Knife Recommendations?

[Tyrus]

It was off to one of my favorite antique stores today with the intention of finding a cleaver, and so it happened. A 15 1/4 inch overall length, 9 inch blade approx. 4 inches at the head and 3 3/16 at the toe, it's 3/16" wide along the back having a 6.25" tang covered in wood supported by 3 brass rivets, and weighs in at 2lb 5 oz. The wooden handle for some reason was painted red, it does offer a good grip, but I haven't tried it under wet conditions. My intention is to take it to a blade smith and fix it with a modern handle, clean it up or should I remove the paint and see what the condition of the wood is like. It's carbon steel, has no apparent name I can distinguish. The straight edge razor blade was in fantastic shape and is marked Germania on the blade with a black horn handle, this blade at $20 purchased was hard to pass since it dates prior to 1900 and will fetch $75 all day. Think I'll use it to shave some chives. Would you bring this cleaver into the 21st century by dressing it up or leave it in it's old patina? Oh, it was $65, less than the going rate. I thought it was well balanced meaning all the weight was forward as it should be and felt comfortable in hand with a good sense of security. It has a FK just barely visible near the tang, could it Freddy Kreuger's blade, it does have a strange tingle to it.  Nah, just kiddin. 

[Poochie]

That's a great find! It should last you two lifetimes. I would sand that red off see what the condition of the wood is.  But you probably know a lot more about it that I do. 

[fanie2200]

So I’m late in this topic,but can offer some advice. Bought my first jap.knife 20 years ago.

have both vg10 and white metal and some blue. Prefer the stainless for everyday use and white aogami for sushi ,yanagiba or tuna knife ,have both.

Watanabe hand made me 3 stainless knife ,chef,slicer and large heavy deboning.Made me large blue carbon cleaver,so sharp I don’t let anybody use it,very dangerous.

for everyday sushi,a stainless sujiiki,slicer.Nenox.

then deba for fish ,white metal,and for easy labor,stainless shun kiritsuke for poultry,shun tomato knife, kamikoto zirconium series and vegetable knife both stainless and white metal.Also have Glestain and Nenox chef knife

hand made knives,glestain and nenox easy to sharpen.(stainless)

have all the shapton collection of stone for stainless, and the natural stone collection for blue and white metal.

Shuns are a pain to sharpen…they sharpen them for free but at ups 30$ each way to Them, it gets expensive.

bought shapton special vg10 320 grit stone and do it myself.much cheaper!

Dont buy anything over 8000 grit, unless you are a fanatic…I have 15k and30k and have never used them.

Lately jap.knives have gone down in price,kamikoto have superb design,great prices ,but ROC hardness is 55 to 56,less than a great Japanese knife.

so you save a lot and can afford a few of their stones.Sharpen more often😇

happy hunting

[Syzygies]

19 hours ago, fanie2200 said:

Shuns are a pain to sharpen…they sharpen them for free but at ups 30$ each way to Them, it gets expensive.

What do you mean? I have Shapton glass stones 500, 1000, 2000, 4000, 8000 along with the holder and a sink bridge. My various VG-10 Japanese knives sharpen like a dream, while Laurie prefers the shape of her WÜSTHOF knives. They are much more difficult to sharpen, unless one wants to brutalize them in some grinding machine. She's spoiled by how sharp I keep our Japanese knives.

So I bought her a couple of Shuns, replacing her favorite WÜSTHOF paring and utility knives. They came nicely sharp, so I haven't tried to sharpen them yet.

What am I missing? Why are they a pain to sharpen?

I have to say, rounding the exposed corner everyone cuts themselves on is pure marketing genius. Shun is a Japanese knife that understands the international market.

[David Chang]

sorry i'm late to the discussion. i read the op has already bought knives, but i wanted to chime in after sharpening and repairing my stainless and carbons today. 

i think anyone who appreciates knives should own two sets. one german stainless for everyday household use. and the another carbon/japanese set for personal use. and whatever you choose to use should be sharpened by yourself on whetstone. this way you discipline yourself to maintain them, especially the carbon ones. but it's hard not to get carried away by expensive knives with pretty handles. i have some that i never use because i treat them like baseball cards, which for a knife unused is pretty useless..

but the best thing about knives, especially the carbon variants, is that they are a joy to sharpen, and it makes you feel really good running the blade through a paper test like cutting air in half..

[tony b]

Just a reminder that I need to get my stones out and do some touch ups. 

[Tyrus]

I do have a # of knives, not as many as some, but probably more than I need. Working a knife can almost be attributed to a therapy, it's constant motion and focus centers one to a goal. The payoff is your reward, especially when noticing the change in trim or simply cutting through a tomato. It reminds me too, I'm over due.

[David Chang]

speaking of knives, i received this lovely hap40 petty today from the US. i've never owned hap40 steel before. 

i see a lot of yt videos of slicing paper for sharpness. but you can't eat paper, so i prefer to slice stuff you can eat like this saucisson 🙃. this blade is capable of cutting even thinner but i don't have the dexterity. when the travel restrictions lift, i want to go back to japan to do some knife shopping. it sucks to buy online sight unseen for this kind of stuff..

 

[Bruine]

33 minutes ago, David Chang said:

speaking of knives, i received this lovely hap40 petty today from the US. i've never owned hap40 steel before. 

i see a lot of yt videos of slicing paper for sharpness. but you can't eat paper, so i prefer to slice stuff you can eat like this saucisson 🙃. this blade is capable of cutting even thinner but i don't have the dexterity. when the travel restrictions lift, i want to go back to japan to do some knife shopping. it sucks to buy online sight unseen for this kind of stuff..

