cutlery steel vs EDC steel?

Horsewright said:
26C3 is very similar to Hitachi White, in fact Larrin's dad Hoss, refers to it as Spicy White if I recall correctly. Its available here. Anyhoo, I've built bout a ton and a half of small EDCs out of it and have been personally carrying it for some time. RC is 63 to 64, yet it remains very easy to resharpen. Strop that edge before it dulls and it just keeps going and going. If a guy is into high carbon steels, this stuff works. From fancy to plain:

CNdJC6m.jpg


sZtaysi.jpg


In practical terms I find it very similar to AEB-L run at 62-63. Takes a razor edge and goes a long time with it, yet remaining very easy to resharpen.
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The knife in the top pic should be in my hands, soon...if Fed Ex cooperates!
 
Very cool! I didn't even know who got it. Only the second Sonoran Hunter from 26C3 I've ever made! I call it a working hamon but that sure came out sweet on that one. And for sure thanks for the order!
 
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3D Anvil said:
Just curious why certain steels seem to predominate in the kitchen cutlery world and are virtually nonexistent in the EDC world and v.v.?

For example, many high-end kitchen knives use White #1 or #2 or Blue #1 or #2, but I've never seen an EDC knife made from those steels. On the flip side, many EDC knives use S35VN or M390/20cv, but I haven't seen (production) kitchen knives that use those steels.

On the other hand, a lot of Japanese kitchen knives use AUS8, VG10 and a very few use ZDP-189, so there is crossover.

Maybe it's down to blade thickness, given that kitchen cutlery tends to use much thinner stock? Anyway, if anyone knows....
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Here is a ZDP-189 crossover. They are easy to sharpen on Shapton Glass Al2O3 stones because there are no hard Carbides in the matrices.View attachment 1680526
 
mcrow said:
My cousin is a classically trained chef and he would be confused by the comment on edge retention.

When you cook as much as he does, having to regularly sharpen knives would be a real point of frustration. I don't recall the brand he buys but he said he bought them partly on the edge retention. Pretty sure they're Japanese blades.
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When I was a professional cook (in the 1990s) we used relatively inexpensive knives like Victorinox or Hampton or Stanton or something. Some were just the Sams Club brand that actually worked quite well. When one was dull we put it aside and picked up another or gave it a couple of licks on the steel and went back to chopping.

Even a great steel is going to be dulled or rolled on a cutting board. Pick up another blade and get back to it. I was the guy that sorted, sharpened and put away the knives at the end of that shift after they got sick of people grinding them down to a sliver on the power sharpeners or just not sharpening them at all.
 
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Horsewright said:
26C3 is very similar to Hitachi White, in fact Larrin's dad Hoss, refers to it as Spicy White if I recall correctly. Its available here. Anyhoo, I've built bout a ton and a half of small EDCs out of it and have been personally carrying it for some time. RC is 63 to 64, yet it remains very easy to resharpen. Strop that edge before it dulls and it just keeps going and going. If a guy is into high carbon steels, this stuff works. From fancy to plain:

CNdJC6m.jpg


sZtaysi.jpg


In practical terms I find it very similar to AEB-L run at 62-63. Takes a razor edge and goes a long time with it, yet remaining very easy to resharpen.
Click to expand...
That amber bone handled (plain ?) knife is a thing of beauty !
 
DMG said:
When I was a professional cook (in the 1990s) we used relatively inexpensive knives like Victorinox or Hampton or Stanton or something. Some were just the Sams Club brand that actually worked quite well. When one was dull we put it aside and picked up another or gave it a couple of licks on the steel and went back to chopping.

Even a great steel is going to be dulled or rolled on a cutting board. Pick up another blade and get back to it. I was the guy that sorted, sharpened and put away the knives at the end of that shift after they got sick of people grinding them down to a sliver on the power sharpeners or just not sharpening them at all.
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Yes, most restaurants have a knife subscription service where they are delivered sharpened knives on a weekly or biweekly basis. One of my uncles used to work for a Wusthof dealer that supplied knives to restaurants in the Minneapolis area. However, most of the top-end Chefs had their own personal knives they'd use.
 
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mcrow said:
Yes, most restaurants have a knife subscription service where they are delivered sharpened knives on a weekly or biweekly basis. One of my uncles used to work for a Wusthof dealer that supplied knives to restaurants in the Minneapolis area. However, most of the top-end Chefs had their own personal knives they'd use.
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I have heard of the subscription service but I don’t think it was around when I was cooking. It is a good idea if none of the employees want to do it.

Our executive chef and kitchen managers had fancy knives in a roll they showed off but when they helped out in prep or filled in on the line they picked up the same ones we were using. I was always a bit concerned he would get a dull one because I was responsible for that.

I worked in a couple of good restaurants but never a place with a Michelin Star.
 
mcrow said:
My cousin is a classically trained chef and he would be confused by the comment on edge retention.

When you cook as much as he does, having to regularly sharpen knives would be a real point of frustration. I don't recall the brand he buys but he said he bought them partly on the edge retention. Pretty sure they're Japanese blades.
Click to expand...

The high hardness of Japanese steel is mainly to allow thinner blades with finer edge angles while maintaining edge stability. Edge retention is helped by the higher hardness, but unless you cut on really terrible surfaces, the additional wear resistance shouldn't be a significant factor.
 
I have not found much difference between my German 4116 variant kitchen knives and Moly Van Japanese knives.
However I do see a moderate increase in edge retention with my VG10 and a significant one with my R2 powder steel knives.
 
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