Thrift Store: how'd I do?

M

modernbeast

Joined
Jul 18, 2015
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While at the local thrift I decided to look for serving ware, I did find some passably ornate holed spoons and spatulas for daily use but I also found some nice looking knives. While in store I did a few quick searches that led to this site...so I joined. I think I replaced some real crap but dont know much about knives.

Replaced these.
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I'm not even sure where most of these came from... probably my mothers junk drawer. The only purchased knife here was the kitchen aid because I was going nuts using the others. Its the newest knife there and arguably in the worst condition. The only other branded one is a Henckel international 32084-180mm brazil, tempted to keep it because henckel is a good brand? The others are unbranded marked stainless china only.

These are the replacements
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The gold 3 are what initially caught my eye because of the shape. This site was the only decent info source on these. They are marked 400c Gold 3 stainless Japan on the reverse they each have a number; QR4842 and PQ9828. They have a nice flex and are great for deboning (did a turkey with the long one).

Next up is the Oneida Japan set of two. There are no other markings on the blades. The only thing I know about Oneida is it was formed by some religious commune. In any case these knives have thick sturdy blades and nice long comfortable handles.

The last knife I picked up at thrift reads kaicut, swedish steel rostfrei inox - sandvik 13c26. The backside says japan. A smooth dark wide handle with slight flex to the blade. This knife feels like a classic knife, no frills or gimmicks, just knife.

The last knife I picked up at a yard sale. It looks like a prop from a horror film. The blade reads hand ground, Solingen,Germany there is a partialy readable logo that says Premier ?super? Steel Trade-mark, the super part may say something else. The tip is snapped and much of the blade is very rough.

I bought these for about $23 Cad and the Psycho knife was $2.

I have been using them as is and they are much better than what I had before, also they look much nicer.

I am wondering if any of these are considered good knives and what i should be doing to fix them up, especially the hand ground one as its in such rough shape.
 
I have one of those KitchenAid knives I received as a Christmas gift from my Mom, because she knew I liked knives, and I like to cook.

It's really held up pretty well, and it does OK at holding an edge. I sharpen it on the Edge Pro about once a month, a keep it maintained with a steel when ever I drag it out of the block. My wife abuses the daylights out of it, chopping and dragging it across the cutting board, and I'll turn around and slice tomatoes paper thin.

I guess I need to not get so uppity as it comes to keeping them sharp.
 
Don't throw the Kitchen Aid knife away, its a keeper. I have had that same for many years and it is one of my best performers in the kitchen. It doesn't hold an edge as well as my Furii or Spyderco kitchen knives, but its responds better to the steel and keeps cutting for a long time in between sharpenings. In the last ten years I think I have sharpened it less than a dozen times.
 
Oneida is a common ordinary kitchen cutlery brand. Probably no better at holding an edge than the knives you got rid of, but at least the Oneidas you selected look nice.

The last knife, I love it and would be happy to have it in a kitchen drawer here.

I'm also intrigued by the second- and third-from bottom knives; love the odd blade shape and beautiful wood handle. They look like decent quality, and look as if they've been cared for.

modernbeast said:
I am wondering if any of these are considered good knives and what i should be doing to fix them up, especially the hand ground one as its in such rough shape.
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The "psycho" knife needs sharpening and maybe ground with a new edge. It's the only knife of the bunch that appears to be carbon steel, so don't let it sit wet and wipe a bit of mineral oil on the blade. I'd put plenty of mineral oil or butcher block oil on the handle in an attempt to rejuvenate the dry and cracked wood. If the wood soaks up enough oil, some of the visible cracks may even swell closed.

Never let wood handles soak in dishwater. You probably knew that already...
 
Ditto, the knives you got are probably a little better. Hang around here for a while and you'll learn much more. I think there is a kitchen knife sub-forum. Good kitchen knives can be often acquired used cheaply and a little knowledge will pay off royally in that area.

That last "psycho" knife is the gem, to me. If you don't mind caring for it and avoiding rust, old carbon steel can be the best worker in the kitchen.

