My next step knife suggestions please

[Puduu]

[jbart65]

Wow.

Both the photo and the explanation by Rob.

[Lounge_Fly]

Thank you for the info, Lepus. I checked the link and those are some crazy cool looking knives. I will look into getting or having one made someday. I just really like things that look cool. I try and only buy guitars that are appealing to me. I've passed up several guitars due to them not looking so great even though I know it's a better "tool."

I just received my knife. The first thing I did was to grab a receipt I had in my pocket. I pulled the knife through and immediately realized my sharpening skills are, well, really weak. HOLY COW this thing is SHARP!!! To be honest, I am a little worried about harming my guitar playing fingers, ugh! I feel that one little mistake would easily result in the loss of a finger. This may sound a little over the top but do people really lose fingers by not properly handling a knife? I mean, if I were chopping a carrot and missed, would the knife go through the bone? I'm guessing it could but most likely wouldn't. Obviously you would have a nasty cut with many stitches. Correct me if you know I'm wrong.

As for the more expensive knives, are we just talking edge retention with those steels? I really can't see them getting much sharper than this.

I did have it sharpened by CKTG. It's cool that they send a little card showing the degree and what stones were used. The last thing on the list is a Bovine Strop with 1.0 micron diamond paste. Is that what I should expect to use instead of a rod for this knife?

I guess this thread may have gotten too long for my simple little purchase but I do appreciate all the help from this forum. You guys are great!

[AlbuquerqueDan]

Thank you for the info, Lepus. I checked the link and those are some crazy cool looking knives. I will look into getting or having one made someday. I just really like things that look cool. I try and only buy guitars that are appealing to me. I've passed up several guitars due to them not looking so great even though I know it's a better "tool."

I just received my knife. The first thing I did was to grab a receipt I had in my pocket. I pulled the knife through and immediately realized my sharpening skills are, well, really weak. HOLY COW this thing is SHARP!!! To be honest, I am a little worried about harming my guitar playing fingers, ugh! I feel that one little mistake would easily result in the loss of a finger. This may sound a little over the top but do people really lose fingers by not properly handling a knife? I mean, if I were chopping a carrot and missed, would the knife go through the bone? I'm guessing it could but most likely wouldn't. Obviously you would have a nasty cut with many stitches. Correct me if you know I'm wrong.

As for the more expensive knives, are we just talking edge retention with those steels? I really can't see them getting much sharper than this.

I did have it sharpened by CKTG. It's cool that they send a little card showing the degree and what stones were used. The last thing on the list is a Bovine Strop with 1.0 micron diamond paste. Is that what I should expect to use instead of a rod for this knife?

I guess this thread may have gotten too long for my simple little purchase but I do appreciate all the help from this forum. You guys are great!

My first Japanese knife (Sukenari HAP40 240) was twice as sharp as any othet knife I had ever tried. It blew me away and I knew I could never go back.

My second Japanese knife (Kanehiro santoku) was sharpened by CKTG, and it blew away the Sukenari.

My third Japanese knife (Ikeda 210) was also sharpened by CKTG and, because of its thin geometry, blew the Kanehiro out of the water.

My forth Japanese knife (Kochi nakiri), this time sharpened by Jon at JKI took sharp to a whole new level.

No doubt your new knife is SHARP, but you may also just be at the beginning. It's an awesome ride.

Now that you've experienced sharp, you'll want to learn how to achieve those edges yourself. I predict your next thread will be titled "what stones should I get?"

[Cutuu]

Since this has largely been happily concluded, here's the skinny on Damascus.

What people call Damascus steel can refer to different things. The steel used in Syria to produce weapons for hundreds of years largely outperformed other steels produced at the time. A few countries in the Near East produced it or near equivalents, but Damascus was famous for its weapons. The steel's method of production is unknown, though modern attempts to recreate it have gotten closeish. It has an striking, inconsistent dappled pattern.

Modern pattern welded steel is made by layering and welding together two or more types of steel and grinding the resulting steel block down until the different layers present themselves for visual effect, jawbreaker style. The steel can be twisted, hammered, and otherwise manipulated while it is being worked to present predictable patterns. It has a passing resemblance to Damascus steel, but most modern pattern welded knives usually look pretty structured. After it is forged and shaped the steel is typically etched or abraded to bring out the contrast between the layers.

Most Japanese pattern welded knives are not made entirely from one piece of pattern welded steel. They are instead made with a core steel that forms the edge and a cladding layer of the pattern welded steel wrapped around most of the outside. If you look at a picture of a Tanaka Sekiso, you'll see the entire edge section is all one steel. For the cook the knife performs largely like one made from just the core steel, which is selected for how it sharpens and holds an edge, while still looking neat because of the jacket.



This sort of construction is also used with claddings made from one steel. Most artisanal Japanese knives are made with some type of cladding because layered knives are more elastic and so are less likely to snap during production, keeping costs down.

Knives can also be made from pattern welded steel without a cladding. It's usually a bit pricey and most of the time there knives are made by Western smiths. This does mean the knife's steel performance is based on the mixture of the two steels used to make it, but most of the time good makers select steels in part based on how they can be heat treated and how they perform together. All else being equal pure pattern welded knives are not going to be better than knives with a single steel on the edge and are in theory perhaps a little worse. If you want to see some truly remarkable modern pattern welding, Randy Haas makes pattern welded steel that almost beggars belief. There may be people who do more remarkable things, but I have never seen it.



http://hhhcustomknives.com/gallery/

Is there a ripple on the spine. Or is it just messing with my eyes?

[Lepus]

The indentions on that HHH are file work.

You won't be able to cut off a finger with any ease with a kitchen knife. You might cut off a finger tip, though, or slice off your knuckle. Used with proper technique it won't be an issue. The knife will also perform so much more predictably while cooking that there is less chance you will need to use too much force to cut something, lose control of the knife when it jerks through the food, and cut yourself.

I suspect that knife is approaching as sharp as you can reasonably expect a knife to get. Some knives will take finer edges, but the difference beyond what you have will be by degrees rather than kind. You may find you prefer different types of edges, but that's a personal preference rather than empirical superiority. Some knives may cut much, much better, but that will be a function of both the edge and the grind.

More expensive knives may offer big improvements, but unlikely this big. There are still sizable jumps in performance up to around the $200 price point. Other knives can give you easier sharpening, better retention, and more sophisticated grinds. Those grinds may let the knife cut food better and/or help drop food off the face when a cut is complete. As always there are diminishing returns; it's the same as with cheap, decent, great, excellent, and top of the line guitars. The differences between excellent and top of the line can be subtle. As prices go up you can also end up paying for novel shapes, steels, grinds, and other artistry that is not available in cheaper knives. Beyond some point that is all your money buys. I have used a $850 Nigara Anmon and it is by no means a better knife than a $250 Shibata, but if I had the means I would certainly buy a Nigara.