Knife Thread

Glaucus said:
Can you find the Rockwell rating for the second set. The first set is quite low.
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What's wrong with it being low?

Most Asian knives have a low Rockwell rating - it's only the Europeans that have a fascination with high Rockwell ratings - incorrectly imho. I prefer a low rating otherwise they can be a bugger to sharpen - and every knife will need sharpening, no matter how good/hard they are - so might as well make it easy - all my knives get a quick whizz through the sharpener every use. I've also found the harder rated knives chip easier (i.e. harder = brittle).
 
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Hi guys,

Moving into my own place on Monday (!) and I do a bit of cooking. I'd like to buy a set of decent knives that will stay sharp and last me. Looking to spend around £50, can anyone recommend a set? Saw these earlier in the thread and like the look of them.

I also want a big wooden, heavy chopping board to chop veg on if anyone has any ideas around that?

Always annoyed me living at home, the knives blunt as **** and the chopping board scooting all over the shop when I'm trying to chop my shiz. :p
 
People focus on sets of knives far too much, all you'll need for 95% of cooking is a decent chefs knife and a paring knife. For £50 try looking at Victorinox knives.
 
ganesh is right, all you'll need for 95% of the time decent chefs knife and a paring knife.

you can add more if you ever need.
 
Would you just recommend storing them in the cutlery draw with the other stuff or getting a decent holder? Will they get damaged just knocking about in the draw with the rest of the irons?
 
as part of a kitchen rebuild, I've just bought some wusthoff icons - I used to cook a bit but fell out of practice when we moved to our lovely "house but **** kitchen" - now after some serious investment, we'll soon have a "nice kitchen" so I've bought some knives ... but what's the best way to maintaining an edge? I've read the threads and like the look of the spyderco sharpener system but whetstones also look fun. How hard is it to learn to use a whetstone without massively damaging knives? and can the spyderco system really work with a 23 cm cooks knife?

Any help appreciated!
Marcus
 
I just use a couple of steels to sharpen my knives. They are Japanese Damascus blades and came seriously sharp in the first place and I've probably only lost about 10-20% of that over the past 2 years.

I bought whet stones and everything but have never used them, the steels do a great job.
 
I'm looking to order a knife from Chef Knives To Go and was wondering about how to avoid VAT. There is a free delivery to US Mainland option with the site. I was thinking about getting it delivered to a relative in the US, who could then send it on to me via courier (which I'd pay for obviously) as a 'gift', which I would assume can't have VAT added to it by customs?

Is this tax evasion or tax avoidance?

Are there likely to be any issues with transportation? I've had knives delivered directly from this site before, and had to pay an extra £30 VAT on top. The knife I'm interested in is already £180, so I'd like to avoid any extra costs.

P.s.

Morality isn't in question here, I don't care.

Thanks!
 
Illgresi said:
I'm looking to order a knife from Chef Knives To Go and was wondering about how to avoid VAT. There is a free delivery to US Mainland option with the site. I was thinking about getting it delivered to a relative in the US, who could then send it on to me via courier (which I'd pay for obviously) as a 'gift', which I would assume can't have VAT added to it by customs?

Is this tax evasion or tax avoidance?

Are there likely to be any issues with transportation? I've had knives delivered directly from this site before, and had to pay an extra £30 VAT on top. The knife I'm interested in is already £180, so I'd like to avoid any extra costs.

P.s.

Morality isn't in question here, I don't care.

Thanks!
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That's tax evasion and illegal.
 
monkentage said:
A utility knife (15cm) is more useful than a paring knife imo.
Bigger Chef Knife also.
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I'm the opposite - I have pairing and utlity knives and the pairing knives get used way more than the utility knives. If I was buying again, I wouldn't bother with the utlity knives.

Fuggan said:
Would you just recommend storing them in the cutlery draw with the other stuff or getting a decent holder? Will they get damaged just knocking about in the draw with the rest of the irons?
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Get a good knife block. Sharing a drawer with other metal objects is a quick way to damage the edge (and lose a tip of a finger when reaching in the drawer for the knife).
 
tom_e said:
If they mark it down as a gift and lie on the value to bring it under the gift threshold then it's still an offence.
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If I was to send her a gift of money, then it wouldn't be a lie if she reciprocated with the gift of a knife?

Didn't realise there was a gift value threshold. £135. That's nothing these days. Are they likely to be asked what the value of the product is upon mailing it?
 
tom_e said:
If they mark it down as a gift and lie on the value to bring it under the gift threshold then it's still an offence.
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It may be an offence, but honestly, who gives a ****?

Illgresi said:
If I was to send her a gift of money, then it wouldn't be a lie if she reciprocated with the gift of a knife?

Didn't realise there was a gift value threshold. £135. That's nothing these days. Are they likely to be asked what the value of the product is upon mailing it?
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I really wouldn't worry about it, get your relative to send the knife and enjoy using it back in your evil lair while you plan your next crime.

I jump for joy every time I manage to avoid duty & VAT on any imported goods, the government won't miss what they don't know about.
 
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