Robert Herder k chef 225 carbon.

[HappyamateurDK]

Hi all.

Due to my love of the Robert Herder 1922 chef knife, I have also bin drawn towards there k series. More precisely there K chef 225 mm chef knife in carbon.

It looks like a pretty basic stamped knife. But i would like to hear if any of you guys happens to know anything about it. How it perform, what steel they use, any good or bad things about them?

Thanks

 

[xsmx13]

I haven't used one, but a couple months ago I went down the Google rabbit curious about them. There's some discussion here:

Robert Herder K5 & K6 mini-review

I got to check them out in shop at Bernal and the chef knife had a nice thin grind with a nail flexing edge. It seemed intriguing, but I'm not a fan of that handle shape. It's 1.4037 steel in the stainless and online Bernal compares the carbon steel to blue #2 with the addition of vanadium:

https://bernalcutlery.com/products/windmuhlenmesser-k-chef-9-carbon-plum

 

[Jovidah]

I have one. xsmx13 already pointed you to my thread that has most of my experiences about the K-Chef and other knives from that line. I can't remember what the stainless steel was; it might be 1.4037. But they have a carbon and a stainless version.

Steel in the carbon is the same as the other K-series knives, 1.2519 is normally mentioned on the German forums - quite different in composition from the C75 you find in their other carbon lines. Very little reactivity, though that might also be because of the fine blade polish. Also not delicate in the slightest, no chippyness or anything.

Major pros are that it's ground very well, really thin behind the edge, while still not being delicate in the slightest, probably due to being monosteel and still having a fairly thick spine... it's noticably thicker than a K5. But mine still goes through carrots extremely well, while still having that really 'solid' feel you mostly get from monosteel knives.

Main cons... the handle design doesn't excel in durability, the fine blade polish means food release is meh (probably one of the stickiest knives I have), and the spine and choil are sharp. They're also not particularly cheap anymore.

There's also not a lot of taper... what taper there is is mostly from the grind... it's kinda similar to my Y. Tanaka and Yoshikane in that regard - though I prefer my Herder. But that also means there's no flex or anything. Kinda personal preference whether you think this is a good or a bad thing.

If you have the option for a POM handle I'd actually consider that, they tend to be one of the cheaper options and it takes away any potential for long-term issues with the handle.

 

[Keithpaints]

The handles don't bother me. Used bolsterless Forschners for years in production kitchens. Herder has been using this type handle for years. Problems might be from bad knife care.

Yoshikane 240mm was one of my first San Mai knives from Japan Woodworker used it at work before retired. Really liked the flat on blade road plenty board contact for cutting fast. Also lower heel height made it excellent for peeling pineapples & other fruits & vegetables. Sold it to a culinary student. About a year ago bought a 210mm for home use. It's one of my most used home knives.

 

[Jovidah]

The handles don't bother me. Used bolsterless Forschners for years in production kitchens. Herder has been using this type handle for years. Problems might be from bad knife care.

They've been using it for years, and people on the German forums have been complaining about it for years.
The problem isn't that it's bolsterless, the problem is that it has the little protrusion on the front that are somewhat vulnerable to any changes in moisture level. It's not really a functional issue, more of an aesthetical one (high chance of the hanlde coming slightly off the blade in that area), but annoying nonetheless. A slight redesign on their part would fix it easily.