# Request: Worn knife photo



## AddictforLife (Jul 13, 2012)

I am kinda curious on how knife look like after years of use and sharpening. I don't think there is any photo on the web that shows a knife that has been use for ages and worn to the point where it almost at it's last breath.

i.e.


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## JBroida (Jul 13, 2012)

These are well over 60 years old





this was one about 10 years old and i restored it for someone


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## knyfeknerd (Jul 13, 2012)

Jon, what can you tell us about those 60 year old blades? Very Very Very cool!


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## Cutty Sharp (Jul 13, 2012)

I saw some similar ones in Japan recently. I visited Tadatsuna, for example, and noticed a few old ones in the display room. I had a look at one, a yanagiba whose blade was sharpened down to about 1/2 of the original size (similar to the '15 year' photo above); wooden handle also had a dulled look. Mr Nagata said it was 20 years old and belonged to a chef, and so it had presumably been used on a daily basis for all that time, in which case you'd have to say it'd stood up well. Maybe there's a little tradition where chefs like this, when their prized knife has seen its day, return it to its maker when buying their new blade. I didn't ask if it was for sale, but guess it was kept there as a curio or to show how their knives would handle heavy use over time.

In other places I also saw lots of old blades being fixed up and/or rehandled. Some very rusted and neglected blades - home use, I would guess, and lots of santokus. With those in better condition, the kind whose owners maybe cared about them more and used them more frequently, the tangs would seem quite rusted out, in some cases to the extent that I'd wonder how strong they might be when re-handled. (Made me think about the advantages of welded-on stainless steel tangs, for sure.)


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## Seth (Jul 13, 2012)

Morimoto's book has a picture of his yanigiba hanging on by a thread.


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## JBroida (Jul 13, 2012)

knyfeknerd said:


> Jon, what can you tell us about those 60 year old blades? Very Very Very cool!



i had a customer come in for a sharpening class a while back and these were his fathers blades... he's japanese american and they had been passed down to him. Actually, it was a really cool/sad story. He told me his family cooked for people at manzanar ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manzanar )... so there's a good chance these knives were used there. Right now, one of the craftsmen we work with is refurbing them for him... he saw them while he was out here visiting and decided he waned to help out by restoring them. Cant wait to see how they turn out.


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## la2tokyo (Jul 13, 2012)

300mm Yanagi. The two on the right are mine. The one in the middle I used a lot for about eight years.


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## la2tokyo (Jul 13, 2012)

Moribashi. Not mine. I don't know how long it takes to wear down an ebony handle by 40%, but I suspect it's a long time.


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## la2tokyo (Jul 13, 2012)

Deba, not mine. I think it's been through about ten years of hard work.


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## la2tokyo (Jul 13, 2012)

This one is riduculous. I think these are the same size, 330mm? The owner still uses this every day. He is the cheapest bastard I have ever met.

BTW, Dave, I could use a sharpening tip! How would you shape the tip of this gyuto? It's giving us a little bit of a problem.


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## knyfeknerd (Jul 13, 2012)

This is a very cool thread. Thanks everyone for contributing. I'll take some pics of my boss's $h1tball germans when I get back from vacation.


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## AddictforLife (Jul 14, 2012)

These picture are so very cool. I love how cool old used knives are. You have.to be kidding that he still uses that tiny knife. I though I was cheap for thinking wear down a gyuto to a Sujihiki, never thought people does do it. I have hope to wear down my Sujihiki to a petty now.


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## bieniek (Jul 14, 2012)

I love it! keep it coming!


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## Seth (Jul 14, 2012)

Jon - I really do think that you, with connections with Japan, could do a great book on history, construction, use, of j- knives. I'll edit; I write good.


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## markenki (Jul 14, 2012)

Seth said:


> Morimoto's book has a picture of his yanigiba hanging on by a thread.


This.


