My Latest! Vintage Shears, Fixed Blade Knife

I bought a few more items to refurbish.

Hammer Brand Fixed Blade Knife w/ Mother of Pearl Handles

First up is a fixed blade knife. It is marked 'Hammer Brand' with a hammer incorporated into the text. 

Hammer Brand Fixed Blade Knife

It is 7" long, has a blade of 3 1/2" It is in pretty good shape — I think I will clean and sharpen, keep it at my mobile knife sharpening booth. It should make a good conversation piece.

Wiss No 4 IS and Disston No 11??

Next up are two pair of shears. The big guys at the top of the picture are WISS Number 4 IS.

These WISS are just over a foot long, the cutting blades are 6"

WISS Shears, Disston Shears

The smaller orange handled shears are marked Disston No 11?? with the two question marks because I can't quite read what's stamped there. My guess is 1132.

These Disston shears are quite different from the WISS (and other shears). They are quite a bit lighter than the WISS, the handles are forged, but the blades appear to be machined and were then riveted onto the handles. The shears also appear to be designed to be used horizontally.

The WISS are in very good condition, and I plan on refurbishing them and see who would want them.

The Disston are in good condition with the exception of wear. The blades have a lot of wear — I believe that they are not so worn that they can't be brought back. We will see how it goes.

Lighter Moments in a Mobile Knife Sharpening Business

Gorden Biersch Beer Bottles

I was working the other day — sharpening knives — and somebody asked if I would want to barter. The answer was yes — and here on the seat of my truck is the barter booty!

Knife Sharpening at Genes's Fine Foods in Pleasanton

Sundays I am sharpening knives at Gene's Fine Foods. My nickname for Gene's is 'The Country Club.' I call it The Country Club as I see more people meeting their neighbors here, riding bikes to shop, and coming with their dogs. 

I ever offer bicycle 'valet parking.' Sometimes the biker rider forgot their lock, or simply do not want to bother with the lock. I offer to keep an eye on it — as seen in this picture.

NapaStyle Chef's Knife

I just had to take a picture of this knife after I sharpened it. It is a NapaStyle brand Santoku chef's knife.

                The reason I wanted to blog about it is:

The name NapaStyle is printed on the knife, and that is a California-ish name.

Then we have  printed on the knife 'SANTOKU' which is a style of a Japanese knife.

Next we have 'German Steel,' and following that we have 'Made in China.' 

I have to give them props as I would have trouble cramming all those keywords in a long blogpost — not to mention on four short lines printed on the face of a knife!

MAC Knife, Pair of Vintage Dexter Carbon Steel Knives

Stopped at two estate sales on the way up to Lunardi's Walnut Creek Saturday morning. Bought two knives.

MAC Chef's Knife

Got this MAC knife at the first sale. It is a large knife — about 9", it great shape, has a laminated wood handle. I sharpened and cleaned, have it on my 'Used Knives for Sale' table.

Vintage Dexter Carbon Steel Knives

The second stop yielded these Dexter knives. These are carbon steel knives, and I have a tough time passing up vintage carbon steel knives. I would say this picture makes the knives look worse than they are — cleaned up and all they are in very good condition.

I decided to put them up for sale on eBay — here is the link:

That's all I got for a bit of time driving around and standing in line. A bit disappointing — but still a bit of fun!

Knife Sharpening at Lunardi's Walnut Creek

I have begun sharpening knives at Lunardi's Walnut Creek!

Mobile Knife Sharpening at Lunardi's Walnut Creek

Here I am set up in the parking lot next to the market. Lunardi's Walnut Creek is is a rather large open air mall — Palos Verdes Mall.

Yesterday — Saturday — was the first day. I will be there every Saturday 10am to 5pm.

It was fairly busy out of the gate, I talked knives with a lot of people — had a good time.

I saw a few unusual knives here yesterday:

Cutco 1769 Hunting Knife, White Handle 1769, Cutco Bullwhip Folding Pocket Knife

I don't see these Cutco hunting knives everyday. Especially a white handled Cutco model 1769. I don't think I have ever seen a white handled one.

For sure I have never seen a Cutco folding pocket knife! It is marked 'Bullwhip' on the blade. I really liked this knife, it was slim, nice styling, beautiful.

Handmade Philippine Machete with Wooden Sheath

On the other hand — this knife is a BEAST! It is a hand made machete that a guy in the Air Force bought when he was sent down to the Philippines, Subic Bay. 

The blade is made from a leaf spring of a truck, the handle is water buffalo horn, and the sheath is carved wood. Really cool knife.

Grohmann Chef's Knife

This knife was bought as a souvenir when he was on vacation in British Columbia in Canada. I really liked his idea. Before the vacation he thought about what he needed, and then while on vacation he shopped for it, trying to by as close to a locally made product as he could. He tells me that then the souvenir — such as this knife — reminds him of the vacation each time he uses it.

Much better idea than buying a knickknack that just sits and gathers dust.

Tattered Knife Sharpening Sign

On another note — I took my stop at Lunardi's Walnut Creek to retire my mobile knife sharpening sign. It became quite tattered and ugly. Time to design and print some signage!

Estate Sale Knives and Garden Tools

Bought more knifes and garden tools at an estate sale today.

My Estate Sale Purchase: Knives and Garden Tools

I bought two Chicago Cutlery knives, a 41S and a 42S chef's knife, one pair of Corona hand pruners, a Corona grass trimmer, and a knife that is marked Ontario Eureka.

I have never seen a Ontario Eureka knife — my guess is that it is a commercial model, what people around here call a 'cannery knife.'

The two Chicago Cutlery chef's knives will be cleaned, the handles treated, sharpened and will be for sale on my mobile knife sharpening business knife table.

