# So...how many then?



## Cutty Sharp (Nov 6, 2012)

I'm curious, I've had a look, and haven't seen a thread on this before. I'm wondering how many kitchen knives and stones KKF members tend to have in their collections?

I'm talking 'expensive' quality knives and stones. Things you're happy to discuss here, but which 'normal' people tend to know nothing about. For example, I've got a Global and stone which I won't bother mentioning, a Sanelli chef knife too which won't count, and several cheapos that I might use to pry open coconuts. No, I don't mean those.

My tally is very modest by KKF standards I think: 6 good Japanese knives (2 petty, 1 santoku, 1 nakiri, 1 deba, 1 gyuto) and then 8 'stones' (3 Jnats, 4 synthetics, 1 diamond). That's it in a nutshell. My overall total: *14 pieces*. Lean and mean.

In comparison I know another member here with 25 stones and over 60 knives - he's nearly at 90 - but I'm sure others would make him look modest.

No doubt the totals will be all over the place, but it'll be interesting to see. How many have you got?

(Incidentally, no vendors. You'll just embarass us.)


----------



## WildBoar (Nov 6, 2012)

20 'good knives' (i.e., not the Henkels, Wusthofs, etc. we started with), 4 synthetic stones, 2 DMTs and 2 natural stones. And 3 BoardSMITH cutting boards :cool2:


----------



## apicius9 (Nov 6, 2012)

40ish, I think. 6 or 7 stones.

Stefan


----------



## pitonboy (Nov 6, 2012)

55 including current passarounds. Was up to 80 at one point. Won't tell you how many stones/hones


----------



## Marko Tsourkan (Nov 6, 2012)

Speaking of lean, I have 4 knives and 2 DMT plates (1200 and 8000 equivalent) and a strop. Don't use any stones at home.

Compared to most, I am like a poor relative. 

I find these to cover all my cutting needs. Will add a couple more later on. 

M


----------



## tk59 (Nov 6, 2012)

50-ish knives, 30-ish stones (mostly synthetic), at least a dozen diamond plates of various construction, a small pile of nagura and a pile of strops from various materials along with a bunch of abrasive compounds of various grits. A strop, four stones and three nagura I strictly reserve for razors.


----------



## Don Nguyen (Nov 6, 2012)

Zero 

Hopefully I'll start with one soon.

EDIT: Well actually, I have a worn DMT.


----------



## kalaeb (Nov 6, 2012)

Sold off or gave away almost everything I have except for daily users. I am <10 now and happy with it. At one time it was close to 50. I keep my stone set up minimal as well, with only 5.


----------



## EdipisReks (Nov 6, 2012)

i'm down to 8 gyutos, a suji, a yanagi, an usuba, two paring knives, two petty knives, three quality vintage chef knives, and a quality vintage slicer. i'm down to 10 stones, all synthetic, and three diamond plates. there are many more knives in the house, but the rest are mostly smaller knives that my wife uses, though some are decent.


----------



## Zwiefel (Nov 6, 2012)

5 knives, 6 stones. pretty modest as well.


----------



## Taz575 (Nov 6, 2012)

Knives, around 20, not counting the cheaper ones like the KAI Wasabi I use for filleting on the boat, the Dexter International Yanagiba I use for slicing pizza's, the 2, 7 3/4" AUS-8A chefs knives or 6" Santoku in the same series, or the Carbon Green River old style knives.

Stones, I have 16 that I use and a few more cheap diamond stones/plates, plus 2 stone holders, nagura stones, strops, etc.

I am trying to narrow my knife selection down to 2 categories. First category is Carbon, which I greatly prefer when I am at home. Second category is Stainless, which I use for when I am in a rush, helping out with game dinners, etc where I may not be able to keep them as clean and dry as I would like.

But then again I just ordered 3 80mm 52100 Pettys and 3 AEB-L 80mm pettys, have a 300 Gesshin Ginga Suji on order with JKI, looking for a carbon 270mm laser gyuto, etc!