Clean up that edge and sharpen it nicely. Then find an old knife steel at a thrift store, yard sale, yadda. After each use give it 3-5 swipes per side on the steel. That will get to be habit and go quickly. The knife will stay sharp for a long time if you do that and you'll have a knife whose sharpness will be commented on.

I have a block of old carbon steel knives which I love. I also have a couple Henckels which have cost me a couple bucks each at yard sales but they are fewer and farther between.


Oh, and welcome to the forum.
 
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Along with everyone else's advice, I wouldn't overlook the Kaicut. I have no personal experience with it, but Sandvik 13c26 is supposed to be a decent steel. It looks like you did a good job with these knives for $25.
Bruce
 
I've got a set of Kitchen Aid knives like that I received as a gift several years ago and theyve been great.
 
For $25 you definitely did OK...
I'm really digging that large Solingen chef knife, cleaned up she'll be a real beaut!

The Japanese gold3 Knives have a nice unique look, and a sandvik kai cut blade added to your little kitchen aid santuko and henckels to replace some generic chinese steel knives, makes for a decent little basic kitchen set...

Now just make sure you invest in the tools needed to keep them sharp
 
People keep mentioning the kitchen aid, is it worth reparing? What is it called when a knife has these ovals that help veg not stick? Gradial... granial...

Those seraded as seen on tv knives have been mostly terrible but the Henckel is the best of them. What is the type of blade good for?

Having never sharpened a knife do you recommend I take the Solingen to a profesional? Not sure I want to turn a $2 knife into a $40 knife, but I did know it was rough when I bought it. I own zero knife sharpening tools, dont even know where to start...well these forums, I guess.

Took a profile shot of the big one.
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This seems like a fun hobby.
 
If you have no experience, then a $2 blade is the best place to start... You either wind up with your first decent refinish, or you ruin a $2 knife...

With zero tools and equipment to start with here's what you'll "need"; some SiC wet/dry sand paper, a tub of water, and patience... Start with your lower grits, to remove the rust/pitting, stay even with the entire knife, and work your way up to finer grits removing the scratches of the grit before it... A bench grinder with some soft wheels and greeseless compound would speed things up, but you can certainly do it all by hand. I often sit and sand rust off old vintage razors while my son watches cartoons, since I can't just leave him unattended to go to the garage, I can still watch him and kill two birds...

Then decide where you want to stop. You can leave some of the patina on there, shows age and helps protect it a bit, or you can go for a more polished look removing all the patina through all the finer grits if you prefer, moving onto micro-mesh, and finishing with a Polish...

Watch youtube vids... There are a ton put there on sharpening, Murray Carter was one of my favorites regarding your basic kitchen Knives.

Practice sharpening on the Chinese generics. Working on your form...

They are all basic steel kitchen Knives so no fancy diamond stones needed; a cheap fine ceramic honing rod will do wonders to keep a decent edge on all your kitchen Knives, along with a steel honing rod (knife steel)...
I currently use a messermeister 12" ceramic rod ($25) and it works great. Once you have sharp Knives, it will keep them sharp for a very long time without need to truly "re" sharpen. (It does the minor resharpening as it goes, as opposed to a steel which doesn't sharpen at all but simply realigns a sharp blade keeping it sharp as it straightens any micro folding).

As for actually "sharpening", if they truly are dull, you'll have to set the edge and such, and like I said, nothing fancy is needed for basic steels like you have there. A cheap 2-sided combo waterstone is a my preference.
If there is still just a hint of a sharp/edge still present, you can do fine with a 1000/3000 or 1000/4000 grit stone to reset the existing edge, and cheap ones can be had for $20-30 and will do just fine for your basic kitchen Knives. And honestly, for a standard blade in an average home, that would be the only stone you need, as it will put plenty sharp of an edge on your standard knife. And will last you a really long time before you would need another, unless you're a chef and need to sharpen multiple Knives regularly, which I'm guessing your not... One good sharpening and then regular honing on the rods, you can probably get away with only sharpening once a year with normal use.

