- Joined
- Jun 26, 2015
- Messages
- 16
I know a ton of people hate Cutco, or more specifically vector marketing. You can't type it into google without getting "Vector Scam" to pop up. I already understand that the way they recruit people could be considered disingenuous and manipulative. That's not the part I'm interested in. I've been in their training program, and actually enjoyed it. It seems like a legitimate sales learning experience. My dad's been a salesman all his life... really no matter how you look at the job it always basically involves emotional manipulation/ applied psychology. Vector has mostly just failed at PR, especially online... In a sense, I'm not really that unethically uncomfortable with that part of the job. My question is whether the price really is fair from an objective standpoint.
I'll start by stating what I know about the knives. I know that Cut-co says its knives are made in Olean, New York and the steel is also from America. It's 440A thermally treated steel, which is apparently a fairly common steel used in knives. 440A is a high carbon steel. I believe, but am not certain, that the steel used is from AK Steel, the largest American steel producer.
steelCOMPOSITION (wt %)
Carbon 0.60 0.75
Manganese 1.00 max.
Phosphorus 0.040 max.
Sulfur 0.030 max.
Silicon 1.00 max.
Chromium 16.0 18.0
Molybdenum 0.75 max.
What I've gathered so far on 440A steel is mixed, some attribute its bad reputation to its commonality others think its simply compositional inferior. So far, I can't really decide.
As far as the manufacturing process is concerned, it's apparently very in-depth. Modern Marvels did a segment on it ( I know that doesn't qualify it as a high quality knife).
http://www.cutco.com/products/video.jsp?play=modern-marvels
Anyone have any info on these supposed industry standards? The handles are made from a so-called "thermo-resin", which is a fancy way of saying heat treated plastic..although to their credit I do believe the polymer they use is a lot better then most standard plastics. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermosetting_polymer It's supposed to be resistant up to 350 degrees Farenhiet. The knives do have a full tang construction. They claim that the 3 nickel silver alloy rivets are much stronger than brass. As far as the blade is concerned, some of them have what Cut-co calls the double-d edge. The most common claim made against these is that they are really just serrated blades. As far as I can tell, they seem to me to be a legitimate variation of a serrated edge. Whether or not this is ideal for kitchen cutlery, I'm uncertain. The claim my manager makes is its to help with the general misuse of kitchen knives by the majority of people, especially with glass/ceramic non-wood cutting boards and that its better for certain tasks. As far as pricing goes, It's a little bit less expensive than Shun, Wustchof, and Henkel. Significantly less expensive when compared to the retail prices for these blades..although you can get them cheaper online. I've seen comparable Shun sets at 1,999 dollars ...generally the homemaker set goes for around 1,149 and the basic kitchen set at 900. Of course there is chicago cutlery, which offers much much cheaper sets. I don't know how comparable in quality they are though. A major selling point on the price tag is that it's payable in 1/5th monthly installments and the "Forever Guarantee". I know that Henkel etc. have comparatively limited warranties, but I don't know about their installment plans. I could go on...but I've spent too much energy on this. Of course you can find cheaper anything on Amazon etc.
Again, I'm not here to sell these knives, just to see whether or not they are worth selling at the price they are listed at. I feel like a big part of the cost might just come down to the fact that they're manufactured in the U.S., rather than China or some other low wage company... It's sort of honorable and sad in that light. They do seem to be more practical, I don't doubt that the quality isn't there...but it still could be very exaggerated.
Thanks. Not trying to start flame wars or anything and again NOT trying to sell these knives to anyone on here.
I'll start by stating what I know about the knives. I know that Cut-co says its knives are made in Olean, New York and the steel is also from America. It's 440A thermally treated steel, which is apparently a fairly common steel used in knives. 440A is a high carbon steel. I believe, but am not certain, that the steel used is from AK Steel, the largest American steel producer.
steelCOMPOSITION (wt %)
Carbon 0.60 0.75
Manganese 1.00 max.
Phosphorus 0.040 max.
Sulfur 0.030 max.
Silicon 1.00 max.
Chromium 16.0 18.0
Molybdenum 0.75 max.
What I've gathered so far on 440A steel is mixed, some attribute its bad reputation to its commonality others think its simply compositional inferior. So far, I can't really decide.
As far as the manufacturing process is concerned, it's apparently very in-depth. Modern Marvels did a segment on it ( I know that doesn't qualify it as a high quality knife).
http://www.cutco.com/products/video.jsp?play=modern-marvels
Anyone have any info on these supposed industry standards? The handles are made from a so-called "thermo-resin", which is a fancy way of saying heat treated plastic..although to their credit I do believe the polymer they use is a lot better then most standard plastics. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermosetting_polymer It's supposed to be resistant up to 350 degrees Farenhiet. The knives do have a full tang construction. They claim that the 3 nickel silver alloy rivets are much stronger than brass. As far as the blade is concerned, some of them have what Cut-co calls the double-d edge. The most common claim made against these is that they are really just serrated blades. As far as I can tell, they seem to me to be a legitimate variation of a serrated edge. Whether or not this is ideal for kitchen cutlery, I'm uncertain. The claim my manager makes is its to help with the general misuse of kitchen knives by the majority of people, especially with glass/ceramic non-wood cutting boards and that its better for certain tasks. As far as pricing goes, It's a little bit less expensive than Shun, Wustchof, and Henkel. Significantly less expensive when compared to the retail prices for these blades..although you can get them cheaper online. I've seen comparable Shun sets at 1,999 dollars ...generally the homemaker set goes for around 1,149 and the basic kitchen set at 900. Of course there is chicago cutlery, which offers much much cheaper sets. I don't know how comparable in quality they are though. A major selling point on the price tag is that it's payable in 1/5th monthly installments and the "Forever Guarantee". I know that Henkel etc. have comparatively limited warranties, but I don't know about their installment plans. I could go on...but I've spent too much energy on this. Of course you can find cheaper anything on Amazon etc.
Again, I'm not here to sell these knives, just to see whether or not they are worth selling at the price they are listed at. I feel like a big part of the cost might just come down to the fact that they're manufactured in the U.S., rather than China or some other low wage company... It's sort of honorable and sad in that light. They do seem to be more practical, I don't doubt that the quality isn't there...but it still could be very exaggerated.
Thanks. Not trying to start flame wars or anything and again NOT trying to sell these knives to anyone on here.
