Opinel carbon steel knives

[London Best]

3 minutes ago, JohnfromUK said:

Agreed; I have a small collection of 'original' Sabatiers, some of which belonged to my parents, so maybe 40+ years old.  They are excellent.  However, I looked at getting another and it was (as you say) carp.  I did 'look into it' and there are several 'Sabatiers':  M Sabatier, Maxim Sabatier, V Sabatier, K Sabatier and others.  Some of the good ones have a 'Lion' trademark.  One of the old ones is carbon steel, the others are stainless.

A bit like Rizzinis and Sarasquetas.

[JohnfromUK]

2 minutes ago, London Best said:

A bit like Rizzinis and Sarasquetas.

Indeed.

[tx4cabbie]

If you want inexpensive carbon steel kitchen knives, Old Hickory knives, made by ontario knife and tool company, are a no frills, wooden handled knife, with blades of 1095 carbon steel. They'll sharpen on the bottom of a tea cup, and hold a razor edge. Their paring knives are the best steak knives I've seen, so easy to keep sharp, and cheap enough to buy a few .

Moonraker knives has them, they do a set of 5 for 70 quid, their 8 inch slicing knife is £12 - I keep one at my folks, as they have a stainless sabatier which goes blunt if you use it to slice the string off a joint of meat. The old hickory sits in a drawer, unused for day to day tasks, I keep it razor sharp, and dad cuts slices of beef you could read the paper through.

You can still get carbon steel knives, a lot of Japanese knives are carbon steel core with stainless cladding, or plenty of custom.makers use carbon steel, and make kitchen knives by hand for less than the price of a mass produced global or similar; for a good quality knife that'll do the job for pennies, you can't beat old hickory. Just bear in mind they'll rust whilst you look.at them given half a chance, dishwashers will kill them dead, and they'll develop a patina of use and age which isn't to all tastes. You can remove it with polish or abrasives, but the oxidisation provides protection against rust, so better to leave it on.

[tx4cabbie]

1 hour ago, ehb102 said:

Nice. There's a big chef's knife I have my eye on made by a Japanese manufacturer that is marked as "Swedish". I haven't yet worked out why. 

Swedish steel is fantastic, and many Japanese knives are made with it- it's a selling point like "Sheffield steel" or "solingen", just let's the buyer know the materials are quality.

[Mr gen]

Opinel knives are great an I have for as long as I can remember owned 1 or two. The carbon blades almost rust before your eyes but are very easy to get back to new with a bit of emery paper but getting one open that has got wet or left in a wet coat pocket can be a right beggar, best left on a radiator over night to shrink the wood back down. 

[ehb102]

46 minutes ago, tx4cabbie said:

Swedish steel is fantastic, and many Japanese knives are made with it- it's a selling point like "Sheffield steel" or "solingen", just let's the buyer know the materials are quality.

Thanks!

Sabatier is like Champagne, almost a meaningless word in this day and age. 

Now finding a decent sheep's foot santuoku knife without a Granton bevel, that's another project 😂

[TIGHTCHOKE]

5 minutes ago, ehb102 said:

Thanks!

Sabatier is like Champagne, almost a meaningless word in this day and age. 

Now finding a decent sheep's foot santuoku knife without a Granton bevel, that's another project 😂

For the kitchen?

[ehb102]

1 hour ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

For the kitchen?

Yes

[paulinlincs]

Rough rider knives do some of their pocket knives in carbon steel as well as Stainless. I have a few and lovely quality vs price. 

[muncher]

On 17/01/2022 at 13:38, ehb102 said:

If you want a decent knife recommendation, ask a wildfowler! These Opinel carbon steel knives are so lovely and super sharp and not at all expensive. 😍 I've been looking for affordable carbon steel knives for ages. Just waiting for someone to drop off a goose so I can test them out 😋 

 

I thought I'd share for PW to appreciate my joy at finding a Good Thing. Local folk think I'm weird enough already 😀 You can also tell me how sloooow I am to catch on 😂

Where about in Cambridgeshire are you as I might be able to help with a goose, well if Lady Luck shines on me again before the season ends. 

[ehb102]

1 hour ago, muncher said:

Where about in Cambridgeshire are you as I might be able to help with a goose, well if Lady Luck shines on me again before the season ends. 

Just North of the City, J33 of the A14. Apparently it's been an incredible season for geese on the wash, so good luck to you indeed. 

[tx4cabbie]

Funnily enough, am grinding a sheepsfoot kitchen knife from o1 tool steel at the moment, it's 2mm stock, planning on a nice high grind, and a curly birch or maple burl handle.

We've some lovely 26c3 and aeb-l stainless in addition to the o1, can knock you one up without Granton notches, with your choice of handle, give us a pm if you fancy it.

[HantsRob]

20 hours ago, tx4cabbie said:

Funnily enough, am grinding a sheepsfoot kitchen knife from o1 tool steel at the moment, it's 2mm stock, planning on a nice high grind, and a curly birch or maple burl handle.

We've some lovely 26c3 and aeb-l stainless in addition to the o1, can knock you one up without Granton notches, with your choice of handle, give us a pm if you fancy it.

I bet that’s going to look amazing, please share once complete?!

I really need some better knives in my kitchen and there’s so much advice on this thread to read into. 

[tx4cabbie]

On 20/01/2022 at 17:46, HantsRob said:

I bet that’s going to look amazing, please share once complete?!

I really need some better knives in my kitchen and there’s so much advice on this thread to read into. 

Thanks, I've got several on the bench for paying customers at the moment, but this one is for a pal whose just bought his first house, and got his fac (.22 + .308) in the same year, he's a superb lad and has helped us out a few times, so only fair I make him a nice kitchen knife or 2 to celebrate his wins. The handle on this will be curly birch with elk antler and brass accents, as he's part Scandinavian, and it'll wear a nice high grind, with the spine rounded over to make for more comfortable 2 handed use (pushing though squash for example), and maybe some filework if I get the chance. 

Our lockdown business was setting up a sharpening business, and I've handled most kitchen knives in the last 18 months, if you'd like some advice on cutlery, give me a pm, I'm happy to help. There are others on here far more knowledgeable than I, but what knowledge I have is for sharing.

[ditchman]

nicely said

[HantsRob]

36 minutes ago, tx4cabbie said:

Thanks, I've got several on the bench for paying customers at the moment, but this one is for a pal whose just bought his first house, and got his fac (.22 + .308) 

Your attention to detail and your kindness shows. You're a good man, I look forward to seeing the end result if you are happy to share!