Chef Knives?

[spopepro]

So I just got a new knife, my first custom knife, from Joey at JB Knifeworks in Buford, GA (where I grew up). He's a co-owner of Pop's Knife Supply, where they sell materials to knife makers.

8" blade, S35VN steel, 3/32" blade stock, ground nice and thin with just a bit of a convex grind near the edge, and the tiniest bolster ever. Handle liners are natural micarta with tiffany blue G10 pin stripes under 'delorean grey' G10 handles and micarta pins.

That's some pretty work. Did he give you a hardness? I know it's a bit thicker than your Japanese made blade, but I'm always nervous seeing fine chefs knives around bones.

[jclay]

So I just got a new knife, my first custom knife, from Joey at JB Knifeworks in Buford, GA (where I grew up). He's a co-owner of Pop's Knife Supply, where they sell materials to knife makers.

8" blade, S35VN steel, 3/32" blade stock, ground nice and thin with just a bit of a convex grind near the edge, and the tiniest bolster ever. Handle liners are natural micarta with tiffany blue G10 pin stripes under 'delorean grey' G10 handles and micarta pins.

Picked it up Saturday morning, haven't used it a lot yet, but, so far I really like it. Cuts GREAT, and the balance is a bit more towards the handle so the blade feels really light in the hand. More thoughts later once I get some real use on it.

...and a bit thicker than the Takamura. This is exactly what I wanted FWIW. I may thin the handle behind the heel of the blade...because it's so thick I find myself choking up a lot more in a pinch grip than with my other knives. I'm not sure if that's really a problem tho....gonna get a lot more time with it before I go grinding anything haha. But it's definitely a bigger meatier handle than the others.

To my SoGa neighbor; sweet knife; sweet knife collection! And....ah.....when is dinner?? Funny thing is that there probably exists a 99% dirt road route that would get from Tally to you. I can smell the chicken.

Update to my knife purchase: I am liking the gyuto: https://bernalcutlery.com/collection...36251403583640 . I haven't much to compare it to but it's sharp as hell and I haven't needed to touch it up. I'm happy with it and very glad I waterproofed the handle.

More interesting, to me at least, is that I snagged this little guy at the same time and I like it a lot; a lot more than our other paring knives (which are quite sharp now...but the shape of the Pallares is what I favor). I water proofed the handle/tang interface too: https://bernalcutlery.com/collection...carbon-boxwood

So, there you have it.

[choke]

Didn't know that's something I wanted, but now considering a 60x30cm polyethylene model.

Thanks for the links. I have a knife in mind, but haven't been able to find it. I'd like to have something ~200mm long, 60-65mm tall, with a useful tip and preference for carbon. This Takeda is the closest I've come, but would prefer more of a pointed tip if I'm being picky.

I saw this monster and instantly recalled this old post of yours. I know that you have already found something but I thought you might like a look at it anyway.

takayuki-white-2-tall-bunka-31.jpg

[funcrusher]

very tempted to order a set of these:

https://www.benchmade.com/3-piece-set

kinda spendy, but likely a lifetime investment

[j44ke]

Eric Estlund appears to still have a kitchen set of his own available.

[ColonelJLloyd]

I saw this monster and instantly recalled this old post of yours. I know that you have already found something but I thought you might like a look at it anyway.

takayuki-white-2-tall-bunka-31.jpg

Cool knife, thanks for thinking of me. I ended up ordering the Takeda I linked and have had it close to a year now. I'll admit I was initially intimidated by the thinness and lightweight at first. This is my first and, at present, only Aogami Super knife and over the past year I've not used this knife as much as I could have. I did, however, bring it with me to our Thanksgiving celebration along with a 12" stainless slicing knife as I brought along one of my 2yo hams. I decided to give the Takeda a try on the ham and it was actually pretty great despite being taller and shorter than what you'd typically want for that job. The finish on the Takeda is definitely a plus when releasing semi-transparent slices of ham.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2mMHz97]

[Bob Ross]

So the missus and I had been talking about buying a new chef's knife for our new pied-à-terre, and then today as we're wandering through a department store we stumble upon the Cutco demo kiosk, and we get sucked into the demo, and Ms. Knife Demonstrator Person whips out a pile of celery and potatoes and says "Here, try for yourself!" and my wife slices up a potato and says "I like it...what do you think?" and so I -- reluctantly, because I've been a using Cutco chef's knife since 1968 so I figure I know what I'm getting into -- pick it up, grab a potato, take two slices, and proceed to slice off the tip of my thumb.

Ms. Knife Demonstrator Person, as she's digging around for her first aid kit, says "well at least you know it's a clean cut!"

True story.

[Mark Walberg]

Bob, thanks for telling the story.
I hope it was just a little bit.

[ides1056]

I was cutting with a grass hook a few years ago, thinking I really should put on gloves, when presto, cut off the tip of my thumb. It hung by a thread and I considered what a PIA doing any kind of handwork would be for a good long while, so I went inside and put some super glue on the hunk of thumb and glued it. Sent a pic to my doc and he told me good job. Never had an issue with it after.

[mnoble485]

99A5FA46-12BC-4441-A16E-98377C81D72F.jpeg

As my search continues for a Tiagra level knife I found this at their outlet store. They also had one with “air pockets”. I haven’t seen that type mentioned here. Your thoughts please. If you have better ideas in the $100.00 range let me know


Mike

Edit, looks like I posted pic with air pockets. They have one without also.

