[Sca-cooks] Another knife question

[Chris Stanifer]

--- marilyn traber 011221 <phlip at 99main.com> wrote:

> Dunno what all this noise is about liking or disliking one brand or another- 
> I think many of us have been suckered by the "brand names you can trust" way 
> of thinking, the grand Madison Avenue hustle.


Well, that may be true for some things, but when it comes to knives (especially if you use them in
your profession like I do), a 'brand name you can trust' really does make a difference.  There are
brands out there which, quite frankly, I wouldn't recommend for a jail break, much less a
professional or home kitchen.  Cheap materials, and shoddy workmanship can lead to a dull
blade...and a dull blade can lead quite easily to injury. 

Besides, if you are going to invest in a knife (and a good knife is an investment), you don't want
to buy blind.  Recommendations from those who know what they are talking about can certainly be a
good starting point.  I'm not a metalsmith or metalurgist, but I do know what makes a good knife,
because I've been using them regularly for almost half my life.

Most good knife shops will allow you to handle the blade before you buy it (if they don't, you
shouldn't buy it), so you can see if it will fit nicely in your hand, guage the weight and heft,
and examine the workmanship.

Of course, there are some real finds out there, too, as have been described previously... yard
sales, estate sales and second-hand stores often have good quality knives at a cut-throat rate.


> As a general rule, I'd stay away from the cheap Asian knock-offs of various 
> brands, the reason being that their steels are very inconsistant- they 
> haven't gotten the tech organized well enough to produce a consistant quality 
> of steel, so you might get one knife that's absolutely wonderful, and the 
> next one is absolutely worthless.


I have to echo this statement, and add that if a blade advertises that it will never dull (or that
you can chop apart an engine block and still slice a tomato paper thin), steer clear of it.  A
metal that hard may keep an edge for a while, but once it dulls (and it will) it will be pretty
much useless for the remainder of its life.


> 
> But, get what YOU like, and ignore the people who play the game of knife envy-
>  most of them don't know what they're talking about in the first place.


I'm not sure if I would use the word 'most', but there are those out there who feel that they are
experts on everything, and 'some' of them don't know what they are talking about.  I'd stick to
listening to those of us who use knives on a regular basis, and have the weight of experience to
back us up.

> Why not consider making your own? But some good carbon steel, and shape it to 
> suit your fancy. If you buy it already heat treated you can work and grind it 
> using power tools (belt sander or bench grinder) as long as you don't let it 
> heat up- that means touching it to the abrasive, removing and letting it 
> cool, etc, until you have the shape you like. Carbon steel is certainly cheap 
> enough, even with the ridiculous price increases we've been dealing with 
> lately, and you can even have a pro heat treat it for you fairly 
> inexpensively. Handles are easy- wood and a couple rivets aren't a big deal.


Sorry, but I would advise against making your own knife, if you intend to use it regularly, until
you have a bit of experience in doing so.  Improperly balanced, weak, or poorly crafted blades are
a danger to those who use them, and those around them.  I would suggest buying a good knife, and
using it while you practice making your own :)


William de Grandfort


=====
Every heart to love will come... but like a refugee.


		
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