New Ikea knives

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tapedeck74

Joined
Jul 24, 2006
Messages
475
Hey folks,

I was at IKEA today and noticed that they have a new line of kitchen knives, the Slitbar. One model stood out, the chef knife, which had a stamping on the blade, VG-10, and was Damascus laminate, for $69 (Canada). There were none on the rack, only the display model, so I was unable to determine the country of production (all the other models in the line, which were not VG-10 damascus, were Chinese).
However, doesn't Japan have some export restrictions on VG-10? So I suspect, hopefully, that this knife is MIJ.
If this is a MIJ VG-10 Damascus chef knife for $50, that would be quite the bargain, wouldn't you say?
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90131068
 
Ikea is a Swedish company. There's another Swedish company who has been making fine knives out of VG-10 for quite some time, so don't be surprised. ;)
 
Hey, that's right, Fallkniven. Though I doubt they make the IKEA knife.
But, as I mentioned, doesn't Japan have some export restriction on raw steel? That's why Spyderco has their VG-10 knives made in Japan, or am I missing something?
 
Well, either Fallkniven is made in Japan, or VG-10 is exportable to Sweden.
 
How good is the Ikea knife steel? Im suddenly in need of kitchen knives, and its between Ikea knives or Victorinox
 
I have also read that Takefu Steel does not export raw VG10 outside of Japan, but I cannot confirm the reliability of that information.

Fallkniven knives are R&D and distributed in Sweden but manufactured in Japan. The finished product is exported.

There is a good possibility that the Ikea VG10 knife is manufactured in Japan, but remember, even Japan manufactures product at varying degrees of quality.

I would hazard a guess that for $50, this knife is probably pretty decent quality for the price point.

There is only one way to know for certain. buy it and try it.

Kevin
 
It looks somewhat like a Shun (Kershaw) kitchen knife.
As with many Ikea products, it's probably ok at the current price point.
 
Do they state hardness somewhere?

P.S. Actually that knife doesn't say VG-10 either, instead it's "Stainless molybdenum/vanadium-steel
Handle: High pressure laminated".
 
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Finally saw the packaging in the store. The knife in question is made in China.
The knife does in fact have VG-10 stamped on the blade.
 
Just bought this knife in NYC Ikea. One on three in rack. Quality of grind and bolster transition varied some but all looked OK at the price. At home it seems excellent. Blade is sharp except extreme tip, which is often a problem. Hardness may be on high side since it has a pronounced ring. Balance is pretty good, but blade is a little thick at the tip. I love the French style tip which is radically thinned out and feathery. More like a mid range German blade.

So far I have not touched the edge, but I will probably try polishing it with ceramic stone soon. Just remembered, edge in hamaguri-ba convex.
 
It looks a lot like one of my Shuns, the Shun Santoku.

http://www.kershawknives.com/productdetails.php?id=249&brand=shun

If it is comparable in quality, then it does look to be a decent kitchen knife. I haven't handled a slipbar personally, but in a kitchen knife you should be looking for ergonomics and balance. Even a knife made of extremely high quality materials could be undesirable if the knife doesn't feel right for you (ie the Ken Onion designed Shuns feel terrible in the hand for me, I also personally really hate the "Alton Angle" series of Shuns). The proper grip for a chefs/santoku knife is the pinch grip, if you want more information on the proper grip just youtube some videos of the pinch grip and I'm sure they will explain more adequately than I could through text alone.
 
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