Hello. Hopefully this introduction is not too long and I promise any other posts will be brief. I joined because in doing some knife research, I always seemed to end up here reading the posts.
I have always been a collector of antique and contemporary handmade stuff and always liked better handmade things and things that work well, and I appreciate the fine craftsmanship missing in most things today. One of the things I always seemed to gravitate to was knives. Over the years I have collected several French, German, some Japanese and other knives.
For actual use in the kitchen, years ago as a young man I splurged and purchased a Henckels 4 Star knife set with block, that I still have today. They served me well, I guess, for almost 40 years and I felt good knowing I purchased the best knives money can buy and I know my wife thought she was surely getting a fine catch, a man with these fine knives… Fast forward, a few years ago, I purchased a Japanese Santoku that had a laminated steel blade (manufactured DP knife). I thought this was a true hard-to-find rarity of fine craftsmanship and it was a wonderful knife to use and still my wife’s favorite. I really liked the way the knife sharpened, kept an edge, and especially how they felt and worked, a joy compared to the old clunky Henckels. I then found others (nothing really high end or handmade), and the Henckels mostly sat in the corner.
After exploring and reading about the fine handmade Japanese knives that are a joy to use, and always on the lookout, I recently got very lucky and purchased four good used knives at pretty reasonable prices, that I have not yet used. Two Teruyasu Fujiwara knives, a Western Denka Gyuto 250 and a Western Denka Nakiri 165, an Ichiro Hattori 121 Layered KD30 Damascus COWRY X Santoku, and a Usuba knife that I haven’t figured out yet, but a high-quality handmade Damascus knife with Wa handle. I purchased a few others recently that seem pretty good, but I haven’t figured them out yet. A “Blue” steel Santoku knife that says, “Powder Steel”, and a nice handmade Sujihiki from Sakai, and a handmade Nakiri from Echizen.
I did purchase a Damascus Santoku that may be a good knife, but it was abused. It has some bad bends (I’m sure they can be straightened), and it was badly sharpened and misshapen, so it needs to be reground to shape. I would like to ask in another post if anyone knows what it is and if it is worth trying to save, as well as other questions about a few of the knives I own.
I am looking forward to getting some questions answered if I can, and also learning what I can about knives, sharpening, knife repair, etc., and hopefully I can add to the KKF community, now or in the future.
Thank You. Dean
I have always been a collector of antique and contemporary handmade stuff and always liked better handmade things and things that work well, and I appreciate the fine craftsmanship missing in most things today. One of the things I always seemed to gravitate to was knives. Over the years I have collected several French, German, some Japanese and other knives.
For actual use in the kitchen, years ago as a young man I splurged and purchased a Henckels 4 Star knife set with block, that I still have today. They served me well, I guess, for almost 40 years and I felt good knowing I purchased the best knives money can buy and I know my wife thought she was surely getting a fine catch, a man with these fine knives… Fast forward, a few years ago, I purchased a Japanese Santoku that had a laminated steel blade (manufactured DP knife). I thought this was a true hard-to-find rarity of fine craftsmanship and it was a wonderful knife to use and still my wife’s favorite. I really liked the way the knife sharpened, kept an edge, and especially how they felt and worked, a joy compared to the old clunky Henckels. I then found others (nothing really high end or handmade), and the Henckels mostly sat in the corner.
After exploring and reading about the fine handmade Japanese knives that are a joy to use, and always on the lookout, I recently got very lucky and purchased four good used knives at pretty reasonable prices, that I have not yet used. Two Teruyasu Fujiwara knives, a Western Denka Gyuto 250 and a Western Denka Nakiri 165, an Ichiro Hattori 121 Layered KD30 Damascus COWRY X Santoku, and a Usuba knife that I haven’t figured out yet, but a high-quality handmade Damascus knife with Wa handle. I purchased a few others recently that seem pretty good, but I haven’t figured them out yet. A “Blue” steel Santoku knife that says, “Powder Steel”, and a nice handmade Sujihiki from Sakai, and a handmade Nakiri from Echizen.
I did purchase a Damascus Santoku that may be a good knife, but it was abused. It has some bad bends (I’m sure they can be straightened), and it was badly sharpened and misshapen, so it needs to be reground to shape. I would like to ask in another post if anyone knows what it is and if it is worth trying to save, as well as other questions about a few of the knives I own.
I am looking forward to getting some questions answered if I can, and also learning what I can about knives, sharpening, knife repair, etc., and hopefully I can add to the KKF community, now or in the future.
Thank You. Dean
