Knives. Knifethread.

[LTig]

My new kitchen knife - a Brusletto Hunter Premium Chef Mini AP (pic from website, not mine). It cuts through many things as if they are just butter .
Found it in the Brusletto Outlet Store in Geilo / Norway (were they are made) and paid 1000 NOK instead of 2500 NOK (roughly 100 € instead of 250 €). Just couldn't resist ...

 

[Vacceo]

I own and practice with several Extrema Ratio knives. My two faves are Misericordia and a Karambit, but I also have a resolza, a dark talon and a double edge folder.

 

[Peluvius]

This knife is over 80 years old and is one of the sharpest in my kitchen, shaves the hair of my arm. I love excellent things

 

[Vict0r]

Current favorite is the Vosteed Nightshade Lt. Impeccable action and ergonomics, drop shut action, cuts like a laser beam.

 

[Doodski]

Current favorite is the Vosteed Nightshade Lt. Impeccable action and ergonomics, drop shut action, cuts like a laser beam.

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I notice that all of your knives that are pictured here have very defined edges. After I used the diamond hone on my stainless steel knives the edges are still defined and no scratches on the blade but they are more rounded in edge definition. How do you keep yours in tip top shape?

 

[Vict0r]

I notice that all of your knives that are pictured here have very defined edges. After I used the diamond hone on my stainless steel knives the edges are still defined and no scratches on the blade but they are more rounded in edge definition. How do you keep yours in tip top shape?

I only strop them! Obviously I'm not a "hard" user. The worst they see is a stubborn apple, zip tie or parcel. If I need to really cut up something more drastic, I use the Leatherman. That blade's edge looks anything but nice and defined. Also, the Vosteed is brand new. I just received it so it didn't take much wear yet and is still on its factory edge.

 

[pseudoid]

Thank you @digitalfrost, a very nice Thread and I am surprised that I didn't find it earlier.

The Edge Pro ... RUIXIN...

Gawd! I probably have more sharpeners than most people have EDCs. But my latest darling is this one. By far and for $70 (to start).

Work Sharp "Precision Adjust Knife Sharpener" << HomePage

 

[pseudoid]

Most of the collection:

My daily carrier of late:
Who knew the knife maker Swaggs was female!
Love reverse Crawford's because it makes sharpening a delight!
It's a flipperoo but notice the button for closing (not internal thumb operated).
Even the clip is properly designed to allow 2-motions-in-one!

This one is a William Henry (some consider him the eminent Knife Guild member).
I call it the unobtainium knife but for many reasons:
*The fact that there is topaz, silver, mokume, and ostrich sheath, or that it is a very limited edition are no BFD.
But the real Mastodon horn scale is something else.
The blade material is what is called Hitachi 'mystery metal', as export in its raw/slab form was not allowed for export (don't ask how WH got it).
The story is that the equivalent SINAD test for knife sharpness is supposed to be how many cuts you can get from the edge while cutting 1" Manilla rope.
Good edge (but not necessarily the hardest edge) is one that can do around 50 cuts on the rope (please don't ask for the measurements but some knife mag used to do it).
They had given up on the test after they reached 103 (<<no typo) cuts with the mystery WH unobtainium.

I was gifted this item, but my first response (should have been but) was not a "Thank you!"
After 10 yrs, it just sits in a drawer; unusable and no where near an EDC... bum!

 

[pseudoid]

As with audiophiles obsessing over the types of circuits, topologies and SOTA internal components of audio hardware; same type of obsession seems to apply to knives and collectors of them.
A little bit more knowledge, a bit more experience and hands-on experience keep making us more and more dangerous to open our wallets.

I hope that these 4 above graphs allow you to go out and obsess some more.
But surely, a 50+ piece knife collection neither takes as much room or cost as much as a 8+ piece of simple audio hardware collection.
And usually their MTBF is much better than most audio hardware, as is true with their longevity!

