Let's talk knives!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

I inherited my family’s Old Hickory knives when my mom passed. Those knives were in our family for more than 50 years and during that time we processed a lot of meat.
Back then, we never sent anything to the butcher – all the cutting and wrapping (including big game like elk) was done at home. Those knives were always reliable and able to tackle any job we threw at them.

As an adult, I had an assortment of knives, mostly stainless steel. I could never get the same edge on anything I owned that matched the Old Hickory’s. I wanted better knives, but some of the rage stuff was more than I was willing to pay.

The set I inherited was missing the 4” pairing knife and I was out searching for a replacement. I was pleasantly surprised that those proven Old Hickory’s were still being made right here in America after all these years.
Better yet, a 5 piece replacement set was around $60.

I’m sure that many people look at the price and consider them a low quality product. From my personal experience, this is far from true.

IMO, you can’t go wrong with these 1095 carbon steel knives. Carbon steel is easy to get a super sharp edge on, but like @Ahunter3 said, you cant put them in the dishwasher or put them up wet. They will rust.
But you can use a process called forced patina on carbon steel that will cut down on red rust problems.

Patina is a form of oxidation on the surface of a high carbon steel knife. Unlike rust, it is not corrosive, but forms a protective barrier on the metal and helps prevent rust.

The process calls for using an acidic such as vinegar, mustard, coffee, citrus etc. for a period of time until you reach the desired coverage.

In summary, I bought a brand new set. Although the factory edge was not to my liking, it didn’t take long to fix.
I then dipped the new metal into straight white vinegar for for a 20-25 minute soak and I’m very pleased with the results.

I gave the family set to my brother and kept the new set.
He loves them and said he thought the missing knife might be in one of the tackle boxes he inherited. :slight_smile:

22

For reasons that are not easy to explain, I have been collecting automatic and assisted opening knives for almost 30 years. (Yes, I’m in the US.) I currently have about 140 automatics and 55 assisteds. Some are very cheap and poorly made, while others are $200+. I would never carry one around (even the assisteds…LEOs around here tend to frown on them), but they are a lot of fun to examine and compare their actions. Many of the automatics have concealed release mechanisms. Some of the blade locking mechanisms are also pretty interesting. My favorites are the classic stilettos with swinguards.

And, frankly, some of the assisteds open faster and more reliably than the true automatics.

When my relatives visit and happen to take a look at the display, I’ve been tempted to offer them one or two as gifts. Unfortunately, most of my relatives live in states that would have you in the back of a squad car if they found even a small assisted (for example, an SOG Twitch) in your possession.

I have no idea what will be done with them when I pass.

23

How sturdy is/are yours? Like I said, mine is a cheap copy, and I think any amount of significant lateral force (prying, twisting, etc.) would break the joint between the blade and handle. I’ve read that the blades of factory-made Opinels are of good quality, so it’s the construction design and materials of the rest of the knife that I have to wonder about.

24

Construction is good quality, but while the blades are tough they’re thin so I wouldn’t use them for prying too much anyway, it’s really a knife just for cutting as it can be kept very sharp. When new the blades are held tightly in the handle, but they do get looser with a lot of wear.

25

I’m having Asian chef knife envy. I used to have one that I bought in Japan. Now my ex has it. :unamused:

As mentioned in the other knife thread, my go-to is a Ken Onion Scallion. It’s very small (2.25") and has torsion bar assisted opening. I use it for almost everything and would feel naked without it. I used to have a CRKT Drifter, which has thumb-opening, but I prefer the Kershaw. I’ve had a lot of other knives, folding and sheath. It’s a sickness, really. I gave all of them to my grandson recently, keeping only the Kershaw.

26

I admit having a kitchen knife jones. None of these have been bought retail. We go to a lot of estate sales. My best deal was a six in Shun Classic chef’s knife new in sealed box for twenty bucks (Williams and Sonoma retail:$149.00)

27

Buying used / second hand is a great way to go. Nothing wrong with that. It’s all about value.

28

Nice score! My go-to knife for the kitchen chores is an 8" Imarku sub-brand called Allezola. Lightweight, razor sharp, thin and light. My son sent it to me for Christmas one year and I just stuck it in a corner in its box, as my go-to knives at that time were an 8" Shun and my old standby, an 8" Henckels. At least a year or more after I got the knife, my wife broke the tip off the Shun while trying to pry apart some frozen meat. :roll_eyes: After dithering awhile, I threw the Shun away and hauled out the Allezola. Turns out, it’s an excellent tool for chopping and slicing and holds its edge better than the Shun (and without the pitting). I still use the Henckels for heavy-duty work (like prying apart some pork chops :laughing: )

29

I have a generic really heavy duty Chinese cleaver for the heavy tasks. Carbon steel and really hard to sharpen it holds an edge forever.

