Nice Gerber

I'm a fan of the underdog, such as one of the smaller makers of kitchen knives.

Gerber Balance Plus 8" Cooks Knife

Pictured is a nice Gerber chef's knife. Now, I believe that most knives that are made to sell at a similar price point pretty much the same when it comes to quality and performance — but I tend to prefer the knives from the smaller manufacturers.

I'm a 'Crazy Knife Guy'

Just as a woman gets a cat another cat — then morphs into a 'Crazy Cat Lady' — I'm on my way to be a Crazy Knife Guy.

Old Forge 400-8 Carbon Steel 8" Chef's Knife

I was given the knife pictured above. It is an Old Forge chef's knife, carbon steel with a nice wooden handle.

The guy used it outside to trim and edge his grass!

Being a fan of vintage knives — especially 'extinct' carbon steel chef's knives — I just had to fix this puppy up. I have plenty of knives...

I cleaned it, scrubbed off the bulk of the rust, sharpened it, and cleaned and oiled the handle.

Old Forge knives are — I believe — a brand of knives made by Case. These were made from the late 1950s up to the late 1980s.

Old Forge 400-8 Knife

Here is a shot showing the Case name stamp on the blade of the Old Forge knife.

Helle Knives from Norway

The knives made in Norway by Helle are well made beautiful knives. These knives have wood handles, and a simple minimalist style. Being from Europe, they have no Rambo Effect — so are smaller, compact knives with more traditional styling than many of the knives sold here in the USA.

Temagami Knife by Helle

Above is the Temagami. This is a fixed blade knife, and is sold with a leather sheath.

I am itching to get some of these in! I was just at a knife show and drooled over them for the second year at this show.

I can only carry so much inventory — so have to pick and choose carefully. 

What do you think I should do?

 

Knife Sharpener Awaiting Customers

Today is a slow Monday, and I am busy doing what a knife sharpener is good at doing while waiting for some knives to sharpen: eating, reading, doing eBay, and blogging.

My Book and Snack Food

Here I'm snacking on Triscuts and reading Bernard Cornwell's 'Sharpe's Tiger.'

Knife for Sale on eBay

When I'm not reading or eating -- I'm often on eBay. I buy and sell on eBay -- also use eBay as a price reference tool when I'm trying to place a value on a used knife. 

One Lazy Knife Sharpener

And -- when I'm waiting -- but not eating, eBay-ing, reading or blogging I'm kicked back, running through the World's problems!

I Sharpen Things Other Than Knives

Today I sharpened some horse shoeing tools.

Just Sharpened Horse Shoeing Tools

The work tray above holds some horse shoeing tools that I just sharpened in Pleasanton.

I also sharpen food processor blades, pizza cutters, and many other cutting blades. 

If you have something that you think I can sharpen, then look me up and bring it by!

Vintage Carbon Steel Sabatier 8" Chef's Knife

I just got this nice vintage carbon steel chef's knife.

Vintage Sabatier Carbon Steel Chef's Knife

This knife was made by Sabatier, it is an 8" long forged chef's knife.

Vintage Sabatier Chef's Knife

Here is a close up of the handle of the Sabatier.

There is a big following of carbon steel knives. I am one of them. I drive a pick up with a stick shift, roll up windows, and carbon steel fits my thoughts. Carbon steel makes a simple, good knife that is easy to sharpen and stays sharp.

Spyderco Domino is Awaiting Its New Owner!

I still have my latest Spyderco Domino.

Spyderco Domino

I know that the Spyderco Domino is not the cheapest knife in the drawer — so even though a lot of people have lusted over it these last few weeks — I still have it!

Come to my mobile knife sharpening business to see this knife — and many beautiful others — hands on.

Uh-Oh -- My Solar System Had a Power Failure

My mobile knife sharpening business is solar powered.

I have portable solar panels, a 12 volt deep cycle storage battery, and a power inverter. 

I have the battery and the power inverter installed into a rolling Stanley tool box. This setup works quite well -- everything is self contained, and I can roll the package where I need. The exception is that it is crowded in the tool box, so it is difficult to access to check and service the equipment inside. 

Solar Power System Troubleshooting

The other day I clicked on the inverter to start up the knife sharpening, and nothing. The power inverter would not turn on. 

I took the power inverter out, hooked it up to my spare battery and got to work sharpening knives. Later I troubleshot the system, discovering that a cable had come loose. 

I fixed everything and re-assembled the tool box. 

I need to redesign the setup -- get it so the cables and connections are accessible.

The weather up in San Bruno was not the ideal solar collector weather — and most definitely not the best 'working outside' weather. Looking at the photo above you can see how wet it was.

Lunardi's San Bruno Weather Out the Window

And look at this picture! This is inside Lunardi's San Bruno looking outside at my knife sharpening booth. Look at the weather, look at the weather blowing around my banners. It was brutal outside that day!

I am proud that my system worked the entire day. It was a bit slow, and a bit of sun peeked out now and then — so everything worked fine.

Zanotto's Willow Glen Mobile Knife Sharpening

Fortunately my next mobile knife sharpening stop was sunny San Jose! This is at Zanotto's Willow Glen today, Friday. It was a good day, busy, but not so busy that the battery ran down. It was sunny enough that I gain battery charge. I don't think the battery was filled to capacity — but close. If tomorrow is average in knife sharpening customers — and sunny — I should be just fine!

Well, Saturday was NOT sunny! The day was average busy — so I used my backup battery, kept aiming the solar panels towards where I THINK the sun was — and squeaked through another day.

I am writing this on Saturday night, and tomorrow — Sunday — I am going to Gene's Fine Foods in Pleasanton. Gene's is often busy, and the beginning of the day is shaded by the building... I have the two batteries at home on a battery charger, topping them off.

This is probably the third time I had failed to operate 'Off the Grid' and charge up the batteries at home. Running this system since March of last year, using house power three times is OK in my book.

Two Treasured Old Carbon Steel Chef's Knives

A customer brought these knives to be sharpened yesterday:

Old Carbon Steel Chef's Knives

These knives are the customers favorites, he got them from his uncle, who had a restaurant in Wisconsin.

I could not see any manufacturers name or marks on the blades. The larger knife is a stamped, carbon steel chef's knife, the smaller knife is a forged, carbon steel chef's knife. 

The larger knife is in darn good shape, the little knife is a bit worse for wear, it is missing one side of it's handle, and the other handle is barely hanging on!

This Vintage Gerber Sakai Turned Up

I found this Gerber Sakai kitchen chef's knife when I was out poking around one day:

Gerber Sakai Chef's Knife

I am a fan of Gerber knives — the older ones are made in the USA, and they have a styling that I like.

This is the first Gerber Sakai knife that I have seen. I have searched the Internet for information, have not found much at all.

Gerber Sakai Knife

Here is a view of the other side.

I kept it for a bit — then decided to put it up for sale on eBay, click HERE to view.