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## Chifunda (Jul 14, 2012)

"This badly worn knife was returned to Loveless by a professional hunter with the request for another just like it. He enumerated the many kills the knife had skinned and Loveless, who likes to see his knives used, was so impressed he sent the replacement gratis."

Photo and quote from Living on the Edge by Al Williams.


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## Crothcipt (Jul 14, 2012)

Now that is loving the knife.


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## sachem allison (Jul 15, 2012)

AddictforLife said:


> I am kinda curious on how knife look like after years of use and sharpening. I don't think there is any photo on the web that shows a knife that has been use for ages and worn to the point where it almost at it's last breath.
> 
> i.e.



you should check out pretty much most of my knife posts and you will see what happens to aged knives.lol


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## cookinstuff (Jul 15, 2012)

Hey Son, you break them down and build them back up to their former beauty though! I enjoy seeing used old knives, and I really enjoy seeing those knives you have refurbished and what was once a worker in the kitchen returns to it's glory. Obviously these knives aren't getting refurbished though..... great post.


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## DwarvenChef (Jul 15, 2012)

Love seeing vintage knives. But I run into a kind of "At Odds" feeling when I see them worn down do much. Being a minimalist sharpener I only remove enough material to get the job done and most of my knives show little to no wear, short of my Hiromoto HC gyuto on which I learned how to use a Japanese knife and, lol, how to repair my boo-boo's  . A few knives I have had almost 8 years (or has it been longer..) and have used almost daily with next to to wear. 

One thing I do when looking at older blades is to wonder how they where used and how they may have been sharpened. I picked this up from my work with vintage straight razors. It really is facinating to look at the blade marks and wear patterns and reconstruct how it was used and abused


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## markenki (Jul 15, 2012)

JBroida said:


> He told me his family cooked for people at manzanar ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manzanar )... so there's a good chance these knives were used there.


We had a family friend, Chiye Mori (Oshima was her married name), who was incarcerated there. Perhaps your friend's family cooked for her. Small world.


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## JBroida (Jul 15, 2012)

they may have been incarcerated together then


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## DwarvenChef (Jul 15, 2012)

Will have to add that site to my list of Bike Tours I need to do before leaving CA.


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## knyfeknerd (Jul 15, 2012)

JBroida said:


> Right now, one of the craftsmen we work with is refurbing them for him... he saw them while he was out here visiting and decided he waned to help out by restoring them. Cant wait to see how they turn out.



Can't wait to see as well. That's some serious history there.


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## Seth (Jul 15, 2012)

There seems to be a fair number of Masamotos in these pictures. I wonder if it is or was the most popular working chef's knife brand?


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## JBroida (Jul 15, 2012)

for many years it has been the standard go to (due to accessibility among other things)


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## Eamon Burke (Jul 15, 2012)

This thread rules. It's so nice to see these things being used and used. I sharpened a guy's swiss army knife at the market a few weeks back that was WAY thinner than it used to be. I love to see a knife getting used up.

Most of the time, knives get retired early due to ignorance, lack of interest, damage(dropped the Honyaki on the tile floor), or neglect rusts them out, and in the bin they go. Also, sometimes there are knives that are just not worth the effort to repair. Case in point:





You can ask Heath Besch how jacked up that knife is. I was asked to fix it, but the backside hollow is only about 1/3 of the way to the tip now, what little is left of the shinogi is totally doing it's own thing, the handle is warped, cracked, split and separated with old fish and finger crud in every crevice, the heel is underground by like 1cm, and, of course the tip looks like ^that^. I was like "Uh...this can maybe go to an actual Japanese Bladesmith, but it might just be more practical to melt it down and start over.


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## eshua (Jul 18, 2012)

Most of the guys at work have knives pretty well worn. I might not keep them the shiniest, but I can say is that mine don't birds beak like some of the others. Here's a few pics of my single bevel ones. Note the original 270 saya next to them as comparison.











And another to show the handle on the ajikiri...sorry for quality just got my first smart phone and wanted to try out the camera.


