Knife Measurements

[Rick Hodges]

My go to all around butchering/carving/fish fillet/kitchen utility knifes are Victorinox-Forschner 5" semi flexible blade boning knives. One with a curved blade and one straight. You can pick them up for under $20@ and they will last a lifetime. I think mine were about $14 delivered brand new. For $25 or so you can get them with Rosewood handles instead of rubber/composite. They are all I use for butchering a deer. They take a razor sharp edge, hold it, and are easy to touch up with a steel.

[onelight]

My wife had a set of Kershaw kitchen knives when we got married 11 years ago. During that time they have never been touched by a stone or belt sander.
They came with a steel which turned out to be a very good one. A few strokes on the steel and they cut just fine. No need for a stone.
I use them more than I do my own knife set.
I have no idea how old they are.
Wife says they are at least thirty years old.

I have several Kershaw kitchen knives that are over 20 years old they have been great .

[FullTang]

You're in luck if you're looking for kitchen knives nowadays, since the Chinese are cranking them out by the millions and their steel is now excellent. Most manufacturers have outsourced to China anyway (Victorinox is an exception, and a good buy for Euro-made knives) and prices from US or Japanese makers are many times higher. Go to Amazon and search for "4116 chef knife" and you'll see some great buys; 4116 is the steel that many high-end kitchen knife makers use. Cold Steel makes a really nice line of inexpensive kitchen knives with great steel. The quoted length is almost always blade length, without the handle. An 8" chef's knife is the standard and most useful; a 6" boning knife makes the perfect companion piece.

[Chill Wills]

You're in luck if you're looking for kitchen knives nowadays, since the Chinese are cranking them out by the millions and their steel is now excellent. Most manufacturers have outsourced to China anyway (Victorinox is an exception, and a good buy for Euro-made knives) and prices from US or Japanese makers are many times higher.

Tho I am sure you are right, I am loathe to give any business to China if I can at all help it. I hate to enable them to hurt us.
Sorry for the soap box, but buy American or American friendly when you can.

[FullTang]

I'm all in favor of buying American---just be sure you check that the goods were actually made in USA. Most of the brands we all "know and trust" have been off-shored, and they're made in China anyway. And be prepared to spend a lot more for the same quality if it's made in US. I think we'll see a change in tariffs/laws to alter this equation, but at the moment there aren't any decent options for (stainless) kitchen cutlery made in America. BTW, I have lots of carbon steel cutlery, and have made lots of knives, both stainless and carbon; there are some reasonable US-made carbon steel knives (and I own most of them), but they're a royal PITA to actually use (I do most of the cooking, in addition to all the knife-making.) My wife constantly abuses these and still doesn't seem to know the difference, so their lifespan is unfortunately limited. Stainless is forever, and I wouldn't discount this. It's worth noting that, from a technical standpoint, the Chinese seem to have caught up on most of the regular steels like 4116 and D2---their stuff is as good as anyone's. Not surprising, as this is old tech. Do you want to pay extra for VG10, or 14C28N, or S35VN? For a kitchen knife? For something you can sharpen on a diamond steel anytime?

[Chill Wills]

Yes. I agree with you, so much has been farmed out to China and you have to dig to find out where it is really made.

You are talking about top of the line SS and into the mainstream of the blade smith world when talking s30v or s35vn for kitchen knives. That is out of my league. I have a forged set of Westhof Kitchen knifes - gifted. I did not buy them. A wedding gift decades ago. For a piker like me that is about going to get me through my lifetime kitchen knife needs BTW- I do all the real cooking around here too.

Clearly you are "all in" on knives. I'll listen.
I also agree the Chinese can make any quality of product from junk to the best, depending on what is contracted for. And they use worker bees at low wages because they can. They are killing us slowly and their ruling class knows how to play the long game while we reelect new leaders and start over every four years, shooting our-self in the foot.

OK! rant over - back to knife value and how to measure them.

[1hole]

Just a thought:

My wife used one of my cheapish wood handle, flexible tip Rapala (Finnish) fish filet knives in her kitchen some 30-40 years ago. She has not given it back ... but she will loan it to me from time to time.

