A few general kitchen knife questions regarding knife blocks and J.A. Henckels

[Cackmandu]

blade steel.

Does anyone have any suggestions on web sites that sell quality knife storage blocks with prices comparable to the ones on Amazon?


Could someone tell me the blade steel Henckels used in their retail kitchen knives from around the 1988 era? This was a standard set in the wooden kitchen block that included a chefs knife, long thin serrated knife slicer, boning knife, fillet knife, paring knive and sharpening rod. I would think it was purchased in an department store as a wedding gift for around $200-$300! The reason I ask is this steel seems awfully hard and as I haven't really ever sharpened them other than running them on the rod a few times they seems like they are going to be quite the project. I'm using a sharpmaker. but this might be one of those cases where it might be beyond what this system can do, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Vinifera]

The blade steel used by Henkels at the time was a proprietary high carbon stainless steel hardened to around 57 Rockwell. It is typical of most German knifes of that era and is not known as a hard steel but is relatively soft. If you have had these knives for a long time they undoubtedly need thinning. This would take forever using the Sharpmaker brown rods and you would be better off using a coarser stone to thin them out and then apply a microbevel with the Sharpmaker.

I purchased a similar knife block last year which I really like. I wanted the large slot for my thin chef's cleaver and chose the Shun 22 slot bamboo knife storage block.

 

[Hesparus]

I have that knife block. It's great, although I wish some of the slots would accommodate knives that were a little bit wider and thicker.

 

[Insipid Moniker]

Just FYI, linking to dealers that don't have a membership here is against the rules. That said, I'm not a fan of big knife blocks. I really only use 3 kitchen knives, so it mostly just takes up counter space. It looks like a nice one, but magnetic strips can be really handy and save a lot of space.