What is this (old?) knife?

[Beerzebub]

Hi everyone, I bought this from a seller on Ebay in the US in 2006 for $28 and I use it sometimes for slicing roasts. Blade length at edge 235mm, overall length 370mm, height at heel 41mm. What is it?
By the way, I'm new here. If I inserted the photos the wrong way or something please tell me.
Edit: also I'm more than open to sharpening suggestions (pretty amateurish sharpener).
Thanks!

 

[Benuser]

My guess were it's a former chef's knife that has lost considerable width with use, and has been transformed to a slicer, in a bit aggressive way: see the bevels. It could probably perform much better if seriously thinned. As you didn't pay much you may consider sending out for a good thinning job. Lovely handle by the way.

 

[Beerzebub]

Thank you Benuser! You confirmed my suspicions, and my thinning fears. So far I've just touched up the edge along the bevels it had when purchased, and it performs ok as a slicer. And yep, I love the handle! Not just its looks, but it works great in a pinch grip. I give it some mineral oil now and then. For thinning, I have a Naniwa Gouken Arata 400, would that work well at all and be a fun learning experience, or unfun and I would be better off sending it out?

 

[Benuser]

Thank you Benuser! You confirmed my suspicions, and my thinning fears. So far I've just touched up the edge along the bevels it had when purchased, and it performs ok as a slicer. And yep, I love the handle! Not just its looks, but it works great in a pinch grip. I give it some mineral oil now and then. For thinning, I have a Naniwa Gouken Arata 400, would that work well at all and be a fun learning experience, or unfun and I would be better off sending it out?

I'm afraid it is really a major operation that's needed. Water-cooled powered tools will get involved. Keep your 400 for maintenance thinning as a part of a full sharpening. In this case, a lot of steel has to be removed. To give an idea: for general purpose knives, used in Western cuisine, with a lot of board contact, a rule of thumb were a thickness of 0.2mm, .008" behind the bevels, say at the level of the shoulders, i.e. where bevel and face meet. At 5mm, .2" upward from there, 0.5mm, .02" thickness is a reasonable value. Even without a micrometer you may see that in your case the knife is at least double as thick as you may want. The one who changed it into a slicer set bevels without any thinning, as far as I can see.
So, I think there is no other option than sending out.

 

[Ericfg]

Personally I doubt there is much need for thinning when used for cutting cooked proteins. OP, how thick is the spine at the tip, middle and by the handle?

 

[GorillaGrunt]

I'm afraid it is really a major operation that's needed. Water-cooled powered tools will get involved. Keep your 400 for maintenance thinning as a part of a full sharpening. In this case, a lot of steel has to be removed. To give an idea: for general purpose knives, used in Western cuisine, with a lot of board contact, a rule of thumb were a thickness of 0.2mm, .008" behind the bevels, say at the level of the shoulders, i.e. where bevel and face meet. At 5mm, .2" upward from there, 0.5mm, .02" thickness is a reasonable value. Even without a micrometer you may see that in your case the knife is at least double as thick as you may want. The one who changed it into a slicer set bevels without any thinning, as far as I can see.
So, I think there is no other option than sending out.

Without a choil shot it’s hard to tell; but I just brought my YXR7 to a local knifemaker asking about thinning it on a belt grinder. From the height of the bevels (not as severe as the knife above but not great for a Japanese knife) and my experiences trying to thin on coarse stones I thought it would definitely be a power tool job especially for a steel like that. He said he’d just use a diamond plate so I tried it myself, got a DMT 320, and was flabbergasted to see the improvement after 20 minutes and how easy it was compared to my attempts with Shapton 120, Sigma 240, etc. Another 10 minute session got it where I wanted it.

So while this operation is quick and easy on a belt, it seems more doable by hand than i had thought.

 

[Heckel7302]

Hard to say what it is. The rounded birds beak at the end of the handle make me suspect it's American in origin and likely started life as a chef knife that was quite a bit taller.

I'd agree that if it's exclusively used for proteins, not much will be gained from thinning. Dense veg would be crack city though. If you wanted to thin it a shapton 120 would thin out those bevels without an extraordinary amount of effort. Maybe an hour or two on the bottom cm of the bevel would probably help it perform considerably better.

 

[Beerzebub]

Personally I doubt there is much need for thinning when used for cutting cooked proteins. OP, how thick is the spine at the tip, middle and by the handle?

At the tip the spine is just under 1mm thick, halfway toward the handle it is 2.5mm, and by the handle it's just under 3mm.

I haven't learned how to take a good choil shot yet, but it looks like how you would imagine: like the Washington monument.

Thank you for all the great info everyone!

 

[Ericfg]

At the tip the spine is just under 1mm thick, halfway toward the handle it is 2.5mm, and by the handle it's just under 3mm.

Yeah, I think that confirms it was once a chef's profile. Not that that's a bad thing; it still looks good, is in very good condition, and is thick enough for heavier tasks.

 

[Beerzebub]

Yeah, I think that confirms it was once a chef's profile. Not that that's a bad thing; it still looks good, is in very good condition, and is thick enough for heavier tasks.

Cheers! Yep, I have a soft spot for this knife even though its uses are limited how it is now.

 

[Benuser]

I haven't learned how to take a good choil shot yet, but it looks like how you would imagine: like the Washington monument.

Or the obelisk at the Place de la Concorde.

 

[Beerzebub]

Or the obelisk at the Place de la Concorde.View attachment 204616

Exactly!