Sharpened a Nice Set of Shun and Ceramic Knives

A guy brought these Shun knives to be sharpened, he brought them to my mobile sharpening service while I was setup at Zanotto's Willow Glen in San Jose last Friday.

Shun and Kyocera Knives to be Sharpened

He has a pretty full set of Shun knives — chef's knife, slicer, serrated, paring, you name it, he's got it. I would say that this was the largest set of Shun knives brought to me to date.

He also brought me two Kyocera ceramic knives to be sharpened.

Shun and Kyocera Knives being Sharpened

Here is another picture of the same set of knives. I posted this partly to show this nice set of Shun knives — but also to make the point that I sharpen all brands of knives, including these Shun and Kyocera ceramic knives.

Estate Sale Find IPCO Filet-A-Fish Knife; R. Heinisch Scissors, 'Something' Fort Smith Scissors

I just checked out an estate sale, and among other items I bought a knife and two scissors.

Working on My Knife Blog

Here is a picture of my knife blog work station. The computer, the knife and scissors, and a magnifying glass. I need the magnifying glass to read stamps that are old and worn. I have a better, higher power magnifier in my tool box, I need to get another one for my home.

IPCO Fish Filet Knife

The knife I bought is a IPCO brand fish filet knife, called Filet-A-Fish, made in Sweden.

I can't really tell its age, the printing on the knife blade looks rather modern, and the sheath is molded plastic, so is probably not too old.

This fish filet knife is in very good condition, I cleaned it up, next I will sharpen it — then put it out on knife section of my knife sharpening booth and see what happens.

R. Heimisch Scissors; 'Fort Smith' Scissors

I also bought two pair of scissors.

The smaller pair in the picture look to me like hair cutting scissors. I can't read the name stamped on the blade, it looks like 'XXX Steel Scissors Fort Smith, ARK' with the three X's being three letters that I can't quite make out.

The big guys are R. Heimisch scissors, made in Newark, New Jersey.

Both of these scissors are in good condition, the only real flaw is just surface tarnishing. I will probably sharpen them — then I don't know what I will do with them.

SOG Aegis and SOG Aegis Mini Folding Knives

My supply of SOG Aegis knives has just been topped off.

SOG Aegis and Aegis Mini Knives

Here are the two SOG Aegis knives and their packaging.

SOG Aegis Mini (on left) and Aegis Knives Closed

Here are the two knives out of the packaging. The shot shows the thumb stud that opens the assisted opening blade; the sliding post that locks the blade open / releases the blade; and the little safety lock tab.

SOG Aegis Knives - Backside View

Here is the other side of the knives. Not so much to talk about here — you see the pocket clip and the handle.

The handle is curved and fits the hand quite nicely I say. The clip is what SOG calls 'deep carry,' the design of the clip allows the knife to settle down into the pocket lower than most knives.

Come out to one of my mobile knife sharpening locations and check out these SOG knives!

Just Received a Spyderco Chokwe Folding Knife!

Yesterday I received a shipment of knives (and sharpening supplies). One of the knives is the Spyderco Chokwe.

Spyderco Chokwe Boxed

Here is the unopened box. The picture is a bit out of focus — let's pretend that in my excitement I couldn't hold the camera still...

Spyderco Chokwe Closed with Box

OK — this guy is now out of the box.

Spyderco Chokwe Folding Knife

Now partially opened. This shows the G-10 handle, the plain edged blade with the Spyderco thumb hole (used to open the knife. The knife blade is made of CPM 330V.

Spyderco Chokwe 

Another fuzzy picture shows the pocket clip side of the Chokwe. Here we see the titanium side of the handle — which is used as the blade lock — and the pocket clip. The threaded holes for the alternate location of the pocket clip can be see.

This Spyderco Chokwe is one handsome knife:

My Backordered Mundial Chef's Knives Have Arrived Today!

I received a shipment of chef's knives from Mundial today:

Mundial Chef's Knife Shipment

Here is the box with the chef's knives. I received a couple each of 8" and 10" chef's knives.

Managing inventory is always a moving target! One day it seems you have too many knives on hand, next time you look you are missing some good pieces. 

Some days customers will buy all the same style knife — some days it seems nobody is interested in the same knife.

Then you place an order — and the manufacturer is out! What you ordered does not come in... These Mundial chef's knives were ordered quite some time ago, just received them. 

What the heck.

These are beautiful knives! World class design and materials. They are classic styled, forged knives. I have the Mundial chef's knives in 6" - 8" and 10" sizes.

Just Sharpened a Very Old Chinese Chef's Knife (Cleaver)

This knife was brought to me for sharpening the other day at Lunardi's San Bruno:

Vintage Chinese Chef's Knife

The owner of this knife is 86, and he said it was given to his grandfather by their neighbors when he was a kid. He figures the knife is at least 100 years old!

The owner grew up in and around San Francisco, and his neighbors were Chinese, who were in the shrimp fishing business in the San Francisco Bay. The shrimp fishing business was big back then, there is a state park — China Camp — dedicated to this industry up in the north bay in San Rafael.

Vintage Chinese Chef's Knife

Here is  the flip side of the knife. This is a old, vintage knife — but let me say I accidentally used a vintage style filter on my iPhone when I took this shot... The knife was already sharpened and picked up before I realized what I had done, so I couldn't correct it.

I would call this a Chinese chef's knife, not a cleaver. Most people would want to call this knife a cleaver, they would think that because of the knife's shape — a square, tall, rectangular shape with no point.

Cleavers and Chinese chef's knives share the same shape, but a cleaver has a thick blade, a chef's knife has a thin blade. The thick blade of a cleaver allows it to be used for heavy duty chopping tasks; while the thin blade of the Chinese chef's knife allows the knife to perform like any other chef's knife — easily cutting and slicing meats and vegetables.