Hey folks,
Just thought I'd write up a little testimonial for Shun knives, and open the floor for others to voice their opinions, good or bad, of any Shun stuff that they've handled or used.
Initially I was very drawn to the design of the Shun Classic stuff because, well, to be completely blunt, it looks very cool. I work at a knife shop, and have grown quite fond of the Shun stuff, of which we carry the Classic, Onion, and Elite line. I'd been eyeing the Classic 6pc set, and some fairly nice poker earnings made that idea an opportunity faster than I had originally anticipated.
I've had the knives for a couple months now, and I'll go back to my initial impressions to begin.. These knives come sharp. Simply put, these knives, especially the Elite series, are the sharpest factory knives I have ever handled. They catch hair above the skin, which puts them at a point of sharpness that has taken me quite some time to duplicate. This sharpness is due to the acute angle that these knives are sharpened at, especially compared to the comparable German lines. The level of polish on the edge is also noteworthy, as they feel like glass when run across the nail.
Other initial notes of the block and the shears should be mentioned. The block is very classy looking, with the bamboo being a nice accent to the somewhat Asian-styled handles. The shears are outstanding. These are probably the best constructed kitchen shears I have handled. If you have good knives already, but need a set of shears, get these Kershaw Taskmasters. They are designed very well, although the sharp nubs meant for cap lifting on the butt of the handles are a little bit out of place and could be done without. That being said, it's good to have them when the only other option is a Shun to lift a lid...
Onto some comments after some use... First of all, the handles.. They are attractive and feel fairly good in my hands. I have relatively large hands, and the smaller size handles found on the paring and utility knives are fairly small, but not to a point where I feel unsafe using the smaller knives. The larger handles found on everything else in the Classic line work well in my hands. In smaller hands, I could see them being too big, but for me, they're just fine. The weight of the knives overall is nice, especially in the 8" chef's knife and the nimble 6" utility knife.
Next, some notes about the steel.. The VG10 core is outstanding. The steel is hard and holds a keen edge very well. It responds well to steeling with the Shun steel, which, on a side note, I like a fair amount due to the finer groove structure found on the steel when compared to other steels. This gives finer "teeth" on the edge which translates to finer, smoother cuts, noticed especially on raw vegetables. The lamination of the softer stainless (the actual technical jibber jabber isn't readily available in my memory) looks pretty cool, but in terms of function, probably isn't necessary. I can clean VG10 just fine myself, and anybody who can't probably shouldn't be owning Shuns in the first place. Secondly, the added resiliency and flexibility that this outer lamination provides is lost on kitchen knives that are used mainly for fine cutting anyway. The qualities of non-stickiness that are seen in some advertisements are not seen in my knives. Things stick to the blade. I don't really care, but the advertisement may be somewhat flawed in saying that the lamination prevents foods from sticking. I haven't bought one of the knives with a granton edge as of yet, but I'd like to see how it performs on various items like starchy veggies and cheese. After all the bashing of the laminated blade, I will digress... They still look very cool and very classy, and if given the option between a laminated blade and a plain VG10 blade, I may still opt to purchase the laminated blade for the sheer novelty of it.
Recently, I was able to get a screaming deal on a Pro 1 4" Deba, so obviously I took advantage of that. I received the knife today and have used it only on some carrots and cucumbers. It cuts well, although I'm not used to the single bevel. The advantage of the full hollow grind on the back of the blade is quickly apparent. The sides of the cuts that come off the hollow ground side are extremely smooth, which I could see being valuable in sushi applications. The blade was more scratched than I had expected, but knowing that this knife was a display model at another store, I cannot definitely say whether this knife came with scratches from the factory or not. This being my first experience with a single bevel knife, from first impressions, I probably won't buy one again. This is simply due to personal taste and the fact that I come from a background of double bevels which just seem to work better for my cutting style.
Finally, one last thing to note... I do not currently own anything from the Elite line, but that will probably change in the next few months. I also do not have yet the Classic bread slicing knife. This will undoubtedly be my next purchase. From what I've seen from handling the knife at work and cutting tests performed in the store, the Classic bread knife is one of the best, if not the best production bread knife on the market right now.
In conclusion, these knives are pretty decent to say the least. The lamination is a bit of a gimmick in my limited opinion, but heck, I like it even if it is a giimmick.
Keep doing what you're doing Kershaw/KAI/Shun, especially when it comes to the sharpening and polishing of your edges.