It seems EVERYBODY bought Chicago Cutlery back in the day! I kind of remember that Macy's sold Chicago Cutlery — they must have done very well!

The Ontario knife will probably be added to my 'collection' (read: put in a box). The two garden tools I will have my understudy sharpen for practice.

We Have Hit Garden Tool Sharpening Season!

It seems that everybody is bringing me garden tools to be sharpened. I took this picture at Lunardi's San Bruno. I took it because the customer brought me such a variety of garden tools.

Assortment of Garden Tools Awaiting Sharpening

Included in these garden tools brought to be sharpened are Corona loppers, Corona hedge clippers, Corona grass clippers, two different types of Corona hand pruners, Cutco hand pruners, and old pair of Sears hand pruners, and a Fiskars hand pruner, and another hand pruner.

Anyways — garden tools can be sharpened for much less than replacing the tool! 

My suggestion is make the investment, buy a quality tool. A quality tool will not be that much more, and there are big advantages to a quality garden tool! The tool will preform better, it won't bend or break when it shouldn't, it will last longer, and it can be sharpened  and so last indefinitely. 

You will appreciate using a quality tool, and total costs will be less over the years!

Everybody has a Favorite Knife

Everybody has a favorite knife, perhaps a knife that its best attribute is sentimental.

Tired Old Carbon Steel Chef's Knife

I just sharpened this carbon steel chef's knife for a customer at Lunardi's Bascom (San Jose) yesterday. I don't know the story of the knife — but I sharpened the knife, it sharpened nicely.

Tired Old Carbon Steel Chef's Knife

Here is a picture of the other side of the knife. This view shows the missing handle on this side.

Once sharpened — and other than the missing handle piece — this knife will be just as nice in the kitchen as most any other knife.

My point is — if you want to use a knife, use it sharp. Any knife can be sharpened — they don't get 'old.' 

I Sharpen Garden Tools

The mainstay of my sharpening service is knives, serrated knives, garden tools and scissors. But that is not all I sharpen. I also sharpen hatchets, hand axes, paper cutters, food processing blades, paper cutters — and most any type of a cutting tool that has a plain (rather than toothed) edge.

Large Garden Sickles

These wacky garden tools were brought in for sharpening last Wednesday at Lunardi's San Bruno.

The other garden tools that I sharpen are hoes, shovels, pole pruners. So grab what you got and come to my mobile sharpening service! I visit locations in the San Francisco Bay Area — mostly the South Bay and the Peninsula — for the schedule click HERE.

Beautiful Vintage Forgecraft Carbon Steel 10" Chef's Knife

I just got my hands on this beautiful Forgecraft chef's knife:

Forgecraft 10" Carbon Steel Chef's Knife

This is a 10" carbon steel knife. 

There are a lot of people that prefer carbon steel knives and look for these old chef's knives.

'Carbon steel' is what we used to call 'steel.' Once stainless steel hit the market, this metal became carbon steel. Knife enthusiasts like carbon steel for a lot of reasons — I suspect one big reason is that it's just plain different.

Carbon steel knives sharpen easily and to a very sharp edge. They do take more maintenance: carbon steel knives need to be dried after use so that they do not rust.

Forgecraft 10" Carbon Steel Chef's Knife

Carbon steel does develop a patina. The knife in these pictures has that patina. When carbon steel is new — coated with oil — it is the color that you would expect, the color of steel. With use, this 'new steel color' gradually changes to the patina as shown in these photographs. It can't be prevented, and is accepted.

The disadvantages are that you need to keep it dry, the patina, and a carbon steel knife can leave a taste on highly acidic foods.

I think carbon steel knives are like a hobby — some people just like to fuss over these knives as they use them. I do!

Keeping Kitchen Knives Sharp

I was up in the mountains the other day — and seeing all the rocks tumbling down into the rivers and creeks made me think of how knives wear and get dull. .Made me think of a way to illustrate how this happens so people will take better care of their knives.

Rocks Above a Creek

I was riding my motorcycle along a river and saw a cliffside full of loose, angular rocks that have been, over the years, sliding into the river. Once in the river, the rocks were worn down to rounded smooth river rocks.

This is the same process that dulls a knife — especially when a knife is mishandled.

Motion and contact are the cause.

Unfortunately I was riding faster than my pea-brain was thinking! I was past the river that gave me the idea — and needing to keep to a schedule — I passed the river without thinking of taking a picture.

Smooth River Rocks

With the motion and contact of a rock tumbling in the water — the sharp edges (which are the most fragile) — get worn off. The little bits of the sharp part of the rock are broken off bit by bit, eventually leaving a smooth rounded stone and little tiny pieces of stone.

In the Natural World this is called erosion — and is what creates our soil, our sandy beaches.

In the kitchen the motion and contact are created when a sharp knife is put unprotected in a drawer, sink or dishwasher. The sharp edge of the knife — which is very thin — hitting other things in the drawer, sink or dishwasher causes the edge of the knife to wear off.

In the Kitchen World this causes another trip to the knife sharpener — and allows the knife sharpener to make another payment on his backyard swimming pool!

Proper handling and proper storage is what is needed to keep a sharp knife as sharp as possible as long as possible.

Mundial Knife Edge Protectors

To store knives everybody knows about the wooden knife block. The block is made of wood as wood is softer than the steel and as such does not damage the edge.

Another way to store knives is to use a edge protector. The picture above shows four sizes of one made by Mundial, sizes to fit any knife from a paring knife to a large cleaver.

Knife Edge Protectors

Here is a picture of knives slipped into knife edge protectors.

The knife block is easy and works well. Knife edge protectors are a good choice if you want to store the knives on the counter, in a kitchen drawer — or if you want to take the knives with you, perhaps to a picnic or a cooking party.