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## knyfeknerd (Jul 18, 2012)

I only see 1 pic


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## Crothcipt (Jul 18, 2012)

well good quality, and nothing out of focus. I don't think you have to be sorry for anything. In fact great pics. for a cell phone.


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## chinacats (Jul 18, 2012)

Wow Eshua, those are definitely some well worn knives...and they still look great!


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## bieniek (Jul 20, 2012)

Fantastic pics Eshua! Fantastic knives. 

Dont see it here very often. Good to know there are chefs around!


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## ecchef (Jul 22, 2012)




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## Messy Jesse (Jul 22, 2012)

JBroida said:


> These are well over 60 years old



These are absolutely amazing! Any more info on them? What are the sizes and steel? All of them Masamoto?


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## chinacats (Jul 22, 2012)

ecchef said:


> View attachment 8749
> View attachment 8750
> View attachment 8751
> View attachment 8752
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first one looks like I imagine my nogent sab will look like in about 10 years if i keep sharpening this often; 2nd one looks like it is worn into a honesuki profile...are these all French?


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## EdipisReks (Jul 22, 2012)

chinacats said:


> first one looks like I imagine my nogent sab will look like in about 10 years if i keep sharpening this often;



not if you do it properly! it shocks me how many old Sabs, and similar, that i see pictures of where the bolster never got ground down. it's endemic.


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## chinacats (Jul 22, 2012)

EdipisReks said:


> not if you do it properly! it shocks me how many old Sabs, and similar, that i see pictures of where the bolster never got ground down. it's endemic.



Mine is going off to Dave for some overhaul work soon...mainly in the bolster area. Even on a 220 stone (pink from EE) just seems too much steel to remove by hand? Is there a better way?


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## EdipisReks (Jul 22, 2012)

chinacats said:


> Mine is going off to Dave for some overhaul work soon...mainly in the bolster area. Even on a 220 stone (pink from EE) just seems too much steel to remove by hand? Is there a better way?



you really just need to get the bolster a bit higher than the edge line, and then you're good to go (as long as you are fine with having a couple millimeters of edge unsharpened, in front of the bolster). not a very good pic, but here is the heel of my Thiers-Issard Nogent chef knife:


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## chinacats (Jul 22, 2012)

Thanks Edipis!
That looks like what I am trying to accomplish...how did you grind it? I figure using anything other than a stone and I risk damaging the HT--even thought about taking mine to the sidewalk.:O


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## EdipisReks (Jul 23, 2012)

a DMT extra coarse eats the steel pretty quickly. a sidewalk would work, if you found a place with enough clearance to angle the handle down. i'd like to get rid of most of the bolsters on my various Sabs a la Dave's fantastic work, but it's not really necessary to get good service from the knives.


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## ecchef (Jul 23, 2012)

chinacats said:


> first one looks like I imagine my nogent sab will look like in about 10 years if i keep sharpening this often; 2nd one looks like it is worn into a honesuki profile...are these all French?



Both of these started out pretty hammered. I turned the Pouzet into my specialized turkey boning knife that sees action a few weeks out of the year.
The other is a Dexter Russell that was rather triangular when I got it, so I just ground down the bolsters, straightened the edge and put a single bevel on it. Frankensuke.


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## Ericfg (Jul 27, 2020)

Resurrecting a very old thread... I just found this poor soul on ebay during one of my searches. It's hard to imagine how much use this knife's been through. Weirdly, the handle seems to have held up well and the red, pointy thingee shows a 'Zwilling' figure so this handle might be original to the knife!


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## Bert2368 (Jul 27, 2020)

I think any knife with profile should be called "a snickersnee".






The Mikado/The criminal cried as he dropped him down - Wikisource, the free online library







en.m.wikisource.org


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## Ericfg (Jul 30, 2020)

Just found this image in my photo library.
I used to work for a commercial kitchen knife sharpening service and this was, I think, an attempt to make the narrowest blade possible.


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