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A certain knife dealer site had so good of prices on some nice knives in BD1N stainless that I couldn’t help myself. (It’s a sickness I tell ya!) Anyway, here’s some pics of my new tools. 9” hollow edge craving knife and fork set. 6” curved boning knife. I had a Big Poppa gift certificate I’d won in a throwdown that was burning a hole in my pocket so, I placed a couple of items I didn’t already have in my cart. Also added 2 rubs on sale that I thought I’d use a lot. I already used the carving knife for Christmas Eve dinner with my family and hope to use the other items real soon. Thanks for looking.

Going to ask Santa for a few new knives for this year. I am looking for recommendations on a boning/fillet knife and a brisket/meat slicer. Considering Shun and Wusthof but am not dead set on either brand. I'd like something that holds an edge for a long time and relatively easy to maintain. Thanks in advance.

Well after seeing all the nice new toys some of you all were getting, my resistance got worn down. A week before my birthday, I went to the local Sur la Table store to look at some Miyabi’s. I then approached the subject of a new knife with the CFO. Her initial response was a firm “No Way!” Fast forward a week to after my birthday party was over and I see she has left a present aside so as not to have it opened in front of our guests. She had me open it and it was a box of “You’re Awe-Some” Reese’s Peanut butter bars. I’m thinking yum but also why did we wait on this? She saw my confused look so she told me “open the box”. I opened it and there is a couple of bills in there with a note that says “To my Favorite Cut-Up!” along with a picture of a knife. Well after many weeks of researching, looking online and in person at a couple of local stores, I pulled the trigger on a 7 piece set of Miyabi Artisans. I looked at, held and tried slicing and chopping Potatoes, Carrots and Apples with: Shun's: Classic, Premier, Kaji and Hakari series. Miyabi's: Evolution, Koh, Kaizen II and the Artisan series. Kramer's: Meiji and Stainless Damascus series. Notes: I went to the closest Williams Sonoma store to look at the Shuns. Based on how they felt in my hand and how they chopped / sliced, I liked the Hakari series the best. Followed be the Premier and then the Classic. I thought I’d like the Kaji series but the handle wasn’t what I thought and it just didn’t feel comfortable. I really considered buying the Hakari. The thing that held me back was the fact that the food kept sticking to the blade. That issue, and the price caused me to continue to look. I then went back to the Sur la Table store to look at the Miybai’s again. Based on how they felt in my hand and how they chopped / sliced, I liked the Artisan series the best. Followed be the Koh and then the Evolution series. I liked the way the Kaizen II series felt but it didn’t slice as well as the others. (It’s possible it just needed to be re-sharpened) I thought I’d like the Kramer’s more. I liked the way the Meiji series felt in my hand better than the Stainless Damascus did. They both looked stunning but they didn’t slice with nearly the ease of the Miyabi’s. (except the Kaizen II) I went with the Artisan SG2 series for the following reasons: 1. First and foremost is the way it felt in my hand. It was like it was an extension of my fingers. 2. The ease of how it sliced thru the veggies. Yes the food did stick to the blade but not quite to the same extent as it did on the Shuns. 3. Price. I was willing to spend more but being able to spend less was something I did notice. For the price of 2 Kramer’s or 3 Hakari’s, I got 4 knives, a new block, sharpening steel and another set of kitchen shears. 4. Finally is the fact that I had a 15% off coupon that Sur la Table honored for these knives. Here is the un-opened box. Knives unboxed Here’s the nice handle with the decorative accents. 3 1/2" Paring Knife 7” Santoku Close-up on the Miyabi logo on the 8” Chef’s Knife Close-up on the 8” Chef’s Knife’s blade. 9” Bread Knife Close-up on the 9” Bread Knife’s blade. 7” Santoku next to my 6” Zwilling Chef’s knife. Now for a couple of disappointing observations. The new block they included doesn’t appear to be a great block for this series of knives. First thing is it looks crooked. Next thing is that it isn’t very tall. I inserted the 9” Bread Knife into an appropriate looking narrower slot and it comes out the bottom and hits the counter. So I have to move it up to one of the top 2 slots so it won’t hit the counter. The problem is that these are wider slots which means I won’t have room for another wide (deep) knife like a Nakiri. Also, if I buy the 9 1/2” slicing knife, it will also take up one of the 2 top wide slots, this means that I won’t have a slot that fits either my Chef’s or Santoku knife. So if I buy the slicer, I have to buy a new block as well. The final issue is that the slots are close together and these handles are thick and touch each other when inserted all the same direction. Here’s a piece of paper proving that they are touching. If you don’t want them to touch each other you need to insert them in alternating directions. This is fine but my OCD self doesn’t like it. I’m very happy with these knives but very disappointed in the knife block that was included. Finally here is a YouTube video showing the sharpness of these new knives. Thanks for looking and we, who are in trouble, salute you who are about to be in trouble!