----------



## echerub (Nov 6, 2012)

I have to note that those of us who indulge in both Japanese single-bevel knives as well as western double-bevels will tend to have higher counts. And those of us who like cleavers will have yet another category to consider


----------



## Birnando (Nov 6, 2012)

I don't really have all that big a collection of knives.
About 15-20 or so I reckon.
The stone count is somewhat higher
About 50 or so, slighty higher perhaps.
But then again, honing 300 razors does require some variation in hones


----------



## heldentenor (Nov 6, 2012)

I have 9: 6 knives consisting of 2 gyutos (soon to be 3, I hope), 1 suji, a paring, a flexible fillet knife, and a bread knife, as well as 3 stones.


----------



## Rottman (Nov 6, 2012)

around 35 knives, ~12 stones and 5 dmt's


----------



## Cutty Sharp (Nov 6, 2012)

Birnando said:


> I don't really have all that big a collection ... then again, honing 300 razors does require some variation in hones



300 razors? Good Heavens! Do you operate a shave-shop?

... Interesting submissions so far, guys. Keep it up!


----------



## mr drinky (Nov 6, 2012)

About 25-30 knives, 5 stones, 1 DMT, 2 bench hones...and numerous other pretty trinkets like sayas from Eamon, paper knives and silk bags from Jon, a spoon and so on. 

k.


----------



## Lucretia (Nov 6, 2012)

13 knives--3 gyuto/chef, 2 santoku, 1 nakiri, 1 filet/boning, 1 ajikiri, 2 utility, 3 paring. 4 stones. (Not counting the backup german knives for guests & watermelons.)

Since 13 is unlucky, maybe it's time for a new knife....:groucho:


----------



## cclin (Nov 6, 2012)

10 240mm & 5 210mm gyutos, 5 santokus, 1 nakiri, 7 Chinese cleavers & few Shun paring/bread knives. 3 stones & various materials strops along with few compounds. :laugh:


----------



## stevenStefano (Nov 6, 2012)

Say 10 knives, 4 stones and an Atoma. I have a few King stones I haven't used in a long time so I don't count them. In terms of knives I use regularly there's only 4


----------



## The Edge (Nov 6, 2012)

14 knives, 4 stones (synthetic), and 3 strops. I have a couple other nicer knives I'm not counting since I don't plan on keeping them.


----------



## mainaman (Nov 6, 2012)

13 knives 
Here are some of the stones I have (pic taken 7-8 months ago), I think I sold 2-3 and added may be another 7-8 of the naturals.
Some of my synthetics are not displayed, I have added 5-6 new ones since the pic was taken.


----------



## Eric (Nov 6, 2012)

Nineteen knives, fifteen stones. 4 shigefusa, 2 hides, 1 kato, 2 catchesides, 2 takedas, 1 mizuno, 2 JCK AS series, 1 hiro as, 1 tojiro, 1 aritsugu, 2 zensho. Stones: shapton glass, shapton pro, kitayama, chosera, naniwa, Ohira suita, atogayama, Hakka, red aoto, blue aoto, DMT. 

I regularly use 4 knives! Wow I didn't realize what a hoarder I was, and I was going to buy more! Maybe I will have to rethink? On second thought, probably not! :knife::knife::bliss:


----------



## heirkb (Nov 7, 2012)

3 gyutos + 2 paring knives + 2 faux mini debas + 1 bread knife + 1 honesuki + 1 cheapo 210 suji = *10 knives*
Two more coming from Marko 
Like Eric, I'm surprised I actually have that many. I only regularly use 3 or 4: 2 gyutos, paring knife, bread knife.

3 Gesshin stones + 1 worn diamond plate + a bunch of fingerstones, naguras, mini DMT's...= *5 stones*?
One fresh diamond plate that I need to pick up from the mail.
That's not counting my razor stones...

*1 strop *from Marko.

So 16 pieces total I guess.