If there is absolutely no edge left, you'll need something with a lower grit to set your (new) edges, so maybe a 600 or so grit, (I have a medium/fine diamond bench stone for sharpening my "exotic/fancy" steels, but find the fine side does wonders on setting edges edges on softer basic steels) whereas if you want a more polished edge you'll need to invest in a higher grit.

So yeah, provided you have judt a little bit of an edge left to work with; $20-30 on a fine ceramic hone, $20-30 on a 1000/3000(4000) water stone, is all you really "need" in getting and keeping a decent edge on your basic kitchen Knives, and under normal use in an average kitchen, they should last you 10 years or more of never having a dull blade...

invest in more as you go; find a "knife steel"at a yard sale, buy a lower grit stone, a higher grit stone, build a paddle strop, diamond stones, a $60 sharpmaker, whatever suits your fancy. The more you know the more Knives you obtain, the fancier steel alloys you get into, the more skills you acquire, your needs may change and/or you find you prefer this to that... I personally just enjoy the "intimacy " (for lack of a better word) of hand sharpening on bench stones... It takes time and patience, and practice to get good at it, but I enjoy it thoroughly...

There are other options too... An even cheaper way is use that same SiC wet/dry sandpaper you'll need to clean up that German chef knife, use that with an appropriate backing, and you can get nice fine edges on a knife, and just like water stones, the higher grits will give you great polished edges, the lower grits will work great for reprofiling... Definitely a cheaper way to start... (Some people actually use this as their preferred method).

As for serrated blades, they're great for cutting bread, but they are a whole different animal (pain the ...) To sharpen, you'll need a small round cermaic rod sharpener or something similar, (a small piece of SiC with a popsicle stick can sometimes work depending on the size of the serrations).

Practice on you junk Knives, maybe pick another cheap one or two or three or four up at yard sale as needed to practice with (I see you don't have a paring knife or utility knife for your kitchen set) and go to town... Once you think you have it, start with your oneida's and get better as you go.
 
As davek noted, the carbon steel Solingen chefs knife is the gem. Desireable knife. Put a little loving care into it and you will have great knife that will outlive you.
 
The "dimples" in the kitchen aid you have, are designed for cutting thin slices of thick meats... It breaks the "suction" of the meat keeping it from sticking to the blade...
 
Seems I am more prepared than I thought.

I have multiple grades of sand paper and some marble I use as a backing for lapping computer heat syncs. I normaly use alcohol as a lubricant but mineral oil is cheap enough and needed for the handles.

I do have other knives,nothing to write home about, these are just the ones I found and the ones I was considering getting rid of. I am most certainly going to keep my eyes open for better ones.

I thought the dimples were so potatoes didn't stick. :p


Those are some nice knives Davek. Is that what is ment by leaving some piting for character?
 
but they seem to end up in a box on the back porch.
the J A Henckels on the left with the crack in the handle
needs to go back to the factory, but I have a hard time
packing the German made knife in a box only to get a non German made
in return.
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I like all your knifes, if you decide to rid yourself of them treasurers let me know.
 
That Solingen knife is a peach. If you post up where abouts you're located there may be some more experienced forum members in your area that could help clean it up with you, I know I would! Probably would only take an hour or two.
 
fencepost said:
I like all your knifes, if you decide to rid yourself of them treasurers let me know.
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Thanks for the offer, I am keeping them for use. Besides, I dont think I have the right account for sales/trades.

@EricV - I am taking the above advice to refinish myself for practice, so far I have been oiling the handles and things are looking good... will post pics.

How polished should I make it?
Can they attain mirror polish?
Should they?
 
I would get the blade to a nice satin polish with a green scotchbrite pad (uniform as possible, only polish in one direction to avoid swirls), then maybe start with some fitz on a rag util its all fairly uniform. The higher the polish you give it the more corrosion resistant it'll be, but it takes a lot of work for a mirror polish and personally I don't think its worth it.
 
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