30

I worked for Gerber blades in a previous life, 25+ years go, and always volunteered to work the employee sales, and so had boxes of knives. Unfortunately, I’m one of those people who loses knives regularly, so I habitually carry a cheap Chinese copy of a Kershaw Leek. (I think). I’ve lost it 3 or 4 times as well, but it always finds it way back to me. It’s good enough for opening boxes, cutting up apples, and such and I use it every day. I’ve still got a desk drawer full of knives I can replace it with.

As for kitchen knives, The Wustofs and Henkles that the company bought for comparison purposes never made it to the employee sales, so I have a motley collection of this and that, but my favorite knives have rubber-ish handles and say Sanelli on them. I think they’re Italian. I do have a couple of MACs, but they’re difficult to sharpen, and I suck at that anyway. I had a friend who used a hard cotton buffing wheel with buffing compound to sharpen knives and I was able to get a really sharp edge with that, but he died and nothing I’ve tried since worked as well for me.

31

My daily carry during work days is a small pocket knife, probably a Chinese knock-off of the Buck 55 pocket knife. It’s only a 1 1/4" blade, but its an elegant little thing and it cost nothing, since my sister found it while on a walk and gave it to me when I visited. It’s perfectly suited to an office environment (I migrated out of the lab more than 20 years ago).

When off work, I’ve been carrying a Smith & Wesson SWA24S. Only about 15 bucks and it opens one-handed, is sturdy, and is sharp out of the box. Also, unobtrusive while walking around.

32

Ooh, i love knives. I mostly have kitchen knives and small pocket knives. I’ll have to document assume if then for this thread later. Bookmarking it for now.

33

I’ve got an old Sabatier meat cleaver. The thing’s indestructible. I’ve also got a great boning knife that was made in Alaska. It has a sheep horn handle and has a map of Alaska etched on it. Good steel, holds a good edge.

34

My current favorite knife (which isn’t carried very often as I work from home at the moment) is a French knife by Fontenille-Pataud. It’s a small Corsican model like the ones on this page.

Plain Steel, Not a “Damascus” and with a Black Walnut Burl handle.

35

Hey I have the same sharpener, and a few of the same knives (Wusthof).

I actually travel with my sharpener on holiday visits because I offer or am asked to help with the prep work and there’s no bigger bummer than contributing to a holiday meal with a dull knife. Now everyone looks forward to their knives getting sharpened at the holidays!

36

That’s wow, a little risky to conceal a knife in an airport. If I didn’t know you I’d think that’s sketchy. Wait🤫

actually good to know, I spy with my little :eye:
Lol.

Some beautiful specimens here in this thread.

37

Me either. I’ve known professional chefs who say they keep their Wusthofs or Henckels so sharp the air screams if you wave them around. But I’ve had friends and acquaintances who’ve begged me to sharpen theirs and after several hours I hadn’t made much progress and they weren’t even in the same ballpark as my Old Hickory blades.

I can slice an overripe tomato into paper-thin disks — they cut what they touch without having to exert pressure. Cut through tough scaly fish skins.

38

We have 4 Global kitchen knives, from a paring knife to to cleaver, my partner loves: they take an excellent edge, are relatively light, and have thin handles. I have several folders, from an old Schrade to a 1.5" Gerber, an odd German one, and a Swiss Army knife. I have a no name 12" chef’s knife with a carbon steel blade that belonged to my grandfather, thin and able to take a wicked edge. My favourite kitchen knife is probably this one
![image|463x500](upload://nOEv59RXBKf0g2o2M697abYXy92.jpeg
by Lee Valley, again with a carbon steel blade, about 6.5 inches long.

39

I’m guessing most of us here have a knife block for our kitchen knives. We like to limit what’s on our countertops so we have this in one of our drawers. It works really well for us.

40

I have something similar to that for my Wusthofs. They used to be proudly displayed in a knife block but I had a kiddo so they are now in a safety-locked drawer.

I’ve been using Wusthofs for years. I have a small collection, but my go-to was a six inch chef’s knife (I am a woman with smallish hands). It worked for most jobs but some things were awkward with the smaller blade. Cutting butternut squash, for example. I finally sprung for the 8" classic chef’s knife and holy moly it’s big! Much bigger than my 8" Santoku from the same manufacturer. But I really love it. Sometimes I feel like I could throw out all the others. I won’t… But I probably could, with the exception of the paring knife.