Travis
Just thought I'd write up a little testimonial for Shun knives, and open the floor for others to voice their opinions, good or bad, of any Shun stuff that they've handled or used.
Initially I was very drawn to the design of the Shun Classic stuff because, well, to be completely blunt, it looks very cool. I work at a knife shop, and have grown quite fond of the Shun stuff, of which we carry the Classic, Onion, and Elite line. I'd been eyeing the Classic 6pc set, and some fairly nice poker earnings made that idea an opportunity faster than I had originally anticipated.
I've had the knives for a couple months now, and I'll go back to my initial impressions to begin.. These knives come sharp. Simply put, these knives, especially the Elite series, are the sharpest factory knives I have ever handled. They catch hair above the skin, which puts them at a point of sharpness that has taken me quite some time to duplicate. This sharpness is due to the acute angle that these knives are sharpened at, especially compared to the comparable German lines. The level of polish on the edge is also noteworthy, as they feel like glass when run across the nail.
Other initial notes of the block and the shears should be mentioned. The block is very classy looking, with the bamboo being a nice accent to the somewhat Asian-styled handles. The shears are outstanding. These are probably the best constructed kitchen shears I have handled. If you have good knives already, but need a set of shears, get these Kershaw Taskmasters. They are designed very well, although the sharp nubs meant for cap lifting on the butt of the handles are a little bit out of place and could be done without. That being said, it's good to have them when the only other option is a Shun to lift a lid...
Onto some comments after some use... First of all, the handles.. They are attractive and feel fairly good in my hands. I have relatively large hands, and the smaller size handles found on the paring and utility knives are fairly small, but not to a point where I feel unsafe using the smaller knives. The larger handles found on everything else in the Classic line work well in my hands. In smaller hands, I could see them being too big, but for me, they're just fine. The weight of the knives overall is nice, especially in the 8" chef's knife and the nimble 6" utility knife.
Next, some notes about the steel.. The VG10 core is outstanding. The steel is hard and holds a keen edge very well. It responds well to steeling with the Shun steel, which, on a side note, I like a fair amount due to the finer groove structure found on the steel when compared to other steels. This gives finer "teeth" on the edge which translates to finer, smoother cuts, noticed especially on raw vegetables. The lamination of the softer stainless (the actual technical jibber jabber isn't readily available in my memory) looks pretty cool, but in terms of function, probably isn't necessary. I can clean VG10 just fine myself, and anybody who can't probably shouldn't be owning Shuns in the first place. Secondly, the added resiliency and flexibility that this outer lamination provides is lost on kitchen knives that are used mainly for fine cutting anyway. The qualities of non-stickiness that are seen in some advertisements are not seen in my knives. Things stick to the blade. I don't really care, but the advertisement may be somewhat flawed in saying that the lamination prevents foods from sticking. I haven't bought one of the knives with a granton edge as of yet, but I'd like to see how it performs on various items like starchy veggies and cheese. After all the bashing of the laminated blade, I will digress... They still look very cool and very classy, and if given the option between a laminated blade and a plain VG10 blade, I may still opt to purchase the laminated blade for the sheer novelty of it.
Recently, I was able to get a screaming deal on a Pro 1 4" Deba, so obviously I took advantage of that. I received the knife today and have used it only on some carrots and cucumbers. It cuts well, although I'm not used to the single bevel. The advantage of the full hollow grind on the back of the blade is quickly apparent. The sides of the cuts that come off the hollow ground side are extremely smooth, which I could see being valuable in sushi applications. The blade was more scratched than I had expected, but knowing that this knife was a display model at another store, I cannot definitely say whether this knife came with scratches from the factory or not. This being my first experience with a single bevel knife, from first impressions, I probably won't buy one again. This is simply due to personal taste and the fact that I come from a background of double bevels which just seem to work better for my cutting style.
Finally, one last thing to note... I do not currently own anything from the Elite line, but that will probably change in the next few months. I also do not have yet the Classic bread slicing knife. This will undoubtedly be my next purchase. From what I've seen from handling the knife at work and cutting tests performed in the store, the Classic bread knife is one of the best, if not the best production bread knife on the market right now.
In conclusion, these knives are pretty decent to say the least. The lamination is a bit of a gimmick in my limited opinion, but heck, I like it even if it is a giimmick.
Keep doing what you're doing Kershaw/KAI/Shun, especially when it comes to the sharpening and polishing of your edges.
Travis