 

[digitalfrost]

I usually like to buy one tier better if it's not much more expensive, so when I got into pocket knives I went for premium steel (S110V). I already had japanese water stones and I could sharphen my kitchen knives just fine.

Imagine my surprise when I found out that these super steels are very hard to sharphen with standards stones. Unless you are prepared to spend a ton of time on them, there's no way around diamond stones. And when freehand sharphening you need to be very consistent for a long time if you want good results because the normale stones barely cut these supersteels.
So I ended up having to buy a sharphening set that easily cost as much if not more than a premium knife

But whatever it was and is a fun journey. I use my pocket knife a ton, mostly to open packages I admit but I only have to sharphen it once per year. The way S110V keeps a good working edge is amazing and it's worth paying for IMHO. The downside is that I barely get any practice sharphening since the deltas in between are so long.

If you want to nerd out some more continue here:

Knife Steels Rated by a Metallurgist - Toughness, Edge Retention, and Corrosion Resistance - Knife Steel Nerds

Steel Metallurgist Larrin Thomas uses tests of knife steels to rate the steels and explains the factors that control performance.

knifesteelnerds.com

 

[Doodski]

Imagine my surprise when I found out that these super steels are very hard to sharphen with standards stones. Unless you are prepared to spend a ton of time on them, there's no way around diamond stones. So I ended up having to buy a sharphening set that easily cost as much if not more than a premium knife

Same here. I bought a chef's knife in stainless and a key knife in stainless and it took a diamond hone to sharpen both of them. The diamond hone was ~$35. I think the hone is worn down or the diamonds broken off the adhesive they used. The knives are now sharp for daily duty but I expect more from a diamond hone.

 

[digitalfrost]

The knives are now sharp for daily duty but I expect more from a diamond hone.

I've been happy with this kit for years:

KME Precision Knife Sharpening System

The stones last a really long time, I didn't have to replace one yet. There's ton of instruction videos on YouTube as well. Just one word of warning: New stones will drop small diamond particles which will scratch the surface of the knife. Best to run in a new stone on cheap knives you don't care so much about because they will scratch.

e: Also note this is mostly for pocket knives, large knifes like kitchen knives will be hard to sharphen on this, you need to work in multiple steps.

 

[Doodski]

e: Also note this is mostly for pocket knives, large knifes like kitchen knives will be hard to sharphen on this, you need to work in multiple steps.

So a 200mm or ~8" stainless will require multiple steps. Hmmmz. Knife sharpening is a big subject. I can see spending up to $70 for a quality diamond hone. I bought whatever Canadian Tire had in stock. It worked just thought it would last longer.

 

[bkdc]

I used to own an Edge Pro but because of the way the blade mounts and the additional distance away from the mounting clamp of the knife tip (or choil), the angle of sharpening at the middle of the blade is more obtuse than toward the tip which has a far more acute angle. This difference is pronounced on long knives (like 10 inch kitchen knives). This is probably not noticeable on small pocket knives or utility knives. For kitchen knives or long blades, an Edge Pro type system really fails. Just buy a cheap Wedgek angle guide and practice steady hands.

For small knives, I definitely see the benefit of a Wicked Edge or Edge Pro. It is difficult to hold a small knife at a steady angle. It’s like shooting accuracy from a compact pistol versus one with an extended barrel

 

[Count Arthur]

I have one of these ceramic rods and a steel in the kitchen:

I'm able to put a nice edge on my kitchen knives that is plenty sharp enough for vegetables and slicing tomatos, and occassionaly my finger. I can quickly get it sharp enough to shave the hairs on my arms or cut a piece pf paper, the way they do in adverts for knives and sharpeners.

With those complicated sharpeners, I've always wondered whether it's worth the extra time and effort for "everyday" knives. You don't seem to see many cooks using them, just knife enthusiasts.

 

[pseudoid]

You don't seem to see many cooks using them, just knife enthusiasts.

