quote:

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

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.

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?

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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.

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?

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

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Originally posted by cslinger:


Yep, I have good knives I just want something a little "extra" for NO other reason then aesthetics.