It works as well for filleting fish and deer, boning, bread slicing and vegetables as either of us wants or needs.

I got her a "gobbernmint excess" smallish, carbon steel cleaver from an A.F. chow hall about 1962. It still does the occasional heavy cutting quite well but it doesn't have a brand name on it.

I also got her two manual (flea market) knife sharpeners. One has coarse/fine ceramic wheels, the other has carbide wheels; she can use them well. Yeah, the thin blades do wear down - eventually - but a brief stop in Walmart's fishing dept, and for not much money, gets us a new knife every ten years or so.

[skeettx]

True Dat !!
My wife ALSO has appropriated my Wood Handle Rapala Filet knife
Mike

[loveruger]

Love the Rapala for boneing. Bought a Serbian butcher knife its become my favorite.

[StrawHat]

I am aware of three companies that produce knives in the U.S.A.

Warther, produced in Ohio

https://warthercutlery.com/

CutCo, made in New York

https://www.cutco.com/

and

Lamsom Sharp, from Massachusetts.

https://lamsonproducts.com/

They all have forever warranties. Lamson is the oldest. They presented two sets of knives to the White House kitchen when Grant was sworn in. Still under warranty, where ever they are.

Kevin

[Nueces]

My parents used Japanese MAC knives, usually the 9" carving knife and the more generally useful 7.5" chef's knife. My chore upon a visit was to sharpen all their kitchen knives, so I bought them a Gerber 8" Sportsman steel. The family entrance was through the garage and kitchen and I would find knives and steel laid out on the counter. Got pretty good at using the steel.

After messing around with other makes when I set up housekeeping, I went back to MAC, the original thin, flat blades. Deep, thin blades that are razor sharp out of the box. I still have Gerber steels, but now I maintain the MACs with a Crock Stick, several strokes on each side after each use. The blade glides right through a tomato with very little down force.

[curioushooter]

I will say this about knives. Any good knife will do as long as it is kept sharp. Most people will not or cannot shapen knives because they refuse to invest in good sharpening stones and developing the needed skill.

Without a doubt the best Chef's knife that I've ever encountered for the money are Thiers, France Made Sabatiers in CARBON STEEL, not stainless. They can still be purchased here but not for much longer: https://www.thebestthings.com/knives/sabatiercarbon.htm

Get a 320, 1000, and 6000 grit Japanese waterstones from Naniwa or Shapton or whoever. Then learn how to sharpen knives freehand, so you can do it quickly and frequently. I harbor a deep and abiding prejudice against any chromium rich steel for knives that are used daily and frequently. Carbon steel gets a better edge faster and with daily use develops a pleasing patina. Chromium rich steels are good for pocket knives and such which sit much and aren't used a whole lot. Same goes for S30V, D2 and other exotic steels. I've been long convinced that heat treatment is just as important as the steel. Both need to be up to snuff and where a lot of knives fail is an inferior heat treat. One of the reasons why the Sabatiers are so excellent is their propriety and secret lead-quench heat treatment which is exclusive to them since the French government gave them a environmental exemption to continue to use molten lead that way. Nobody else can legally.

Old Hickory US made knives (Ontario Knife Co in NY State) are super cheap and cut better (when sharp) than any dull stainless knife made in England or Germany. These things are so cheap and useful with a little care and they are excellent for learning how to sharpen because they sharpen easily being carbon steel and if you mess them up your heart doesn't break. My wife and I do a lot of butchery and these are the go to knives.

A hand forged Japanese knife made by an actual Japanese artisan is a pleasure as well. They are capable of achieving sharpness and edge retention unrivaled by any other edge I've known, but if you are in the habit of Euro-American type cooking where you use a knife and fork and don't eat Sushi on the regular all that extraordinary sharpness those Jap knives are capable of is generally wasted. The reason why their knives are they way they are is because they do a whole lot of fine slicing and paring that just isn't that common in western style cooking. It is a consequence of them eating with chopsticks and therefore needing everything bite sized on their plates. Occidentals hack at their food on their plates so the chef doesn't have to. I have long and narrow laminated carbon steel hand forged Japanese knife made by the great-great-great grandson of a famous swordsmith from a forge that is 500 years older than the United States. My wife uses it only occasionally when she wants to be able to slice a piece of soft fish or a tomato so thin it can be coiled around a thing layer of rice. The rest of the time it sits in a wood box with anti-rust paper. It cost more than all my other knives put together.

