Does(new) Old Hickory still hold up? Looking for a set of "starter" kitchen knives, pref carbon, to learn to maintain for cheap.

Hashishiin

Hashishiin

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Dec 29, 2021
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Looked for an order confirmation in my email and found out that an order didn't go through, so I'm saving my Byrd Cara Cara 2 Wave/Old Hickory cutlery set purchases to ask a lil more about before I pull the trigger on.

I've been trying to add some knives to the kitchen so that my girlfriend feels the goodwill of this knife thing. Loved the BD1N Spyderco Z-Cuts I've put in, big hit. Other than that, we have basically random knives. A sheepsfooty-Santoku, if that's even the right word, some other stuff... point being I want to learn to maintain kitchen cutlery. I'm going to buy some actually nice stuff, some Japanese knives, some ZDP-189 maybe, but not before I know what I'm doing, thus why I ask about Old Hickory. I know this is a well-loved brand that is a subsidiary of Ontario, and I do like Ontario. The only fixed blade offering I have from them, in this steel, is their SP-1, which while robust as hell, has a huge obtuse and a little bit uneven grind, I looked at it on the stone, stinking it up with the smell of a firepit, and thought "I'm not raising my first burr on this 'orribly obtuse edge.". I don't mind the edge on that knife because I know I can fix it and I know it's a big outdoor trowel ugly beater of a knife, and that's a-ok with me, I can put an edge there when I know how.

But, I cannot deal with this on kitchen knives. For anyone having bought OH knives recently, how has the edge been out of the box? I don't want anything I have to "fix" right away, I'm trying to learn to raise a wire edge and all that, not reprofile and all just yet. Baby steps.

Getting the edges back on the knives used most, the Z-Cut and that sheepsfooty knife have been great on the Sharpmaker, but I have a 500 grit, I think, King 300 whetstone, an angle guide and a sharpie, and I'm hankering for an easy to cut carbon steel. Going to try my hand today again at raising a burr on a knife, but this is not the point of this thread. Would you rec a modern made 1075 Old Hickory 5-peice set at 50 bucks, or would I be better served with something else in the same range, and if so, what? I have taken looks at some Victorinox and Opinel sets, but these are simply paring knives, or chef knives, not a full set like the OH. Thanks!
 
OH knives come pretty much dull. They will need sharpened right out of the package,

I use butcher, boning, and paring in the kitchen. I love how easy they are to sharpen, but to be honest, the weak cutlery rivets are not great.

Also, they are kinda thick. You will need a thinner paring knife and chefs knife to compliment the OH series.
 
MolokaiRider said:
OH knives come pretty much dull. They will need sharpened right out of the package,

I use butcher, boning, and paring in the kitchen. I love how easy they are to sharpen, but to be honest, the weak cutlery rivets are not great.

Also, they are kinda thick. You will need a thinner paring knife and chefs knife to compliment the OH series.
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Good to know these things. Glad to give them work out of the box. The thickness is the only thing that gives me trepidation, as I'm afraid I won't be able to work up a wire edge so easily on a thick blade, but I might be wrong about this.
 
MolokaiRider said:
OH knives come pretty much dull. They will need sharpened right out of the package,

I use butcher, boning, and paring in the kitchen. I love how easy they are to sharpen, but to be honest, the weak cutlery rivets are not great.

Also, they are kinda thick. You will need a thinner paring knife and chefs knife to compliment the OH series.
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You pretty much confirmed my expectations on this series. I've been eyeing them lately as well. Right now, I'm seeing the slicer as the cherry of the bunch just to try one out.
 
Hashishiin said:
Good to know these things. Glad to give them work out of the box. The thickness is the only thing that gives me trepidation, as I'm afraid I won't be able to work up a wire edge so easily on a thick blade, but I might be wrong about this.
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The steel is incredibly easy to sharpen.

Once you have established an acceptable bevel, the knives respond to a steel honing rod like peanut butter goes with jelly.

That Is the beauty of the OH line.

Plus, they are tough enough to abuse.
 
Bloodloss said:
You pretty much confirmed my expectations on this series. I've been eyeing them lately as well. Right now, I'm seeing the slicer as the cherry of the bunch just to try one out.
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They are still a relevant knife even by todays standards.

I have used OH paring knives for over 36 years on the farm as a primary tool for nursery work.

