Christmas Present for the bosses wife

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Do a little knife care tips I've learned the hard way a neighbor gave me a cleaver to restore. The western handle was in bad shape so replaced it. Took the chips out & put a sharp edge on it. When he gave it to me to resharpen the nice handle looked pretty bad. I asked if it had been in dishwasher he said we always use dishwasher for everything.

Sold a Tanaka nashiji blue core steel to another
neighbor they loved the way it cut. I even gave them some care tips. He asked me couple months later if I could fix the knife. The edge part of heel was broken off.
 
Jovidah said:
I would take just about any entry-level J-knife over a Wüsthof or Zwilling set. The performance difference is huge; bigger than between entry J-knife and higher end IMO. Just tell them what not to use it on.
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Jovidah: I think all of us agree with you about "any entry level J-knife over a Wusthof or Zwilling". BUT, and this is the big BUT -- the amount of care, understanding and knowledge required for true J-knives renders the J-knives a distant second place for people who do not understand this, and willing to invest the time. The user would ruin J-knives in weeks and wonder why her husband gave her such terrible knives! And the employee will lose his job!
 
🧐 It’s just a knife… It’s not that hard to learn how to use it properly. The OP should ask some questions about whether they plan to put it in the dishwasher, cut frozen food, or open cans with it. But this idea that if someone’s not currently on KKF they should only be allowed soft steel is stupid. Accidents happen (my parents put a 5mm chip in a Mac I gave them after a year or so of use), but with a reasonable entry level J knife probably the most you’d see is microchips, which are easily fixed. My Gesshin Uraku stainless is a freakin tank: I’m not sure I could chip it if I tried, and it’s tons better than a Wusthof.

Don’t buy them a 67 HRC carbon gyuto that’s thin enough to nail-flex, but otherwise just talk to them and figure out what kind of care they’re willing to exercise.
 
Cliffkol said:
Jovidah: I think all of us agree with you about "any entry level J-knife over a Wusthof or Zwilling". BUT, and this is the big BUT -- the amount of care, understanding and knowledge required for true J-knives renders the J-knives a distant second place for people who do not understand this, and willing to invest the time. The user would ruin J-knives in weeks and wonder why her husband gave her such terrible knives! And the employee will lose his job!
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C'mon on now. A bit dramatic huh? They aren't glass for crying out loud. This isn't some exclusive club of higher knowledge.

There's a lot of solid performing Japanese knives that can take a little abuse.

And why be so pretentious? We don't know anything about their knife usage and care habits. A lot of folks think Chicago Cutlery are "good" knives and are likely to take good care of them.

We just need more info to give more precise recommendations.
 
Cliffkol said:
Jovidah: I think all of us agree with you about "any entry level J-knife over a Wusthof or Zwilling". BUT, and this is the big BUT -- the amount of care, understanding and knowledge required for true J-knives renders the J-knives a distant second place for people who do not understand this, and willing to invest the time. The user would ruin J-knives in weeks and wonder why her husband gave her such terrible knives! And the employee will lose his job!
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I think this is really highly overstated, especially when you consider that there's a wide spectrum of Japanese knives. Not everything is an iron-clad 65 HRC ultra-thin diva knife...
Even something like a humble Carbonext suggested above will survive anything but the most extreme abuse, will rockchop just fine, won't chip, won't rust, etc.
J-knives cover a wide spectrum, and while the fragile kind might perform better, the more forgivable ones are certainly no slouch.
 
I have given my sisters a number of kitchen knives. I started back when Soligen steel meant something. Later shun and global; and then some J knives.

One sister took a 1cm x 2cm chip out of a R2 takamura 210 gyuto (red handle). She was cutting some partially defrosted mushrooms.

She is intelligent. She had learned proper grip and claw. She wipes the blades down and does not use the dishwasher. But knife nuance did not interest her at all.
 