[ColonelJLloyd]

As my search continues for a Tiagra level knife I found this at their outlet store. They also had one with “air pockets”. I haven’t seen that type mentioned here. Your thoughts please. If you have better ideas in the $100.00 range let me know


Mike

Edit, looks like I posted pic with air pockets. They have one without also.

Are you set on a Western style knife? Are you set on a stainless blade? Do you have experience sharpening your own knives or have interest in doing that?

[mnoble485]

Are you set on a Western style knife? Are you set on a stainless blade? Do you have experience sharpening your own knives or have interest in doing that?

No, no, and no. Short answers I know but I am so clueless that I don’t know the difference. Trying to teach the old dog some new tricks and V salon is my school.

Mike

[j44ke]

No, no, and no. Short answers I know but I am so clueless that I don’t know the difference. Trying to teach the old dog some new tricks and V salon is my school.

Mike

If you are looking for a high quality dependable kitchen knife, the Zwilling Pro line is supposed to be very good. I've been told by knife people to avoid the related Henckels line - confusing because Zwilling and Henckels are related companies but Zwilling is (again based on recommendations from knife people) a different & better knife. In our other kitchen (ugh) we have a Zwilling Pro 8" Chef knife, a Pro 4" Paring knife, and Zwilling Pro Utility serrated knife (known in our house as the tomato knife).

I don't think we got them as a set, but it was long enough ago that I cannot remember exactly. I think they arrived one by one as the local kitchen place (the terrific Broadway Panhandler - no longer in business) had sales. However, it appears that Zwilling does offer them as a set.

We also have a chef's knife from the Zwilling Four Star line. I am sure that it is different in some way other than the handle material (metal or thickness or something) but it has been a great, very durable knife as well. I can't really tell the difference. This one we got in a set as a present - there were 5 knives total. One day my wife saw a knife sharpener truck parked in front of our apartment and so she took our knives out for the guy to sharpen. Fortunately the chef's knife happened to be out of the knife block at the time, so she didn't take it down with her because the sharpener guy destroyed the rest of them. Lesson learned.

They have all been incredibly durable knives and hold an edge very well. They got used every day and were basically always out on the cutting board. I've thought about bringing them up here to the country, but we have all our Japanese knives up here so not really necessary.

[9tubes]

For the Tiagra-level knife I'll suggest Tojiro. They make a stainless line called the DP that is made from VG10 and is great value for the money. I tried one and it's significantly better than any Henkels-Wustoff-Whatever from the department store, and less money to boot. If you are more adventuresome you can purchase their non-stainless Japanese-style model in White #2 steel for more sharpness with a bit less edge retention.

[spopepro]

I still think that unless you have particular wants, the victorinox is the way to go. If the plastic handle bothers you for a couple bucks more you can get one with wood. I prefer it over inexpensive japanese blades. I mean... this is like 65 bucks. How are you gonna beat that?



As far as that sabatier- I'm not a huge fan of current production. It's ok. The NOS stuff is great... but it's all carbon steel. This is 100$:

[pdxmech13]

I'm in the process of having a custom knife and axe made as holiday gifts for my coworkers.

The knife is a Serbian style chef knife that seems pretty popular in shape and style today. I thought it would be something different than a traditional chefs knife.

[9tubes]

I still think that unless you have particular wants, the victorinox is the way to go. If the plastic handle bothers you for a couple bucks more you can get one with wood. I prefer it over inexpensive japanese blades. I mean... this is like 65 bucks. How are you gonna beat that?

That would be an interesting test challenge. A Tojiro DP in 180mm is only $72 and the 210 mm is only $85. Or someone could get a great three-knife starter set for only $100. www.chefknivestogo.com/todp3pcgiset.html. I don't have a Victorinox chef knife. My Victorinox paring knife never gets very sharp but it stays that way for a long time.

[spopepro]

That would be an interesting test challenge. A Tojiro DP in 180mm is only $72 and the 210 mm is only $85. Or someone could get a great three-knife starter set for only $100. www.chefknivestogo.com/todp3pcgiset.html. I don't have a Victorinox chef knife. My Victorinox paring knife never gets very sharp but it stays that way for a long time.

I looked it up further--the plastic handled victorinox is currently $40 on amazon and the wood handle is $50. The $65 is from a nicer knife shop that will give it a high quality hand finished edge as part of doing business (and will also not sell a blade that isn't straight).

It would be really interesting to do this test--both quality out of the box (which can be a really, really big issue with knives, even expensive ones), edge as delivered, cutting performance, ease of sharpening, and ultimately how good you can make each of them with some TLC on the stones. If I wasn't already out of time and behind on caring for my own blades I'd probably even try it.

[ColonelJLloyd]

I looked it up further--the plastic handled victorinox is currently $40 on amazon and the wood handle is $50. The $65 is from a nicer knife shop that will give it a high quality hand finished edge as part of doing business (and will also not sell a blade that isn't straight).

It would be really interesting to do this test--both quality out of the box (which can be a really, really big issue with knives, even expensive ones), edge as delivered, cutting performance, ease of sharpening, and ultimately how good you can make each of them with some TLC on the stones. If I wasn't already out of time and behind on caring for my own blades I'd probably even try it.

I wouldn't argue against the Victorinox or Tojiro knives listed, though I haven't owned either. I'd add another inexpensive brand/maker to the list, though. I received this 210 gyuto as a gift and have used it every day for a year. It was sharp out of the box, but I wanted to polish the edge a bit and it's been a pleasure to use. At the same time I polished the edge on a bunka from the same maker I'd been using and gave that one as a gift.

[pdxmech13]

Finished item.