Richmond Addict Upgrades

[Dave Martell]

got a hold of an addict, but don't know if it's 1st or 2nd gen. it appears to have been reprofiled as there is mostly all flat and even the rise to the tip is flat with very little curve. wondering if there are any clues as to how to tell (profile obviously out of the question).

i'm going to put a new edge on it and it looks like it could do with a bit of thinning, i don't have a grinder but do have a diamond plate and a naniwa 150. any advice or just go at it and have fun grinding away for hours?

is it just this one, or does the handle seem to tilt downward, was that intentional? it looks weird as hell!

Hi Panda,
I don't know about the profile difference or the handle design history on this particular knife but like with all knives if the profile has been adjusted by someone then the sides of the blades will require some thinning to make it even and get it thin enough to pass through food without wedging. I'd suspect that it needs thinning even if the knife's profile wasn't messed with though, these knives are a tad thick in their stock form.

How to do this? There's the hard way or the expensive way....the hard way is you grinding and refinishing until you're content...the expensive way is to send it to someone like myself who does this work.

[zitangy]

yeah. the Takeda i owned had visible epoxy sealing the blade to the handle, but it was nearly applied and looked fine.

++ agreed. ON tthe Takeda..it covers it nicely unlike on the Adict. Its clear and see thru if I remember correctly. Just a bob of unvenly applied. It makes sense to put epoxy. Not sure what brand it is adn I have resorted to putting super glue on the tang/ferule point so as to prevent water entering the handle and slowly rust/rot the tang inside; completely hidden from view.

I separated a gyuto ( which i paid usd 5/-- from a Japanese surplus store and i don't see a any lamination lines) from the handle and I noticed that the tang/ rat tail has corroded badly to the point that in the center of the rat tail, it is thinner than the rest and can be easily bent. I suppose a new rat tail needs to be welded. But it is way beyond my level of competence.

so apply some "cow sperm" to prevent water from getting in.

have fun

rgds d

[panda]

ok so i went the hard way, and finally set my own bevels on the addict with a big righty biased bevel. it feels AWFUL on the stones, god i hate sharpening this steel. but afterwords, it's actually a really good cutter (despite the steel being annoying to sharpen, it takes a good edge and holds it reasonably well), mine's to a point where i would consider it a thicker laser. so if you have an addict and arent happy with how it performs, you should either do the work (warning: huge pain in the ass for this knife, mine's scratched all to hell above the edge which i dont mind and or feel the desire/need to polish it out) or just have someone like dave do it for you (smart way, lol).

i post this because i was going to sell it off since i never ended up using it. now that it's been tweaked to my liking, i use it while on the line quite a bit. all my cooks love this knife now.

[Dave Martell]

I'm glad to hear that you worked off some of the fat from your knife panda and that it performs good for you now.