They can take a great edge quickly and survive constant abuse and neglect. The scales can get loose, but a few taps on the rivets and/or some glue will work in a pinch.
 
Okay, so these WOULD be a good idea for someone learning to hand-sharpen kitchen cutlery, it seems. My plan is to buy 'em and take 'em to the 500 grit stone to try to work up a burr and make an acceptable bevel.

As to the descriptions of how they hold up, that is exactly what I was hoping to hear.
 
Old Hickory knives use a very soft high carbon steel (1095-ish) and won't hold an edge. Spend a little more for a knife with a better quality steel you won't have to resharpen after every use.
 
Alberta Ed said:
Old Hickory knives use a very soft high carbon steel (1095-ish) and won't hold an edge. Spend a little more for a knife with a better quality steel you won't have to resharpen after every use.
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Well, that's the thing, it's not a knife, it's five knives for $50, haha. I see your point, though and I am open to suggestion, my good man!
Wild Willie said:
Dexter Russell makes a bunch of good kitchen knives that are affordable and good to learn on. I have one of their carbon steel paring knives on the magnet bar in the kitchen as I type this.
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Looking into them, too, thanks for the note!
 
I'd suggest looking at the Victorinox/Forschner Fibrox handle knives. Get an 8" chef's knife to start, it will do well for most things. Maybe get a paring knife to go with it if you want to. They are a great value, and actually are pretty good knives far as it goes. Not bad to sharpen, and I greatly prefer stainless in the kitchen personally, it's just simpler. More expensive than Old Hickory, yes, but I think worth it. I don't see a real big need to go for a full set to start off with, personally.
 
Alberta Ed said:
Old Hickory knives use a very soft high carbon steel (1095-ish) and won't hold an edge. Spend a little more for a knife with a better quality steel you won't have to resharpen after every use.
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Can't be any softer than the steel on my carbon steel Chinese cleavers (of which I have many) which all hold an edge just fine for normal use but when they go dull (and every knife does) it's easy to reset the edge w/a honing steel w/o the need for any stone resharpening.

Of course, this assumes you have a "good" edge to begin with and, if you don't, then some hand sharpening may be required but, if done "right," you'll seldom need to use anything but a honing steel to maintain the edge.
 
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sgt1372 said:
Can't be any softer than the steel on my carbon steel Chinese cleavers (of which I have many) which all hold an edge just fine for normal use but when they go dull (and every knife does) it's easy to resharpen them w/a honing steel w/o the need for any stone resharpening.

Of course, this assumes you have a "good" edge to begin with and, if you don't, then some hand sharpening may be required but, if done "right," you'll seldom need to use anything but a honing steel to maintain the edge.
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This has been my conundrum, I think I perhaps over-worry about the need to re-profile and re-sharpen so much. I'm getting these for partially educational/maintenance purposes, so I'm okay learning to get a "good" edge on one of these, and then having a set of "beater" kitchen knives that last forever, even if they don't hold the keenest edge.
 
I have a set of Old Hickories and a wall rack that my wife found at a garage sale. She paid next to nothing for it. I've since added a few more. I like them and use them frequently along with the stainless Chicago Cutlery set that we got 26 years ago as a wedding present.
 
I have NO 1st hand experiences with OH knives in their newer 1075 versions.

I have however modified a few of the 1095 small & large Butcher models; testing them as inexpensive outdoor knives, including mild batoning both cross-grain and with-grain applications. I was surprised how well the edges held up with fairly skinny geometries I applied. Impressed ..., would actually be a better term (Primary Bevel re-grinds followed by 15dps aka 30°inc Secondary Bevels).

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I'm not super knowledgeable on kitchen knives but I belong to a chef's knives group and pay attention over there to a lot of these type of questions. I'd say the two brands that they recommend the most for what you're talking about are Kiwi's (Real inexpensive and softer steel, but come with very good geometry and value for the price), and Victorinox (These things are really good for the money. My parents bought one many years ago and it came super sharp, even to my standards, and has held up very well).
 
Hashishiin said:
This has been my conundrum, I think I perhaps over-worry about the need to re-profile and re-sharpen so much. I'm getting these for partially educational/maintenance purposes, so I'm okay learning to get a "good" edge on one of these, and then having a set of "beater" kitchen knives that last forever, even if they don't hold the keenest edge.
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If the shape/edge of a blade is "off," you rarely need to reprofile a blade or regrind an edge, uness you wear down the blade so much that you cannot reset the edge by simply honing it.

