I have that same set and it's OK. The "self sharpening" feature does keep a decent edge on them but it is no where near what my Cutco knifes can be honed to and the Cutco holds it's edge for a long time without the use of a gimmick.
www.heritagesteel.us
this knife is badass
Take a look at Dexter Russel / Victorinox / Forschner . . . they are more commercial style that don't 'Show' as well . . . but they are priced very reasonably.
I love Buck knives! They are 10 minutes from our shop! I go there every year and have a custom knife made for our son who is a knife nut! They have a parking lot sale in november where you can get killer discounts!
All my shit is second hand works fine. Just scored a cutco bread knife for $3.99 at Goodwill this weekendI know this is RDP and the thought of "2nd hand" is sacrilege.. but.. in my opinion the best knives are found at Goodwill.. you can hold them, listen to the sound of the steel, ect.. people donate good shit cause they dont know what a hone stone even is.. plus they are alot cheaper that way
Curious as to where you got your info. Never heard of 440 j2 only 420j2. My understanding is that Cutco uses 440C which is a high carbon SS. Not trying to start an internet argument but curious if you have some actual knowledge about Cutco's manufacturing or if you are just paroting something from some knife forum.
I do have some knowledge of it, and I am happy to share what I can. I have taken a few basic metallurgical classes and read many articles about steel composition and production. I will admit I did type out the wrong thing, its not 440j2 itc 440a (still a very low carbon steel in general let alone stainless). if you want to see some truly high carbon stainless steels look at m390, m398, magnacut, s90v and the like. (although due to how difficult these steels can be to work, even unhardened, (from my experience, unhardened s90v is more difficult to grind and machine than hardened 440a) its pretty tough to find them in kitchen cutlery outside of custom knives) Heres a composition comparison between some common cutlery steels and 440a. Anything above 11% chromium is considered stainless. carbon increases a steels maximum achievable hardness (to an extent, super high alloy/carbon steels have to soak at their austenitizing temp to get all of the carbon into solution. the issue with steels with a bunch of excess chromium and not a lot of carbon is that your free carbon becomes taken up forming chromium carbides which, while good for corrosion resistance, are bad for toughness and edge retention. this is why many stainless steels (even "super" steels) will allow the edge to chip out while lower carbon steels will allow the edge to roll or deform which is more easily fixed.
That's all very interesting but doesn't answer my question. You now claim that Cutco uses 440a as their base stock and go on with a long diatribe about metallurgy. What I asked is if you have specific knowledge of Cutco's manufacturing process. It is my understanding that they use 440c for most of their knives which is a good choice for home cutlery. Do you know for a fact that they are using something else and if so what is the source of your info.
The scissors are bad ass. I bought a second pair.
Hell yes I love mine
No matter what brand you end up with- never soak them or put them in a dishwasher. I have a Wusthof set and they’ve lasted more than 20 years and they’re used daily. I do have to sharpen them regularly, but I’m not sure if it’s more or less often than other brands.
My source is their own website. Per page 7 of this article about their own knives it states they use 440a. And I know from personal experience that their knives severely underperformed against other similarly priced cutlery. Poor quality steel + soft heat treat + terrible cutting edge geometry = poor performance.
Thank you, I’ll check it out.
honestly, i thought about going this route too
They are sharp as hell just not very comfortable in the hand. But I don’t work in a restaurant so who cares. I use a electric knife sharpener to put the edge back and a hand sharpener in between. When dirty they are either in dishwasher or sink with water.
1000% and I'd recommend also looking into making or buying a magnetic knife rack. Most home depots sell walnut or Birdseye maple lumber and then you can buy cheap 1/2 inch neo magnets and glue them into the backside of the wood. Works and looks great and no risk of edge damage
100% - We got a set of Shun Fuji's and these are the best knives we have ever had.
I'd say Rep'n 3 set's falls into that -- FU money -- category! 