Stopped in here to read up on caring for the knives I have and I figured I'd better introduce myself.
I grew up in rural Michigan where we had horses, and baled hay, and that meant always having a knife in your pocket to cut twine or whatever. Dad taught me how to safely use and maintain a knife. Well, that was a long time ago. I know how to keep a kitchen knife sharp, but the rest has escaped me.
After hunting around the house recently for some way to open a difficult package, I thought - why did I stop carrying a pocket knife anyway? Why should I have to borrow my sweetie's annoying multitool? (Annoying only because I have to think about where the blade is hiding). So I dug up my dad's old knife and realized that it need some cleaning and that I had not the least idea of how to go about that.
Then I thought about the two kitchen knives I have so I googled around and found bladeforums, wandered over here to see what I could find out.
WOW - lots!
So here're the knives I inherited:
Ekco Forge USA kitchen knife - I've managed to keep it nice and sharp, although the wooden handle is showing some wear and tear.
Bresduck "Chef au Ritz" - Edge? What edge? (Garage sale find) It has had the snot beat out of it. I'll try reshaping it.
Rogers and Sons (left) - action is sticky and stiff. Must clean it and lube. Dad always used the little blade to clean out his pipe. The large blade has been sharpened so often it is no longer the original shape (you should have seen his 'old' knife - stubby little blade!)
William Rodgers (right) - unfortunately stored in a leather sheath for years. Needs cleaning up. I got most of the verdigris off the brass already just by picking at it with a thumbnail.
Then I was reading up on the favored Mora knives, so I had to get one of those. Will be interesting to try a knife with no guard. Boy oh boy, that came surprisingly sharp right out of the box! I look forward to trying my hand at making a sheath at some point.
Then, since I was over at Ragnar's website (ragweedforge) for the Mora, I also picked up an Opinel #8. I'll be modifying the Opinel (taking off a little of the sharp edges on the spine and smoothing out the end of the handle a little). I probably should have gotten a opinal 9 which I think will fit my hand better, but I'll play around with the #8 first.
Oh, and a small Okapi - just because it is so darn cute and the ratcheting mechanism is interesting. What a snap when it closes!
E.A.Y.
I grew up in rural Michigan where we had horses, and baled hay, and that meant always having a knife in your pocket to cut twine or whatever. Dad taught me how to safely use and maintain a knife. Well, that was a long time ago. I know how to keep a kitchen knife sharp, but the rest has escaped me.
After hunting around the house recently for some way to open a difficult package, I thought - why did I stop carrying a pocket knife anyway? Why should I have to borrow my sweetie's annoying multitool? (Annoying only because I have to think about where the blade is hiding). So I dug up my dad's old knife and realized that it need some cleaning and that I had not the least idea of how to go about that.
Then I thought about the two kitchen knives I have so I googled around and found bladeforums, wandered over here to see what I could find out.
WOW - lots!
So here're the knives I inherited:
Ekco Forge USA kitchen knife - I've managed to keep it nice and sharp, although the wooden handle is showing some wear and tear.
Bresduck "Chef au Ritz" - Edge? What edge? (Garage sale find) It has had the snot beat out of it. I'll try reshaping it.
Rogers and Sons (left) - action is sticky and stiff. Must clean it and lube. Dad always used the little blade to clean out his pipe. The large blade has been sharpened so often it is no longer the original shape (you should have seen his 'old' knife - stubby little blade!)
William Rodgers (right) - unfortunately stored in a leather sheath for years. Needs cleaning up. I got most of the verdigris off the brass already just by picking at it with a thumbnail.
Then I was reading up on the favored Mora knives, so I had to get one of those. Will be interesting to try a knife with no guard. Boy oh boy, that came surprisingly sharp right out of the box! I look forward to trying my hand at making a sheath at some point.
Then, since I was over at Ragnar's website (ragweedforge) for the Mora, I also picked up an Opinel #8. I'll be modifying the Opinel (taking off a little of the sharp edges on the spine and smoothing out the end of the handle a little). I probably should have gotten a opinal 9 which I think will fit my hand better, but I'll play around with the #8 first.
Oh, and a small Okapi - just because it is so darn cute and the ratcheting mechanism is interesting. What a snap when it closes!
E.A.Y.
You will like it here. Get some Fitz steel polisher and some oil and you will be good to go. I like that fixed blade a lot.