Trying to put a sushi slicer/dicer in your pocket as an EDC seems to pose many a problem besides the illegality of it in most states.
Like the difference between a soundbar - floor speaker of quality!
Close examination of a different material (per above graphs) knife edges should lead to a technical discussion about the exact edge angle that are used and/or desired for the task of the knife in question.
Unfortunately, that type of discussion is way above my payscale. Think angle of a razor blade compared to that of a machete!
However, I do know that once the correct angle for sharpening is achieved AND one does not use that knife as a prybar, all that will be needed is honing it with a strop.
Rinse, Flush, Repeat!

 

[digitalfrost]

For kitchen knives or long blades, an Edge Pro type system really fails. Just buy a cheap Wedgek angle guide and practice steady hands.

For small knives, I definitely see the benefit of a Wicked Edge or Edge Pro. It is difficult to hold a small knife at a steady angle. It’s like shooting accuracy from a compact pistol versus one with an extended barrel

With those complicated sharpeners, I've always wondered whether it's worth the extra time and effort for "everyday" knives. You don't seem to see many cooks using them, just knife enthusiasts.

I agree with this. I also think that in general kitchen knives are not made of super steels, in other words I never had a problem sharpening them with normal water stones. You just don't need a sharpening system for kitchen knives. I am not sure if super steel kitchen knives even exist, but if they do must cost a fortune . In any case it just doesn't make sense. They get so much use that in general they need more sharpening than other knives (at least that's the case for me) and you want something that you can sharpen quickly when necessary without spending a ton of time on it. Just a matter of finding a nice balance. 440 steel or CPM-154 I dislike because you need to sharpen those things constantly and they won't hold an edge for long. Japanese blue paper steel or anything at a level of VG-10 is absolutely good enough for everyday use.

However, I do know that once the correct angle for sharpening is achieved AND one does not use that knife as a prybar, all that will be needed is honing it with a strop.

I sharpened many knives unnecessarily in the beginning because I didn't know the power of stropping. My stropping technique is not very advanced but it works for me: I have an old leather belt, I put some fine polishing paste on it, and I attach the belt buckle to a door handle, then tension the belt and just strop. The whole thing is very flexible and unstable but that's exactly the point . It works very well for me.

 

[Blumlein 88]

I'm sure there is info, but what about sharpening ceramic blades? The kitchen Kyocera's I have don't need sharpening, but I haven't used them a tremendous amount. They are very sharp.

 

[pseudoid]

I'm sure there is info, but what about sharpening ceramic blades? The kitchen Kyocera's I have don't need sharpening, but I haven't used them a tremendous amount. They are very sharp.

I was an early adopter of their knives when [I think] they were based out of San Diego.
Kyocera ceramic kitchen knives were warrantied for life (and still maybe?)
Two of mine made visits to get them 'sharpened' but I am thinking that they sent me a replacement pair.

Yes, ceramics do get dull after few years of use, even if pampered.
The best bet (imho) is to just buy a set of 3 (sizes) from HarborTool for about $12.
And when in doubt about their sharpness, repeat the purchase!

There have been some really nice Damascus kitchen blades that have been coming out of China in the past 4 years or so... at reasonable prices.

 

[Blumlein 88]

I was an early adopter of their knives when [I think] they were based out of San Diego.
Kyocera ceramic kitchen knives were warrantied for life (and still maybe?)
Two of mine made visits to get them 'sharpened' but I am thinking that they sent me a replacement pair.

Yes, ceramics do get dull after few years of use, even if pampered.
The best bet (imho) is to just buy a set of 3 (sizes) from HarborTool for about $12.
And when in doubt about their sharpness, repeat the purchase!

There have been some really nice Damascus kitchen blades that have been coming out of China in the past 4 years or so... at reasonable prices.

I had seen those HF knives and wondered if they were any good. Unfortunately it appears they do not have them anymore.

There are some other cheap ceramics. Lots of reviews say the cheaper ones are good, but break or chip more easily than Kyocera which itself can break or chip sometimes. I haven't tried any of those.