 

My god, Another rabbit hole. I am a super blue steel fan, but this powder metallurgy steel seems awesome!

And a nice looking petty for sure.

[tony b]

Another rabbit hole indeed! 🤑

@David Chang - that's a beauty! 

[Poochie]

I'll never forget a commercial for Ginsu knives where the spokesman was bragging about how sharp they were. He said you could slice a tomato so thin that it only had one side. I ain't kidding. 

[Bruine]

Remember that one too (the french version here).
But any knife freshly sharpened can slice a tomato that way once or twice. The difference is how long it hold that edge.
And also how fun it is to sharpen it to that point.


Envoyé de mon iPad en utilisant Tapatalk

[braindoc]

I just splurged on this Nigara Hamono raindrop Damascus gyuto with custom handle, from RealSharpKnife.com - highly recommended.

Considering that my birthday splurge last April was a 32 KK, this wasn’t too bad.

[Poochie]

That is a great looking knife. I wouldn't want to get it dirty.

[BOC]

I just splurged on this Nigara Hamono raindrop Damascus gyuto with custom handle, from RealSharpKnife.com - highly recommended.

Dustin over at real sharp is a good knowledgeable guy to buy from as well. I’ve got a couple from him the past two years.


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[David Chang]

14 hours ago, braindoc said:

 

gorgeous gorgeous handle. who is the handle maker? i cant make out the composition. looks like rosewood ferrule, silver spacer, horn?, ? wood, silver spacer, and rosewood again on the butt?

[David Chang]

for anyone who wants to expedite their fall into the rabbit hole, here’s a list of mostly japanese knife retailers worldwide for your viewing pleasure, and probably your wallet or partner’s displeasure..

 

**EUROPE**

1)    Sharp Edge - Slovenia

2)    Cleancut - Sweden

3)    The Sharp Cook - Greece

4)    Knives and tools - Netherlands

5)    Japanese Natural Stones - Denmark

6)    Meesterslijpers - Netherlands

7)    Oryoki - Germany

 Selected Knives - Germany

9)    Skarpe Kniver - Norway 

10)    CouteauJaponais - France 

11)    Couteauduchef - France 

12)    Japaneseknives.eu - Netherlands

13)    Karasu Knives  - Amsterdam, Netherlands

14)    Knife Garage - Italy

15)    Steelinkitchen - Italy

16)    Hamono.nl - Netherlands

17)    Fazzinicoltelleria- Italy

18)    Whetstone.fi - Finland

19)    Dictum - Germany

20)    Japonskienoze.pl - Poland

21)    Foodgear - Denmark

22)    Acute Angle Shop - Lithuania

**USA and CANADA : **

1)    Hocho Knives - Florida

2)    Carbon knife co - Denver

3)    Bernal Cutlery -St.Francisco 

4)    Knifewear - Canada 

5)    Sharp knife shop - Canda

6)    REALSHARPKNIFE - New York

7)    Knife toronto - Canada

 Knife merchant - USA

9)    Japanese knife imports - California

10)    Chefknivestogo - USA

11)    Ai and OM knives - Canada

12)    Tokushu Knives - USA

13)    Sugi Cutlery - USA

14)    Tosho knives arts - Canada

15)    Stay Sharp - Canada

16)    Strata - Portland

17)    Cook's edge - Canada

18)    Fuku knives - USA

19)    Burrfection store - USA

20)    Aframes - Hawai

21)    Coutelier Nola- USA

22)    District cutlery - USA

23)    Cutlery and more- USA

24)    Epicurean Edge - USA

25)    Fine edge cutlery - USA

26)    Korin - USA

27)    Rodriguez Butcher Supply -USA

**Japan :**

1)    Hitohira

2)    Jikko Cutlery

3)    Japanny

4)    Miura knives

5)    Chubo knives

6)    Japan tool

7)    Meisyou-knives

 Zahocho

9)    Ichimonji.co.jp

10)    Tsubaya

11)    Kama-Asa

12)    DeSakai

13)    Tower Knives

14)    H and K

15)    Kabuki Knives

16)    Kiya

17)    Washindou

18)    Chef's Knives Japan

19)    Yuisenri

20)    Japanesechefsknife

**UK retailers :**

1)    Niwaki

2)    The sharp chef

3)    Kataba

4)    Cutting edge knives

5)    Knivesfromjapan

6)    Kitchen Provisions

7)    Chefs locker

 Japaneseknifecompany

9)    Knivesforchefs

**Rest of the world :**

1)    Knives and Stones - Australia and USA

2)    Migoto Cutlery - Australia

3)    Pro tooling - Australia

4)    Zanvak - Australia (sharpening supplies)

5)    Japanische-kochmesser - Switzerland

6)    Cutboy - Thailand

7)    Chefs edge - Australia

 Chefs Armoury - Australia

9)    Knifeline 

10)    Kitchintools - Singapore

11)    RazorSharp - SINGAPORE

Edited April 5, 2022 by David Chang

[Poochie]

I guess you're volunteering to pay for the divorce lawyer.

[braindoc]

7 hours ago, David Chang said:

gorgeous gorgeous handle. who is the handle maker? i cant make out the composition. looks like rosewood ferrule, silver spacer, horn?, ? wood, silver spacer, and rosewood again on the butt?

David:  Dustin at Real Sharp Knife.  I don’t recall the details but will try to get those for you.

[braindoc]

The ferrule and endcap are made from California Redwood burl, the base or main part of the handle is cherywood resin hybrid.