Given that we don’t have information on the knife recipient’s knife usage habits, level of interest, etc., we’re flying blind. All we know is the old set was a Chicago Cutlery block. My thinking is it’s best to err on the side of caution because it’s a gift. Not everyone wants to receive a gift that necessitates changing what you’ve been accustomed to because the gift is “better”. For some, that is the definition of an inconvenience. Now, if someone’s shown an emerging interest in kitchen knives or even some curiosity, or if this was a thread where the OP was asking for themselves and we could ask questions, then it’s a different ballgame.

If anything, I think it’s “superior” that recommendations need always be some species of high performance Japanese knives 🤪… I know, blasphemy, right?

Sure, most decent Japanese knives will be better performers than German ones. (But to some extent this is also relative based on expectations.) Plus, this generally comes with trade-offs, because they will also be different, as well as new limitations and a learning curve—not all of which are guaranteed to be welcomed by a new user.
 
Victorinox makes decent petty knife. The 8" chef knife will take a sharp edge once you knock the shoulders off the V grind they put on them. Edge retention ok for a while with home use.
 
Would it be too simple to TALK about a couple of options with the 'Boss man'?
Narrow the selection down to three /four options; Size, Geometry, Stainless vs Carbon, Hardness and go from there.
 
MarcelNL said:
Would it be too simple to TALK about a couple of options with the 'Boss man'?
Narrow the selection down to three /four options; Size, Geometry, Stainless vs Carbon, Hardness and go from there.
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This.

OP, which knives does your boss use at work? Certainly he'd have some ideas rather than rely solely on you?
 
I've tried a lot of cheaper "entry-level" jknives, as I'm regularly ordering them for sharpening clients who want to upgrade. After comparing performance, aesthetic and value I generally recommend the following 3, depending on their personal preferences for appearance and handle:
Masutani VG10 line (damascus, yo handle with a bolster)- The VG1 line has the same grind, tsuchime finish and brown handles. Both are excellent cutters, but I don't think that you'll find full set (no petty)
Harukaze/haruyuki/tsunehisa.... the Ginsan line specifically, with nashiji tsuchime and wa handle. Perform better than many knives I have at 2-3x the price. Profile lends itself well to rocking.
Kumagoro suminigashi VG10- inexpensive, thin enough to cut well, very basic yo handles. Epicurean Edge: Japanese and European professional chefs knives
Mac and Tojiro are also solid choices, as mentioned by everyone, always. The Mac pro line are the nicest looking (bolsters), but only the 165 Santoku and 210 gyuto from this line use the better steel found in the Superior line.
I would advise against Shun, just because almost every one that comes into my shop needs to have the jagged-ass edge, and usually the tip, repaired. Might just be b/c that's the 'nice knife' that non-knife people buy and they don't know how to treat it... but I've never owned one, so I can't truly say if it's from abuse rather than just a chippy treatment of a chippy steel (vg10). But I can say that every time someone tells me they're bringing in Shun knives, I put a coarser belt on the grinder
 
I like the Tojiro SG2 knives. They have gone up in price.

As mentioned quite a bit in this thread Tojiro &
Mac knives both are good choices.

Mac Superior has a small utility knife 4" blade that for home will get used a lot. 49.95 Amazon. Another ladies Mac Pro 7.25" gyuto
59.95.
 
One of the rare cases I would suggest a Misono UX-10. They provide a kind of sharp feeling or bite even when what we would consider to be completely dull. The steel, 19C27, is very abrasion resistant — developed for industrial purposes — and no fun to sharpen. Get them with Korin and ask for the free 'initial stone sharpening', because the Misono factory edges are weak and overly convexed. Beside that, Misono offers a great Fit&Finish and has an excellent QC. You can buy them blindly.
The UX-10 has a innovative design and still is a very comfortable blade.
At least, it isn't as boring as the 440 series which is an excellent alternative to the big Germans.
If your budget allows it, you may add a Dickoron Micro honing rod, which is the only one I know to really postpone sharpening without causing damage that would take a huge time to sharpen out.
 
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