Sunday I posted a link to an Amazon Daily Deal on a Wetstone (1000/6000) for knife sharpening. I went ahead and got one as well as a 3000/8000 stone. I received them today and tried them out. Here is the 1000/6000 stone. It came with this nice holder. Here is the stone soaking, Here is the 3000/8000 stone soaking. Can you see the bubbles as it absorbs the water? It came with this rubber gasket that makes it fit in the holder that came with the other stone. Tried them out on this cheap knife that was in bad shape. First the 1000 side. then the 3000 and lastly the 6000. Here is the result. (I still need to work on the tip) I'll continue to practice on my cheap knives to get better and then move on to my better knives. All in all I'm pretty happy with these.

Since many of you have been posting pix of new knives in recent weeks I thought I would share a pix and some info on the knives I've gotten so far this year. As a senior citizen I've accumulated many knives over the years and don't really "need" any more knives but we all know how that needs vs. wants thing plays out at times. However, a couple of these knives were meant to fill a specific need/purpose but a couple of them were just...I liked them. I've always had eclectic tastes and never really been interested in having a "complete set" of similar knives from the same line/series of one manufacturer and I think this group of purchases fits right in with that approach. From top to bottom Florentine Kitchen Knives - Florentine Three Blade is 200mm and made from 52100 high carbon steel. Has a nice balance and a nice rocker. The blade is also a bit taller than many similar knives I have and gives me a bit more knuckle space. Florentine Kitchen Knives is a young company founded a few years ago by Israeli designer Tomer Botner and made in his shop in Spain. I’m usually a function over form kind of guy but I was attracted to this knife for both of those reasons. I love the handle - it is made from wood and leather washers and reminds me of the handle of my first sheath knife I got when I was a kid in the 1960’s (which, regrettably I no longer have). The patina is forced at the factory but will likely get darker and a bit splotchy with further use. https://florentinekitchenknives.com/collections/florentine-three-carbon-steel Nafzger Forge - 6” Boning Ben Noffsinger is a knifemaker local to me and I have been wanting to buy one of his knives for a while. The blade is 52100 high carbon steel hardened to 63HRC. The handle is made of canary wood, purple heart, and buffalo horn. The blade has just a bit of flex to it. Apart from wanting to buy one of his knives I like the shallower curve of the blade. My other boning knifes have a more radical curve which I sometimes find a bit annoying. http://www.nafzgerforge.com/ Masakage Kumo Kamagata 110mm This knife is made from VG10 and a HRC of 60-62 and the handle is octagonal Rosewood with pakka wood collar. I first used one of these style knives a couple years ago when a friend of mine bought one. I had kind of forgotten about them but when I saw that it was on sale via Knifewear this month I just had to buy one. Not a lot of manufacturers offer kamagatas but Masakage offers them in a couple of their product lines. I also considerd one made by Takeda but I really prefer some knives like the Masakage that offer that curved choil/emoto. The Takeda has the typical perpendicular choil which I don’t find as comfortable/finger friendly. Plus, the Masakage was on sale so that sealed the deal. This knife is my “chives chopper”. It has a flat edge along almost its entire length and is just what I wanted for chopping chives, a couple scallions, and the like. When I just need to chop a few scallions I much prefer this shorter blade than my longer nakiris. Worth mentioning that Knifewear is having a month long sale on all Masakage knives during February. I’ve had my eye on a couple of other Masakage blades…must resist. https://knifewear.com/ Kanehide Bessaku Honesuki 150mm Blade is a semi-stainless (no other details and that is fine with me as I really don’t get too concerned about what steels are used in my knives). The blade is not quite a single bevel but rather, has an asymmetrical bevel (maybe 80-20 I’m guessing). I wanted a knife that would be my dedicated blade for breaking down chicken wings (which I do frequently) and this one is perfect. Fairly stiff, stout blade that is not too long and not too short but just right. I bought this particular model honesuki because I was able to get it in a left hand version without having to pay a premium. For some cutting operations I’m actually rather ambidextrous, however, when it comes to finer more detailed types of cutting like mincing veggies or boning wings my brain insists that the knife be in my left hand. Go figure. One thing that really impresses me is that the fit and finish of this knife is pretty nice at its bargain price of $65. http://www.chefknivestogo.com/kanehide.html SVORD Knives - Kiwi Santoku Blade is 7 1/2” high carbon 15N20 or 12C27 and the handle is black polypropylene with red liners (having separate colored liners is rather unusual - can't recall seeing that before in a polypro handled knife). It comes from the factory with the forced patina and is coated with something to prevent rusting while it sits on the shelf as it waits for its new home so it definitely needs to be washed/cleaned before use. I like the old school rough kind of look, even the hole drilled into the blade like many old cleavers had. Svord knives are made in New Zealand. I have other santoku style knives but I bought this one mainly to be my general purpose, outdoors near the grills knife. If I knock this off my prep table and onto my concrete patio I won’t be too upset if I ding the blade. I also like poly handles as they are easy to clean when they get all greasy and the texture means they won’’t be as slippery. The blade is a single bevel meant for right handers. However, it is a very shallow angle (more nakiri like than deba) and still works well even when used in my left hand. As mentioned earlier, even though I am generally left handed, depending on what type of cutting is involved I can use this knife in either hand. Cutting some meat or prepping some corn cobs I'm good with holding it right handed but it will likely just end up in whichever hand is least greasy at the moment. http://www.svord.com/index.php

