Custom Kitchen Knives


 
Hi, great topic.
I started my Japanese knife set by purchasing a Global 3 years ago. I've gone on to acquiring a Tojiro - gyuto, Masakage Shimo - sujihiki, Yoshikane - nakiri, and a Takeda deba. I too hand sharpen them with Japanese waterstones. These knives are such a treat to work with.
Ken
 
Jerome D. said:
Hi Jim,
Shuns are definitely worth trying. Shuns were the brand that got me into Japanese knives, and I had an excellent experience using them. When I got into the custom thing, I gave away all my Shuns to various family members. If you're not into freehand sharpening on water stones, one thing that's nice about Shun is that their knives come with free sharpening, as long as you pay to ship them to their facility in Oregon.
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Anecdotally my BBQ teammate thinks his shuns aren't durable. I don't know if he abuses them or if he's right that they chip very easily, but he's a pretty good cook so he probably takes care of his gear.
 
Hi Dave,

My positive comments about Shuns were based solely on my own past experience with them, but in reality I'm not strongly opinionated about the brand either way (although my praise of them might have made me come across as a Shun fanatic :D). Being just a home cook, my knives don't get anywhere near the amount of mileage that a professional chef or BBQ competitor would put on them, so my previous experience with Shun knives could be completely different than that of your BBQ teammate in terms of edge retention. I enjoy using all kinds of kitchen cutlery, and respect other people's opinions about all the various brands.
 
"Most" Shun knives are basically VG-10 steel which in the world of high end J-knives is bottom of the barrel. It is considered a step up though from the majority of german and european steels used in Victorinox, Henkels and Wustof knives. It can be pain to sharpen, does take a good edge but retention isn't the best. But compared to the average knife in the average kitchen, Shuns are like scalpels.
 
Up until 10 minutes ago, I was more than happy with my collection
of what I considered High End Henckels & Shun Bob Kramers.
In fact most friends think I'm nuts for what I spend on knifes.

Now, I feel inadequate. I might need therapy or counseling.
Of course if I took the money I would spend on the therapy and counseling
and invested it in some new knifes, I might feel a whole lot better.
 
Bill - Bigbill said:
Up until 10 minutes ago, I was more than happy with my collection
of what I considered High End Henckels & Shun Bob Kramers.
In fact most friends think I'm nuts for what I spend on knifes.

Now, I feel inadequate. I might need therapy or counseling.
Of course if I took the money I would spend on the therapy and counseling
and invested it in some new knifes, I might feel a whole lot better.
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I just accept my cutlery addiction and shall willingly succumb to it the rest of my life :).
Hey, those Shun and Henckels Bob Kramer edition knives you've got are nothing to sneeze at, especially the carbon steel ones. Sure beats the heck out of spending years on the waiting list for a custom knife made by Bob Kramer himself.
 
Wow...just wow. That is one beautiful collection Jerome. Very jealous. :)
I'm going to show my wife this and tell her, "see? I'm not that bad!" :p

EDIT:

Her exact response:
Wife said:
you mean you've found worse?
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LMAO
 
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Yikes. :D I am not the only one. I have not bought any Japanese knives because I am not familiar with what is what. Also, I do not sharpen knives. I own almost a complete set of Shun Kaji. I have a steel, carving, bread, santoku, chef's, boning, paring, dual density utility, ultimate utility (scary sharp) some hollow ground. And I've been cooking for 30 yrs. Any advice you have a for a first knife would be very much appreciated or place to buy them. This is the only place I know of. http://www.chefknivestogo.com Thanks in advance
 
Be careful Victor, J-knives are an addiction, once you start there is no stopping!;) CKTG is a good place to buy knives with a lot of variety. Post questions on their forum and get lots of great information, just like here! If your going to buy nice knives you need to learn how to sharpen. It's a lot easier than you would think. Buy a couple stones and get started!
 
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Victor Rosiles said:
Yikes. :D I am not the only one. I have not bought any Japanese knives because I am not familiar with what is what. Also, I do not sharpen knives. I own almost a complete set of Shun Kaji. I have a steel, carving, bread, santoku, chef's, boning, paring, dual density utility, ultimate utility (scary sharp) some hollow ground. And I've been cooking for 30 yrs. Any advice you have a for a first knife would be very much appreciated or place to buy them. This is the only place I know of. http://www.chefknivestogo.com Thanks in advance
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This is where I purchase my knives. They are very helpful.
http://www.knifewear.com/index.asp
 
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