I've only had to "reprofile" 2 blades in my life: 1) a Lamson 828 Meat Cleaver (that I inherited from my sous chef father) and 2) a large craft made Filipino balisong that I bought off of the Exchange.

Even though the edge on the Lamson is still very obtuse becasue the blade is so thick, the edge that I put on it will easily cut you if you run your finger along (rather than across) it. So, will the bali but, of course, its blade is much thinner.

All I used to do that was a 2 sided (coarse/fine) corundum kitchen stone, which is what my father (who was very anal used to "sharpen" his knives down to the nub). Far more than was necessary to maintain an edge but that was the way he was.

To look at them, all of my Chinese cleavers (most of them over 50 years old that I also inherited from my parents) are "beaters" but I keep them all sharp and they all hold an edge sufficient to cut me (even when "dull") with just a small slip of the blade, as one of them did just the other day.
 
sgt1372 said:
If the shape/edge of a blade is "off," you rarely need to reprofile a blade or regrind an edge, uness you wear down the blade so much that you cannot reset the edge by simply honing it.

I've only had to "reprofile" 2 blades in my life: 1) a Lamson 828 Meat Cleaver (that I inherited from my sous chef father) and 2) a large craft made Filipino balisong that I bought off of the Exchange.

Even though the edge on the Lamson is still very obtuse becasue the blade is so thick, the edge that I put on it will easily cut you if you run your finger along (rather than across) it. So, will the bali but, of course, its blade is much thinner.

All I used to do that was a 2 sided (coarse/fine) corundum kitchen stone, which is what my father (who was very anal used to "sharpen" his knives down to the nub). Far more than was necessary to maintain an edge but that was the way he was.

To look at them, all of my Chinese cleavers (most of them over 50 years old that I also inherited from my parents) are "beaters" but I keep them all sharp and they all hold an edge sufficient to cut me (even when "dull") with just a small slip of the blade, as one of them did just the other day.
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Geez, the way some people put it to me, it's like I will be eating up the entirety of a super-steel knife soon, so I'd better learn to reprofile, and spend a thousand on a guided system. Ha.

Things like this definitely puts it in perspective when I hear things like this, you having to only reprofile a few knives in your life.
LimpCroissant said:
I'm not super knowledgeable on kitchen knives but I belong to a chef's knives group and pay attention over there to a lot of these type of questions. I'd say the two brands that they recommend the most for what you're talking about are Kiwi's (Real inexpensive and softer steel, but come with very good geometry and value for the price), and Victorinox (These things are really good for the money. My parents bought one many years ago and it came super sharp, even to my standards, and has held up very well).
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Def have some Victorinox on my list, especially because I can get some Moomin x Victorinox (Finnish cartoon) paring knives! Do they use the same Inox as on their pocketknives for those, do you know?
 
Hashishiin said:
Geez, the way some people put it to me, it's like I will be eating up the entirety of a super-steel knife soon, so I'd better learn to reprofile, and spend a thousand on a guided system. Ha.

Things like this definitely puts it in perspective when I hear things like this, you having to only reprofile a few knives in your life.

Def have some Victorinox on my list, especially because I can get some Moomin x Victorinox (Finnish cartoon) paring knives! Do they use the same Inox as on their pocketknives for those, do you know?
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I'm not exactly sure what the deal is with the Victorinox Fibrox. I don't know if it's a proprietary steel or if it's one of those situations where they just don't really want to tell you. I was just looking at some charts of cut test results and looks like their steel is just kind of so-so. Compared to most of our folder blades now days it's super low on the totem pole, but the kitchen knife game is a lot different. Looks like it made 53 cuts through cardboard before becoming significantly dulling. The way most of these guys test them each "cut" is cutting 1 foot of cardboard and the better guys will tape off the whole blade except for 1 inch so that that's the only place of the blade that is making the cuts. So looks like it gets results pretty similar to Bucks Bos heat treated 420HC. Just a hair less edge retention, but better stainlessness and a little easier to sharpen.

Check out those Kiwis though!
 
Kitchen knives, we're my thing for a long time, I've spent good money on very nice knives but another vote for Victorinox for a decent cheap knife to practice on.
 
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