----------



## Johnny.B.Good (Nov 7, 2012)

Knives = 13 (1 sujihiki, 6 gyuto, 3 petty, 2 paring, 1 bread knife), with 2 more (another gyuto and petty) coming.

Sharpening = 4 stones, 1 plate, various strops/compounds, and an EP Professional with a number of attachments.

I may pare my collection down once I settle on a few favorites (need more time with all of them before I can say).


----------



## labor of love (Nov 7, 2012)

My collection rises and falls constantly. At the moment Ive got 5 gyutos, 2 pettys, 1 suji, 2 cleavers, 1 bread knife. 5 stones, 1 DMT.


----------



## eaglerock (Nov 7, 2012)

At the moment 12 knives and 1 double sided stone :whistling:.

Maybe it is time to buy new stones.


----------



## Luke.Snyder (Nov 8, 2012)

6 knives, 6 stones, 3 natural, 3 synthetic, leather strop with white rouge. I always like using more, but that's all the functionality I need for my mediocre cooking skills and I can get the blades sick sharp in a hurry with that lineup of stones. A few of the stones I only use for repairs. I use cheaper synthetics for the coarser grits as those wear out quickly and have some nicer naturals in the 4000 and 8000 grits and a small very fine hard Arkansas I keep near the sink for quick touchups like a hone.


----------



## sachem allison (Nov 9, 2012)

Before the break in and the Health problems I had over 340 or so, most of them vintage and antique. What wasn't stolen was sold to pay medical bills or given away (over 120)
I have 18 being made or refurbished (7 by Spike, 3 by Randy for refurbs) from various trades over the year. lol
I have 8 odc waiting to be posted for sale, 2 being sharpened at Korin, I have like 11 in pass arounds or having sayas made by Eamon.
Right now the only knives I actually have is a Del Ealy paring knife and a 240mm Del AEB-L gyuto. 

Stones
1 Kitayama from Heath with Antique Nagura
1 Dragon's tongue 10 in x 3 in x 2in
1 "LLYN MELYNLLYN" giant stone 10 in x 3 in x 2in
1 king 1000/6000
1 Jadeite finisher


----------



## Don Nguyen (Nov 9, 2012)

Hol....holy mackerel. 340?!?!

Wow!!!


----------



## mr drinky (Nov 9, 2012)

Son is a knife archivist (with cats).

k.


----------



## apicius9 (Nov 9, 2012)

Archivist or anarchist? 

Stefan


----------



## sachem allison (Nov 9, 2012)

Don Nguyen said:


> Hol....holy mackerel. 340?!?!
> 
> Wow!!!



most of them were not high performance knives like these here, even though they were considered as such in their day. I think most of them I paid under 10 bucks for , a few up to maybe 40 and one or two up to 100 if I really thought it was interesting.Lots of trades. I got most of them to give away to culinary students or up and coming line cooks. I usually supply all my cooks with a complete kit of knives, only what I think they need to get by. If they want better they gotta earn it or buy their own.


----------



## sachem allison (Nov 9, 2012)

remember been collecting for 25 years


----------



## mr drinky (Nov 9, 2012)

apicius9 said:


> Archivist or anarchist?
> 
> Stefan



Don't get me started talking about my favorite anarchist, Nestor Makhno 

k.


----------



## makanouchi (Nov 19, 2012)

3, wife wont let me buy more.


----------



## The hekler (Nov 19, 2012)

Knives:
4x gyutos (2 shige, del, and rrlover). 1x paring (lr harner). 1x yanagiba (shige). 1x suji (marko) 2x antique cleaver. And a couple handfuls left of shuns that I started with before learning better. 

Stones:
5x synthetic (4x sharpton glass stones, 1xnameless)
4x natural (1x katayama, 3x coticule) naturals are mainly used for straight razors but plan on trying them on some knives at some point.


----------



## Cutty Sharp (Nov 19, 2012)

makanouchi said:


> 3, wife wont let me buy more.



Sorry to hear that. Next time, remember to 'okay' the knife thing with your future spouse first.


----------

