new thinking

[Ken S]

For over twenty five years, my preferred kitchen knife has been my eight inch Henckel four star chef's knife. Recently, I brought up an inexpensive santuko knife from the shop to the kitchen. At twelve dollars, I had purchased it for sharpening practice. To my surprise, it works very well. My wife and I often have a light supper of cheese, crackers and apple slices. We like the slices to be as thin as possible. The thin santuko cuts noticeably thinner slices.

Years ago, I softened (rounded) the back of my Henckel knives. This makes them more comfortable to hold. The santuko has the same problem. Using the back of the knife would be a fair scraper. I will spend a few minutes freehand rounding the back with the Tormek. My hands will tell me if I am successful.

Ken

[grepper]

"Years ago, I softened (rounded) the back of my Henckel knives."

By that do you mean that you rounded the handles?

I have a 12 cm Wusthof knife. It's a wonderful knife!

https://www.amazon.com/Wusthof-Gourmet-2-Inch-Steak-Knife/dp/B002CZOSMC
 
It's very light weight, the spine is only slightly over 1 mm and tapers down to the edge.  Basically a very thin blade.  It takes an extremely sharp edge and edge retention is good too.

The thing does great for small tasks like slicing apples.  It can slice so thin that one apple can server about 100 people!  Think of the savings!  Well worth $20.

[Jan]

In my understanding Ken rounded the spine – the dull part of the knife blade's edge. Some spines are  unpleasantly angular. 

Jan

[Ken S]

That is correct, Jan. The edges of the back of the spine remind me of a hand scraper before the hook was added and were ncomfortable. In my opinion, rounding the backs of kitchen knives should be done at the factory.

Ken

[Jan]

I have a 12 cm Wusthof knife. It's a wonderful knife!

https://www.amazon.com/Wusthof-Gourmet-2-Inch-Steak-Knife/dp/B002CZOSMC
 
It's very light weight, the spine is only slightly over 1 mm and tapers down to the edge.  Basically a very thin blade.  It takes an extremely sharp edge and edge retention is good too.

The thing does great for small tasks like slicing apples.  It can slice so thin that one apple can server about 100 people!  Think of the savings!  Well worth $20.

Grepper, Wusthof steak knives without serrations are known for their smoothly cuts.

Once I have sharpened Wusthof Classic steak knives set made of X50CrMoV15 which belongs to their top lines. Since that time it is on my wish list. 

Jan

[grepper]

Did you watch the video on the Amazon page?  A cool little video on how they are manufactured.  I want one of those robots.

[Jan]

Really nice video, Grepper! I see that your wish list is more ambitious than my. 

There is a huge price difference between the Gourmet and Classic lines. The first blades are stamped while the other are forged with a steel bolster. Both are made in Solingen, Germany and should last for a lifetime.

Jan