With all the talk about Japanese knives on here recently I decided to post this on the only one I own. It's in horrible shape and needs a lot of work. I inherited this knife when my parents died 19 years ago. I believe they probably picked it up at a garage sale as they frequented them before they past. It has some markings in Japanese and only Japan in English. Over all pic. Close up. Back side. As you can see the tip is broken off and there are visible chips in the edge. It's probably a cheapy but can anybody identify it?

Costco has a 6 piece set Of Global knives on sale for $349.99. With all the Knife talk on here recently I figured I'd post this. I don't have these knives, so I know anything about them, but I know they are an upper end knife line. Maybe @keeperovdeflame can weight in with his thoughts on them and their quality. As a comparison Cutleryandmore.com has the same set for $599.99. Link: https://www.costco.com/Global-6pc-Knife-Set-with-Block.product.100311468.html

So I've narrowed my choices down to 3 sets. I'd like to hear some thoughts. I think I've read every topic under the subject of knives. At first I was only going to order a 8" Chef and a 4" paring, based on most folks advice. But for not much more I can gather a few more, that I'd probably buy in the long run. 1. Coupled with a 20% off coupon this one can be had for less than $140. I can't find many reviews, but I like the feel. https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/zwilling-reg-j-a-henckels-five-star-8-piece-knife-block-set/1047049598?skuId=47049598&product_id=47049598&adpos=1o1&creative=159972113936&device=t&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=COnI9cO-1NACFdY6gQodqvYFzA 2. Coupled with another 20% off this one is about $100 more. Lots of reviews and felt great. http://www.cutleryandmore.com/zwilling-ja-henckels-pro/knife-block-set-p135469 3. Lastly the most expensive of the 3 @ about $150 more and less knives. Great reviews and felt great also. http://www.cutleryandmore.com/wusthof-classic-ikon/starter-knife-block-set-p120290 2/3 can be added to easily.... Look forward to comments.....

Many of us grew up with the aluminum handle stainless blade ubiquitous paring knives in our parents and grand parents kitchens. Ones that look like this: I always liked these knives and I have been using some from my grandmother's and mother's estate for quite a while. They stay remarkable sharp. The main thing I do not like about them is that over time the brushed aluminum handle gets oxidized and feels "funny" in the hand. I always wondered if the company was still around that made them. Well... some time back from another post on this forum I learned that knives were made by Rada Cutlery (http://www.radacutlery.com) and that they are still in business. According to their website " Rada Cutlery products are 100% American Made – from raw materials through construction." Blades are surgical quality T420 high carbon stainless steel. In browsing their web site i found out that the original aluminum handle style is still available but that they also now have a black resin handle version. They also have a wide range of types including some nice specialty knives not readily found elsewhere. Here is a picture of some of the ones I recently bought direct from Rada through their website. An existing aluminum handle version is in the bottom of the picture for reference. I like this resin handle style and if they hold up at all like the others have, then my grand kids will some day be using them.They stay sharp for an extremely long time. I also bought their simple knife sharpener and for their knives (and probably others too) works very well, based on touching up one of grandma's old knives, to maintain the edge when it (eventually) becomes necessary. Just thought I would post this especially for those of us who grew up with these "old school" utility knives that were bought through fund raisers and independent sellers and the "sales parties" of the day. I recommend the Rada products. I am sure you would enjoy some too!

Over the past 10 years the technology used to manufacturer stamped knives has improved so much that they've really have closed the gap with the hand forged blades. Some higher quality stamped knives can out perform some the high-end hand forged blades. It's made the decision much harder than it was in the past. Which do you prefer, hand forged or high quality stamped knives? Which knife brand(s) are your personal favorites? Do you still think it's worth spending the big bucks on hand forged knives?