Hello, fellow Blade enthusiasts and Bladesmiths!
I'm completely new to blades, so my knowledge of knives is fairly shallow.
If it's not too much trouble, I was wondering if anyone could clarify a few questions I've had for a while.
Now, I know all knives should be functional regardless if it was intended to be a knife used in the field or a custom knife made for its aesthetics that ends up living in its collector's display window. The ability to cut should nonetheless be universal for the blade to live up to its name.
Now, as a newcomer, my preconceived notion of blades all came from what we've all heard of in the past. And that is, Japan is famous for its masterfully crafted Katana swords know for their performance and sharpness. And that translates even to this day, where the Japanese kitchen knives are held in high regards as some of the best knives in the industry.
Now, these knives are judged based on their performance and sharpness. So I'd imagine, the Bladesmiths who have chosen this path are perhaps interested in creating a knife so efficient at its job and so sharp that it has no equals among its peers. So their areas of studies are completely devoted to various techniques for creating the sharpest knife?
But what about the custom knives? They certainly look incredible at first glance, but do Bladesmiths often times sacrifice its performance for beauty?
Or do we live in a world today where all the techniques are already common knowledge to industry professionals, and the quality of the blades only boils down to whether or not you're using a higher quality steel for the job?
In the past, they had to melt and create their own steel by choosing the right ingredients and executing the process in the right way in order to create the blade they desired. These days, we can just buy steel based on the type of knife we're trying to make right? Bypassing many steps that were necessary in the past, so all we have to do is grind the prefabricated steel into the right shape? Yet, some knives are sharper than others- so does this only boils down to how good a person is at grinding? Now, I'm a complete outsider when it comes to knife-making, but is grinding a piece of metal with a leather/sandpaper belt that complicated? (excuse my ignorance) Is there a sweet science behind it all? Compared to the alchemy that was required in the past to produce the steel, the idea grinding seems like an area that requires the least mastery?
If everyone knows what steel to use to create the sharpest knife for the culinary industry, why are chef knives still primarily dominated by the Japanese blades? :\
I'm completely new to blades, so my knowledge of knives is fairly shallow.
If it's not too much trouble, I was wondering if anyone could clarify a few questions I've had for a while.
Now, I know all knives should be functional regardless if it was intended to be a knife used in the field or a custom knife made for its aesthetics that ends up living in its collector's display window. The ability to cut should nonetheless be universal for the blade to live up to its name.
Now, as a newcomer, my preconceived notion of blades all came from what we've all heard of in the past. And that is, Japan is famous for its masterfully crafted Katana swords know for their performance and sharpness. And that translates even to this day, where the Japanese kitchen knives are held in high regards as some of the best knives in the industry.
Now, these knives are judged based on their performance and sharpness. So I'd imagine, the Bladesmiths who have chosen this path are perhaps interested in creating a knife so efficient at its job and so sharp that it has no equals among its peers. So their areas of studies are completely devoted to various techniques for creating the sharpest knife?
But what about the custom knives? They certainly look incredible at first glance, but do Bladesmiths often times sacrifice its performance for beauty?
Or do we live in a world today where all the techniques are already common knowledge to industry professionals, and the quality of the blades only boils down to whether or not you're using a higher quality steel for the job?
In the past, they had to melt and create their own steel by choosing the right ingredients and executing the process in the right way in order to create the blade they desired. These days, we can just buy steel based on the type of knife we're trying to make right? Bypassing many steps that were necessary in the past, so all we have to do is grind the prefabricated steel into the right shape? Yet, some knives are sharper than others- so does this only boils down to how good a person is at grinding? Now, I'm a complete outsider when it comes to knife-making, but is grinding a piece of metal with a leather/sandpaper belt that complicated? (excuse my ignorance) Is there a sweet science behind it all? Compared to the alchemy that was required in the past to produce the steel, the idea grinding seems like an area that requires the least mastery?
If everyone knows what steel to use to create the sharpest knife for the culinary industry, why are chef knives still primarily dominated by the Japanese blades? :\
