives during boxing week, reg price 699 and they were on sale for 399.99.

[Sam Salmon]

the other problem with it that the hilt was unevenly machined is really strange.  I own two other Wusthofs and they're perfect.  It's quite strange.  I truly believe that HOK must be buying factory rejects and selling them at reg prices.

←

It is strange.

I have 2 Wusthoff Grand Prix that are perfect in every way.

How could a defect like the one you describe escape the quality control people @ their factory?

Even a hardened cynic like myself finds it hard to believe there's skulduggery being done @ HOK but what other plausible explanation is there?