Go to the Article: Knife Collection
I want to upgrade my 10 years old 18-piece block set of Henckels Twin Gourmet (http://amzn.to/1Gx1158) with this 9-piece Shun Edo block set from Amazon (http://amzn.to/1uzRUuQ) It looks like a great set at a decent price. I want to add to it a carving fork too (http://amzn.to/1ILzilb)
But maybe this smaller 6-pieces set if enough? http://amzn.to/12FLUct I'm not sure...
What do you think? Should I add any other knife to the collection too? Maybe a different set of knifes? (I really like the block itself too)
How do you guys feel about a Misono UX10? I thought I spotted one somewhere in these videos
I would said go to www.epicedge.com
And look at what they have, and also call them and ask for Daniel O'Malley the owner, He is extremely well versed in sharpening and all types of knives. Not to offend you but shun knives are EXTREMELY over priced of what you get.(soft heat treat, low edge retention, and poor fit and finish) And are marketed as if there the best thing ever, and apear to be promoted by celebrity chef like Alton Brown. ( if you go to his blog, you'll find that he uses true hand made knives from makers all over Japan, and no Shuns an all!) If you call Daniel I bet you a million dollars he would point you to a knife that would be a significant amount less, and would be 10 times better, no joke I've wasted money on Shuns. I also would recommend (and all other knife/cooking people would agree with me) buying the knives you need and not a set. Not only you'll save a ton (about $160)
But you'll get the knives specialized for what you really need and not what's just in the set. I hope that you'll read this and go to their website or call them! Daniel is very friendly and has a way of giving the facts fully in a way that is understandable for the normal joe, but not dumbing it down so you can understand them.
Go check them out, and I think you'll be very satisfied. By the way I'm just a avid knife nut. I'm NOT a employee at the epicurean edge or am NOT affiliated with his business.
There ya go! Where is the ux10 love?
Also all of these knives look pretty and great in HD, but does a damascus blade really offer any advantages on a smaller scale steel application like culinary knives? Swords, both ancient and modern, use the damascus layering for looks and strength in a combat application, but what does the pattering do for us in the kitchen?
If you pretend sword fight with your knife, it feels a lot cooler with a pattern weld (what is sometimes called Damascus). From a material science perspective, repeated folds really don't do much in terms of strength or flexibility above and beyond what modern metallurgy can deliver. A good composite material will have better structural integrity and carbon distribution than a wootz/pattern weld. The wootz process that Damascus was modeled after starts with a low carbon iron and then integrates additional carbon from organic materials during a crucible stage. Most modern "Damascus" items already have a good carbon level and are just folded a couple hundred times and acid etched to create interesting patterns. Interestingly enough, the actual Damascus process resulted in an end product that contained carbon nano-tubes, but that process was lost to the ages.
