# Why I'll never buy another Warther chef knife



## WingKKF (May 16, 2014)

(That ain't a hamon line).

So I got this Warther 9 inch chefs knife just as I started learning about kitchen knives, back when. Website said it was made of tool steel. I thought OK, as long it's not some stainless steel. After a while I began to suspect the steel was stainless as it did not patina and it had lousy edge stablilty and just did not want to get beyond just sharp to very sharp no matter how carefully I refined the edge.. I then found out it's 440C. Great, if I'd had known I would not have bought it and it was too late to return it as I'd modified the knife to remove the belly. OK, let make lemonade out of lemons and thin it out. I guess I now know what an overgrind is. You can actually feel the blade face going up and down like some roller coaster as you run a finger along it. If they'd spend their time rounding off the handle, spine and making sure the grind was even instead of "turning" the blade face, they might have a better product. Let this be a warning to those contemplating getting a Warther's chef knife.


----------



## Arty (May 17, 2014)

Their knives are now CPM S35V. I wouldn't have gotten the chef's knives either in 440C. Yours must be an old one. I haven't used the 7" slicer or 6" outdoors fillet knife enough to make a judgment call, but both of them are S35V. They needed a touch up on the stones and strop when I got them, but that was not a big deal. the fillet knife will get a workout on fish, but that hasn't happened yet.
My knives have the blade metal type marked on the blades near the handle.
The grind is not great on the two knives I got, and fit is not as good as it could be on the slicer, but the fillet knife is a little better. The 9" chef's knife has gone up in price, so I would have expected a better job on fit and finish.


----------



## Arty (May 17, 2014)

P.S. Their website says that they used M2 and then D2 some time ago, but changed over to 440C in the 1950's. I have a couple of Gerber paring knives in 440C and one in M2. I prefer the M2, but the 440C seemed to hold an edge about like the carbon in my old Sabatiers (4 Elephants). Of course, it was much easier to sharpen the carbon, but the newer S35V isn't too difficult to work with, if you have the proper stones. I get lots of use from my Gerber kitchen knives.
I wouldn't get the Warther chef knife because of the curved edge profile. It wouldn't be too hard to change the profile on a belt sander, but I would rather start off with the blade shape that I like better.


----------



## WingKKF (May 17, 2014)

When I got the knife in the 2007, the only mention of the steel used was tool steel, the type of which was not specified. There was no mention of 440C whatsoever on the website and it remained that way for quite a long time, until they switched to CPM S30V probably. I can understand keeping the exact type of steel confidential as it might be proprietary but to straight out misrepresent the steel like that? Fool me once. After all the many hours I spent on the knife, it actually works quite nicely. Much better that stock after I really thinned it out and sanded the handle for comfort and adjusted the profile. I would not have chosen it as my first serious chef knife however, if I had known better.


----------



## Tall Dark and Swarfy (May 17, 2014)

*Arty<>* I contacted Gerber wrt steel used in their Balance Plus line of kitchen knives. They told me it was either 440A or 420HC. The only one with 440C was the Yan-Su. 

Cheers,

Rick


----------



## Arty (May 17, 2014)

I don't recall the name of the Gerber paring knives that I have in stainless, but I am pretty sure that they are 440C. They are more than 30 years old, and I wouldn't have gotten kitchen knives in 440a or 420HC. They have apple wooden handles. The other Gerbers that I have are chrome plated M2 and date from the same era as the apple wooden handled ones.


----------



## Arty (May 17, 2014)

Off topic, but the stainless Gerbers were the "professional series." This is on the 4" parer, but not the 3" model. I recall snapping the blade of the 3" paring knife cutting chocolate. Gerber sent a replacement (1984 or so) and the new one has been fine since this incident. The blade was defective, and I had been using it since I bought it in the 70's. I still use the 3 Gerber paring knives, 2 in 440C and 1 Pixie in M2 with chrome plating.


----------

