- Joined
- Jul 2, 2000
- Messages
- 941
The Kinmen (pronounced Jinmen) knife is fairly famous over in this part of the world. I've asked people what they consider to be the best quality cooking knife that can be had and the response is Kinmen's "jin he li gang dao". So when I went to pick up my new name stamp, I went past Jinmen St. where there was a shop for Kinmen's main products (gaoliang wine and knives) and sorted through some and picked one up.
Kinmen was bombed very heavily by China in the 1950s and the artillery shells (mostly Chinese, some American) apparently supplied them with a suitable form of steel for making knives. I'm not sure what the chemical composition is, but my initial impressions are that it's not mild steel. It would be quaint if I, an American purchase a knife in Taiwan made from an artillery shell my country shot at them 50+ years ago.
The knife is not perfect in terms of blade finish but it is very reasonable for a $35usd knife. It seems reasonably sharp and has very interesting tapers that appear to be intentional. It is an integral. Feels pretty good in-hand too.
The pics aren't too good, I'll consider taking a real photo shoot with them sometime but these are good starter snaps...
Kinmen was bombed very heavily by China in the 1950s and the artillery shells (mostly Chinese, some American) apparently supplied them with a suitable form of steel for making knives. I'm not sure what the chemical composition is, but my initial impressions are that it's not mild steel. It would be quaint if I, an American purchase a knife in Taiwan made from an artillery shell my country shot at them 50+ years ago.
The knife is not perfect in terms of blade finish but it is very reasonable for a $35usd knife. It seems reasonably sharp and has very interesting tapers that appear to be intentional. It is an integral. Feels pretty good in-hand too.
The pics aren't too good, I'll consider taking a real photo shoot with them sometime but these are good starter snaps...
