New knife for me

Gary W. Graley

Gary W. Graley

“Imagination is more important than knowledge"
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Mar 2, 1999
Messages
26,371
I've struggled trying to use a folder for cutting my food up at meal time and decided to get something more appropriate and found this one, while I love the blade shape and it arrived very sharp and the handle shape is to my liking, the brass spacers were proud of the wood and are quite sharp. SO, I am returning it and getting another one and if THAT one has the same issue of the brass spacers being slightly higher, I will attempt to sand them flush with the wood. My concern is that in doing so, I will be sanding whatever finish was applied to the wood and will need to reapply 'something' over the wood to seal it up. Any suggestions ?

This is what the knife looked like, blade is about 5"

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Fingers crossed that the next will be a smidge better and not worse ;)
G2
 
Any idea what the finish on the handle is? If it's a kind of oil, you're probably golden, since a bit of mineral oil or similar can be applied after the sanding, and everything will look great. If it's something else, it gets a bit problematic. If you don't sand down far enough, the old finish might interfere with whatever you decide to refinish it with.

If they're using wood that isn't properly dried, you're likely to wind up with the same problem somewhere down the road, with the added issue of having sharpened the brass by sanding it.

I'm a big fan of using CA (Superglue) for finishing handles. It's very durable, and doesn't usually leave coverage gaps. Not really considered food safe (I think), but since I don't anticipate boiling my handles in the soup, it doesn't concern me a lot.

Good luck.

Joe
 
can't tell what it is but doesn't feel like oil, I'll soon see when the next one arrives ;) and go from there. And yep, figured if it shrunk once...bound to do it again if not careful !

Thanks,
G2
 
It was a Boker Yukon lockback

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

440c blade, cuts well too, on things like subs a bit longer blade would be nicer
G2
 
Second one arrived, similar problem but also the blade along the edge in a few spots showed rusting/pitting already, sent it back as well. Back to square one for now :(
G2
 
It was and the facets of the handle were cleanly done but not good with the brass being high and sharp. The blade itself was about the right size for me but while it looks like a full flat, it was convexed down from the center to the edge where there was another edge bevel. It arrived sharp but I had expected it to be ground flat up to the spine.

At the price it sells for, it is a LOT of knife, but it just wasn't all there, I was expecting too much and that is my fault for thinking I'd get out of this with as few dollars spent as I can. Time to save up for a well made petty with about a 4.5" blade and octagonal handle, as that felt comfortable to hold and looks cool too ;)
G2
 
Extremely attractive prices for "Japanese' knives made in China are not a good investment in the long run.
"Tiptops" appear to be available only through Amazon* and Ali. 10CR15M is a Chinese steel not used outside of China where
it is produced.

*Sold on Amazon starting July 2020 and no longer available.
 
Indeed
:(
I have a different one on order that I hope will work out, basically just a knife for eating not food prep.

My Daniel Fairly backpacker knife is really good, I’d like a similar shape but about 4 1/2” long blade
G2
 
Well another one landed today and I believe that it's a keeper, remember that I am NOT a chef or cook but wanted something nice to use at meal time and something with a longer blade than my pocket knives as I will slice up my Subway subs into sushi like sections to eat them easier, plus gives me something to cut...my wife just rolls her eyes of course but then admits that those neatly sliced off sections do look easier and neater to eat...so there's that ;)

I am making a small holder for this as it won't be rustling around in any kitchen knife drawer, just washed/dried and put back when done. A couple pieces of walnut, a base of poplar, the walnut pieces are glued down and have bamboo dowels glued in from beneath, not that it would go anywhere, but just added strength. Have to finish sanding it down and putting some coats on it yet, but the knife rests easily and securely on there, the right side has a soft V sanded down into it for the V shaped handle to nestle into, the blade is lightly set into place so there isn't any pressure on the edge when inserting it or removing it. But being in place keeps it from being knocked around.

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

So for now, this will do, just finished dinner, some chicken off the grill and it cut it up cleanly and was easy to control in the hand for the cuts. I also like the integral bolster to keep food from getting inside the handle. The only nit pick I have with this was the medallion they inserted into the handle. It was almost 1mm proud of the wood and quite sharp around the edges! I tried to peen the edges down to no avail, finally taped it off and took a jeweler's file to file it down and then sanded it down with 600 grit paper. It is still slightly proud but acceptable.

G2
 
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I see you did not take my advice. Looks like etched "damascus" over solid 10CR15M.
Pretty to look at though. Enjoy.
 
I guess I didn’t read any advice/suggestions in your early post, just more of a statement about the general lower priced options on Amazon. And there are TONS of knives to sort through there!

But I do believe this does have a Damascus outer layer and a VG-10 core as I wanted the tip’s spine to have a little more angle, it looked too abrupt to me. So I clamped it up and took a file to it and it was tough going, filing along the sides were much easier through the outer layers but the core was quite hard. Admittedly the file is not brandy new but between the core and the sides you could immediately feel a difference in cutting of the file to the steel.

For my intended use this will work well for me. A few meals under the edge already were effortless.
G2

edited to add this one is from Nanfang Brothers

And here's a shot of the knife in the finished knife rest, there is a groove on the handle end the handle fits down in comfortably and the tip is restrained and a narrow slot cut between the tip and handle end to situate the blades' edge. When removing the knife you just lift up so there isn't any rubbing/cutting of the blade against anything, same when returning the knife to the rest.

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

that shot above was just for reference as the knife actually resides below my monitor on my desk, as my wife's kitchen is her kitchen and she's not a knife kinda person, opposites attract rings true in my home ;)

G2
 
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Otherwise, a good 12cm Laguiole is ideal for the table and you can put it in your pocket to go to the restaurant or to friends.

laguio31.jpg

2x 9cm on top
12 cm the others
 
Nice folders there, I am sure that they would work very good too, I was just looking for a fixed blade to keep clear of getting food into the mechanism of a folder on cutting thicker stuff. Got to try out the new knife on a subway sandwich and it worked great, blade length was long enough but not too long overall very happy with this one.

KenHash, sorry to hear that these guys have a reputation for copying those other brands, I didn’t see that for this knife.
G2
 
Gary W. Graley said:
KenHash, sorry to hear that these guys have a reputation for copying those other brands, I didn’t see that for this knife.
G2
Click to expand...

Gary,
The only Chinese brands that aren't copies/clones/counterfeits are the high end ones like Reate, Kizer, etc. Maybe a couple others.
Stuff sold on Ali pretty much all fall into that CCC category. Haven't seen any in the culinary knives sector that wasn't.
 
Thanks sir, I can tell you're really in the know about these things and appreciate your insight. IF I get to where I start cooking I will definitely hit you up on some recommendations for a few knives to use there. Being retired now and trying new things, taking a cooking class may well be something I will look into soon!
:)
G2
 
Gary W. Graley said:
Nice folders there, I am sure that they would work very good too, I was just looking for a fixed blade to keep clear of getting food into the mechanism of a folder on cutting thicker stuff. Got to try out the new knife on a subway sandwich and it worked great, blade length was long enough but not too long overall very happy with this one.

KenHash, sorry to hear that these guys have a reputation for copying those other brands, I didn’t see that for this knife.
G2
Click to expand...
I understand your research, I hate that the handle near the blade is in contact with the food and that sauces or food enter the mechanism, that's why I have few small knives.

I regularly use the 9 cm blades without any particular problem. The 12cm blades are perfect for large pieces of meat.
They are very handy around the bones of even small poultry and the handle is perfect in hand for the table.

But it is true that a good fixture does the job and is easily cleaned.
 
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