Knife porn thread

How do you people treat wooden kitchen knife handles by the way?

Never leave them wet, wipe them clean with a wet cloth, leave to dry, and once in a while wipe over with a bit of oil, not sure it makes any difference if you use the nice expensive oils for the purpose or olive oil.

I would say never let the handle sit in any liquid on a worktop.

Would a sealing oil be better?

That sounds like what I do. I will be looking in to using boiled linseed oil as it's supposed to harden up.

Boiled linseed does harden but you have to be careful when applying it as any rag you use could potentially combust spontaneously unless disposed of carefully. I tend to put it in an old jam jar with water and bin that.

You could also try tung oil which like linseed oil hardens.

My local grocers has these reusable tea bags, perfect little bag for a no.5 or no.6 Opinel.

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Found these at TK Maxx today £34 for the lot. Feels a bit flimsy compared to my other Japanese knives but time will tell.

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I saw those the other day too, what's the collar made from? The one I looked at felt metallic or maybe ceramic...

They look good, are they single bevel?
In which case even if it’s not great steel, should be able to get a serious edge (even if it doesn’t last)

Most knives at TK Maxx are shite, but sometimes you can find some decent/good stuff there. Saw some Global, Henckels 5*, Wustof there on occasion.

I ordered a new knife block yesterday, I've run out of room in my old one... New one gives me a bit of room for expansion... 😉

Carbon steel Sabatier knives aren't made any more as far as I'm aware- been replaced with stainless steel. As such, I'd go direct to sabatier. From memory they occasionally sell old stock/previous generation knives.

From curiosity, why do you want carbon steel?

Wood handle with plastic collar.

Double bevel. I never really find any decent knives but saw these and thought I would give them a go.

Carbon steel holds a sharper edge then stainless steel.

Quite an impressive array of Jap steel in ‘Kitchen Provisions’ in Coal Drops Yard (Kings Cross).

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Wow, I know where I'm going this weekend. How do the prices compare to jkc?

Hard to say as I only saw the price of a couple (~£165) that were out for another customer and without really getting into what steel/handle/blacksmith it’s impossible to compare.
I chatted to the rather eccentric young owner about sharpening until I saw my wife’s eyes glaze, lots of other great cookware though so deffo worth a visit.

Group meet? Just to admire and then talk about different handles/blade materials.

Sounds like a plan, I might learn something as I'm new to knife porn. Just learning about whetstones which seems to have as many option as knives

Knife porn is easy, look at something knife related or knife and you think it is lovely. Handle a knife and feel the balance and the knife feels right and comfortable.

Then the knife material discussion and sharpening methods.

Anger and upset if your knife gets put in to the dishwasher, or anyone else using it and not giving it the respect and care that you give the knife it.

that's actually a great summary. thanks.

I 3D printed myself a box cutter. I was always fumbling for my penknife when opening packages and thought it'd be a fun/geeky way to have something easily to hand for opening boxes.

However, it just occurred to me that it may be illegal? Its not spring loaded, but you can open one hand with a flick of the wrist. It doesn't lock exactly, but has rare earth magnets that hold it open. The blade doesn't fold, but it has a mechanism that increases/reduces its length.

I'm not worried about owning it for opening parcels in my own home, but I'm interested to understand whether I have crossed a line into a grey areas. Anybody have any thoughts?

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I have thoughts:

Can I has one please?

In purple.

Orange and or blue for me