I want a Damascus Chef Knife. Is this a crazy thought?

August 26, 2019, 12:33 PM

I have always wanted a nice Damascus blade. I have been thinking about scratching this itch with a nice Chef’s knife. I have hemmed and hawed over this before but I am thinking gift for myself for new kitchen.

I want something functional and high quality but also want a pretty knife so to speak.

Is this stupid to do on a chef’s knife? If not any suggestions?

As always thanks all.
Chris

August 26, 2019, 12:39 PM

Fla. Jim

There is a couple guys here that can fill that bill for you. Pretty much all the good oriental type blades are such.

August 26, 2019, 01:04 PM

djpaintles

quote:
Originally posted by Fla. Jim:
Pretty much all the good oriental type blades are such.

NONE of the major japanese knives are True Damascus knives. They are instead laminated steel with a central core of hard steel clad on either side with different layers of softer steel. I can highly recommend www.chefknivestogo.com for very fine Japanese chef knives at reasonable prices. I'm particularly fond of Anryu knives, of which this is an example:

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/anryu.html

The hand hammered finish on the cladding is very nice and helps prevent food sticking. Not Damascus but a very very nice knife that cuts as well or better than anything else you would try. You might note that they sell out of them often for good reason and you might have to wait for the exact model you want.

If you want full damascus cladding this is a very the Kajiwara's are very nice:

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/tska24gy.html

I have this Knife. It has damascus cladding over a #2 Steel and is a lovely knife and cuts like a dream. It IS Reactive steel and will discolor and rust if not carefully cared for.

If you really want TRUE Damascus knives of excellent quality at a fair price and aren't stuck on a kitchen knife check out Nazarov knives carried on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=naz...&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_13

These are true Damascus blades all the way to through. I have a couple and particularly like the birch bark handles. Birch bark handles just have a sweet feel in the hand IMHO. Note that the Nazarovs are pretty big knives and the handles are best suited to mid to larger hands and might not fit small hands as well. Nazarov also does pure customs if you don't mind waiting a while for it to be shipped from Russia. Amazon will get you one they carry tomorrow if you want. :-)

Owning both laminated and Damascus blades I would suggest to you that the laminated blades are more practical for real world use. Damascus edges by nature are going to be more "toothy" than regular steels because of the Damascus weld seams throughout the edge. Damascus is really more for looks than cutting practicality With a Damascus laminated edge you can get the best of both worlds.

August 26, 2019, 03:20 PM

JWF

Every time I go to William-Sonoma, I find myself standing in front of the knife case drooling over the Shun selection. Beautiful knives.

August 26, 2019, 06:58 PM

djpaintles

quote:
Originally posted by JWF:
Every time I go to William-Sonoma, I find myself standing in front of the knife case drooling over the Shun selection. Beautiful knives.

Shun''s are nice, pretty knives with usually a VG-10 core. They aren't the equal of a hand forged Anryu or the like but nice production knives.......

August 26, 2019, 07:25 PM

pbramlett

Dozer and Sybo here on the forum. Sybo (jim) made me a large chef earlier in the year and Dozer (mike) has a chef and paring knife he is finishing up for me now. You won’t find anything better or nicer or better pricing anywhere. These guys are great at their craft.

August 26, 2019, 09:21 PM

cslinger

^^^^^
That is a helluva an idea.

.

Thanks all.

August 27, 2019, 05:59 AM

sybo

Great info DJ! I often make knives out of true Damascus and as it is beautiful and each has its own patterning fingerprint, they all are made with Carbon steel which is reactive(will discolor or rust). They require a bit more maintenance than Stainless or Alloys. I find that the level of Finish has so much to do with the amount of Maintainance that will be required. The higher(more polished) the Damascus is, the more reactive resistant. I LOVE the cutting edge of Damascus. It can get SCARY sharp. They make wonderful knives, just another way to “ Skin a ....anything)!

August 27, 2019, 08:19 AM

sigfreund

I am curious about the appeal of what I presume is the Japanese style handles on large kitchen knives. It would seem to me that the relatively thin oval shape of the ones I’ve seen would make them harder to hold firmly and control precisely. (I am becoming more aware of such things as my hands become older and more arthritic.)

What am I missing?

August 27, 2019, 08:45 AM

offgrid

quote:
Originally posted by sigfreund:
I am curious about the appeal of what I presume is the Japanese style handles on large kitchen knives. It would seem to me that the relatively thin oval shape of the ones I’ve seen would make them harder to hold firmly and control precisely. (I am becoming more aware of such things as my hands become older and more arthritic.)

What am I missing?

Balance

If you're in Denver, stop in here put them in hand. https://carbonknifeco.com/

August 27, 2019, 09:14 AM

Fla. Jim

quote:
Originally posted by djpaintles:
quote:
Originally posted by Fla. Jim:
Pretty much all the good oriental type blades are such.

NONE of the major japanese knives are True Damascus knives. They are instead laminated steel with a central core of hard steel clad on either side with different layers of softer steel. I can highly recommend

www.chefknivestogo.com for very fine Japanese chef knives at reasonable prices. I'm particularly fond of Anryu knives, of which this is an example:

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/anryu.html

The hand hammered finish on the cladding is very nice and helps prevent food sticking. Not Damascus but a very very nice knife that cuts as well or better than anything else you would try. You might note that they sell out of them often for good reason and you might have to wait for the exact model you want.

If you want full damascus cladding this is a very the Kajiwara's are very nice:

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/tska24gy.html

I have this Knife. It has damascus cladding over a #2 Steel and is a lovely knife and cuts like a dream. It IS Reactive steel and will discolor and rust if not carefully cared for.

If you really want TRUE Damascus knives of excellent quality at a fair price and aren't stuck on a kitchen knife check out Nazarov knives carried on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=naz...&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_13

These are true Damascus blades all the way to through. I have a couple and particularly like the birch bark handles. Birch bark handles just have a sweet feel in the hand IMHO. Note that the Nazarovs are pretty big knives and the handles are best suited to mid to larger hands and might not fit small hands as well. Nazarov also does pure customs if you don't mind waiting a while for it to be shipped from Russia. Amazon will get you one they carry tomorrow if you want. :-)

Owning both laminated and Damascus blades I would suggest to you that the laminated blades are more practical for real world use. Damascus edges by nature are going to be more "toothy" than regular steels because of the Damascus weld seams throughout the edge. Damascus is really more for looks than cutting practicality With a Damascus laminated edge you can get the best of both worlds.

Mea culpa !

August 27, 2019, 10:23 AM

djpaintles

quote:
Originally posted by sigfreund:
I am curious about the appeal of what I presume is the Japanese style handles on large kitchen knives. It would seem to me that the relatively thin oval shape of the ones I’ve seen would make them harder to hold firmly and control precisely. (I am becoming more aware of such things as my hands become older and more arthritic.)

What am I missing?

The handles on the Japanese blades are larger than you might assume:

For comparison from left to right is an Anryu, Kajiwara, Shun, Wustof IKON, and a Richmond Laser. The Richmonds are Chefknivestogo's house brand imported blades with custom handles. You can get different variants of the handles if you want.......

August 27, 2019, 10:51 AM

jhe888

Damascus blades are lovely, but offer nothing over a good plain steel in cutting ability.

And a kitchen knife gets hard use, which will diminish the beauty of damascus over time. I'd get my damascus in some other knife that won't get such hard use, and go for a more utilitarian blade in a kitchen knife.

But, if you want damascus in a kitchen knife, bid on the next Kramer that comes up for sale.

https://kramerknives.com/knives/gallery/