stylish little Japanese super-slicer
First off, this knife is beautiful. The wood handle and steel cap give it a sophisticated look, but most of all, it is the Damascus blade that really makes it a show-off.
Back before guns, a lot of effort went into making steel sharp for swords. The Damascus technique involves folding steel tens or hundreds of times to achieve the ultimate in sharpness, and it dates back hundreds of years.
This knife is a reference to those ancient swordmakers, but not exactly. Unlike true Damascus knives, Shun knives are laminated: the inner layer is a high-tech piece of expensive super-steel (called VG-10) and the outer layers (protecting the inner and bringing down the cost) are a more ordinary stainless steel. Unlike the swords of old, only the outer layers on this knife are folded. The VG-10 inner part, the part the edge is made from and the part that cuts, is a single forged piece. So in this knife, the Damascus pattern is more for looks than performance. Perhaps it also helps keep...
Shun Knives are Beautiful, Elegant, and the Sharpest around
The Utility Knife is definitely one you want in your collection, but I would rank it as the top 5, not the top 3.
Shun knives are beautiful creations period. Since I'm Asian, I love the tradition look and feel of this Japanese knife. I love the beauty of the blade and the dark, polished, Pakkawood handle. The unique "D"-shaped, Wood handles are preferable. The shape fits my hand perfectly, and the wood does not get slippery when wet - providing a very secure hold. The steel is of utmost quality and sharpness. Do not put this blade into any old electric knife sharpener! Electric knife sharpeners are made to put one angle on any blade. These blades come with a 16 degree angle and you don't want to be changing that angle. There are electric knife sharpeners that can sharpen these knives, but you'll have to do some research and find out which ones can be a fit with these knives. I prefer to hone with a sharpening steel and manually sharpen with a stone if necessary (and I don't...
Excellent blade - handle is very good but could be better
I own two Shun knives, three Globals, a Victorinox paring knife, Chicago Cutlery and a really nameless high carbon steel knife that cost 3 bucks. I usually sharpen my high end and low end knives with a sharpening stone and use the Chef's choice 110 for middle of the road knives. The Chicago cutlery knives just take too long to sharpen by hand. The edges are the dullest of the whole lot of knives mentioned. The victorinox line is less expensive than the Chicago Cutlery. The Shun is trivially easy to sharpen requiring the fewest number of strokes to achieve the sharpest, most razor-like edge. Here's the shocking news, the high carbon steel can hold an amazingly sharp edge that rivals the Shun. Unfortunately, it holds its edge for less than one cooking session and it'll rust if you breathe on it. Really you should oil it before you put it away.
What about Shun vs. the Globals? The globals have an awesome handle, wonderful grip, excellent fit to my hand (i'm a medium height...
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