Where to find an old carbon steel chef's knife?

I'm not sure why you think old carbon steel knives are hard to come by. I did an eBay search for "carbon steel chef's knife vintage" and found pages and pages of results. Dexter, Forgecraft, Lamson & Goodnow, F. Dick, Sabatier, many others.
 
The trick is finding a worn-in patina'd one. The classic style is a French Sabatier style, which is made by a multitude of makers now. They shouldn't be *too* hard to find new, depending on price and shipping, et cetera. Top brands when I was looking for mine were K-Sabatier and Thiers-Issard. You may have to do the patina work yourself - cut a lot of onions for soupe a l'oignon, hand-cut a lot of ground beef (lots of work, but lots of fun!) and the knife should develop a good patina fairly quickly.
 
I think Machina left us long ago, but if I were doing a vintage American cookbook, I might illustrate it with a couple of tarnished Radas. I saw one in a cookbook recently and it took me back 50 years. Also popular were the Flint Vanadiums in the wooden hanger/tray.
 
Macchina said:
My wife is in the throes of writing a cook book (she has been a food blogger for years) and had tasked me with sourcing an old chef's knife and possibly a paring knife, preferably with lots of wear and patina for pictures. This book will be based on Michigan recipes so I'd love to go with an old Michigan-made kitchen knife but I don't think Marbles or any of the other Michigan knife makers did chef's knives...

I've searched eBay and old knives are actually very hard to come by. Any input on where to look would be awesome. Thanks!
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Macchina said:
My wife is in the throes of writing a cook book (she has been a food blogger for years) and had tasked me with sourcing an old chef's knife and possibly a paring knife, preferably with lots of wear and patina for pictures. This book will be based on Michigan recipes so I'd love to go with an old Michigan-made kitchen knife but I don't think Marbles or any of the other Michigan knife makers did chef's knives...

I've searched eBay and old knives are actually very hard to come by. Any input on where to look would be awesome. Thanks!
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a good tip.
the ontario forge in (US)
made a great chef knife! someone stole mine.
to my understanding they no loger do business---sad
since they were not expensive, people may not realise at garage sales what they have sotry some sales
another way if you dont need authenticity,grind an old knife down and do the patina yourself---dip in lemon juice or try some commercial patina solutions.
last but not least, talk to an old butcher he may give you one for a buck or 2.
good luck : joe
 
Old hickory butcher knife. Find an old one or patina a new one with lime juice. 10$ easy - cost effective - known
 
Old Hickory - the older the better. I have a block full of them that have been used over 40 years and I wouldn't trade them for anything. All of my stainless knives are in a box somewhere.
 
I have two Sabatier chef's knives I picked up cheap in second hand stores. I use the 9" a lot, and have had it refurbished. The 14" is my kitchen chopper.
 
I have several old Foster bros chef's knives. They are easily found on the bay but you have to pay a good price for them. Mine get used every time I cook and their steel is excellent.
 
protourist said:
I have several old Foster bros chef's knives. They are easily found on the bay but you have to pay a good price for them. Mine get used every time I cook and their steel is excellent.
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have you been able to find out steel type? I have one of their large cleavers from WW2, they made about 200,000 for the army and navy, but have little info other than that.
 
scott.livesey said:
have you been able to find out steel type? I have one of their large cleavers from WW2, they made about 200,000 for the army and navy, but have little info other than that.
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I'm betting it's 1095 with really good heat treat but I'm not sure. It sure acts like my old Schrades when sharpening.
 
I got a mess of Old Hickorys and a Sabatier from the bay about three or four years ago, not more than $10 each.
 
The only place to go for the very top quality carbon steel knives is The Knife Merchant in San Diego. They also have a very nice website and a sharpening service.
 
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