[tazman]

I will say this about knives. Any good knife will do as long as it is kept sharp. Most people will not or cannot shapen knives because they refuse to invest in good sharpening stones and developing the needed skill.

You are absolutely correct about the utility of a sharp knife. I have relatives that actually fear a sharp knife. They have been using dull knives to hack through things for so long that they cut themselves because they have to push so hard to get them to cut. I couldn't convince them until I sharpened some knives for them and had them use them. When they found how easily a sharp knife actually cut, they realized that the accidents they had been having were due to the knives being dull to the point they had no control over how it cut.
A sharp knife is a joy to use. A dull knife is dangerous.

[onelight]

You are absolutely correct about the utility of a sharp knife. I have relatives that actually fear a sharp knife. They have been using dull knives to hack through things for so long that they cut themselves because they have to push so hard to get them to cut. I couldn't convince them until I sharpened some knives for them and had them use them. When they found how easily a sharp knife actually cut, they realized that the accidents they had been having were due to the knives being dull to the point they had no control over how it cut.
A sharp knife is a joy to use. A dull knife is dangerous.

You are so right .
Many years ago my mother in law knowing I can sharpen well , asked if I would sharpen her knives they were really bad I took 8 or 10 home and spent hours getting them sharp when I returned them I told her to always use a cutting board not to cut in a pan or plate she said "I always use a cutting board" I asked to see it , her cutting board was a slab of granite counter top she refused to use anything else. I have not sharpened her knives since.

[tazman]

I once had a friend who brought me Schrade folding knife to sharpen. The edge was rounded badly. During lunch time I quickly stoned an edge then crock-sticked it to shaving edge.
I handed it back to him when I got back to work. The first thing he did was check the edge by running his thumb lengthwise along the blade. It cut him to the bone.
He complained that I didn't tell him I had sharpened it. I asked him why he gave it to me and asked me to sharpen it then. You can't fix stupid.
One week later, he brought the knife back fr me to sharpen again. The edge was completely rounded over the length of the blade.
I told him never to bring me the knife again if he was going to mistreat it like that. People who abuse good blades don't deserve to have them.

onelight---I would have broken that slab of granite and got her a good cutting board.

[Jim22]

Old Hickory US made knives (Ontario Knife Co in NY State) are super cheap and cut better (when sharp) than any dull stainless knife made in England or Germany. These things are so cheap and useful with a little care and they are excellent for learning how to sharpen because they sharpen easily being carbon steel and if you mess them up your heart doesn't break. My wife and I do a lot of butchery and these are the go to knives.

I agree about Old Hickory knives. They don't hold an edge as long as those with harder steel but they are really quick to resharpen.

[onelight]

I did get her a set of cutting boards for Christmas small and large. But never saw them out only the Granite , she thought it looked better and was convinced chefs used them for cutting , they use them for working breads not CUTTING .
A funny thing one time after this I was there and she was making a big pot of stew she got a large onion to cut up but could not cut it with her stupid dull knife so she threw the whole onion in the pot and said she would mash it up after it cooked

[Walks]

My Wife and I rcvd a set of Chicago Cutlery knives as a Wedding present, 38yrs ago.
They are still on Our kitchen counter.
I still use them and an ancient Old Hickory 6 inch boning knife that was in My Family's camp kitchen. Think Chuckwagon.
All stay sharp by a judicious use of the long Chicago steel.
My Wife now prefers the Cold Steel kitchen set I won about 10yrs ago. Rubber handles are better for Her arthritic hands. And since they are stainless I no longer have to "clean up" the knives after She cleans up the kitchen.

[StrawHat]

...People who abuse good blades don't deserve to have them...

As someone who makes a good living sharpening knives, I disagree with that statement. I love my costumers who abuse their blades!

Kevin