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Yeah, I remember one time I was chatting with an lady (probably in her 50-60’s) in Bed Bath and Beyond, and she said how today’s pots are so heavy. I think she probably grew up with thinner cookware such as the Revere cookware:

Yeah, give the cleaver about a week of practice. It will take some time to get used to. It took me about a week or two to get use to a different style of knife such as my petty knife (Konosuke HD2)

Like Salty, I find the tall blade of a Chinese cleaver makes it feels safer to use. Your knuckle on your holding hand (left hand if you are right handed) can be a little higher, and therefore you knife can go up a little higher during the upswing motion - without worry that the blade going above your left hand knuckle.

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I love my Chinese cleaver!! I can palm a basketball easily so with these huge hands it feels so much safer.

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A couple of new finds I wasn’t expecting:

They appeared to be decent knives, but I had to peel up the edges of the price tags to see what they were.

The both blades are significantly spotted and stained, and the edge on the 150mm is in pretty bad shape (as well as missing its tip!). Additionally, the handles on both will need a lot of TLC to get them back into acceptable (to me) condition. I’m debating whether or not to modify the handles into more ergonomic contours, like the knives I make. (Thoughts?)

I’m beginning to think there are a lot more old foodies in this agricultural community than I ever suspected! :slight_smile:

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Wow. Very good fine… ~$1.00 for a Masahiro knife.

I don’t know. Apparently a lot of foodies who let the knives get to bad shapes

I still suspect that a lot of the better knives that turn up in these thrift stores are the result of someone dying, and then all of their belongings are hauled off to the thrift store. A foodie in his/her final years may not be able maintain their eqpt to previous standards, and well-meaning-but-unknowledgeable friends/family wouldn’t know to save an expensive knife that looks like hell.

The edges on both knives are not all that dull, damage notwithstanding. (Better than anything in my Dad’s kitchen when he could no longer take care of himself on his own.) And anyone could restore these by hand with a little sandpaper, buffing compound, and sharpening stones. :slight_smile:

You showed a few knives which are not so easy to acquire a decade ago. I would think a Masahiro knife or a Messermeister Asian knife or even the Mac knives do not show up in regular stores. We can get them through the internet, but >10 years ago, I would think people only get them when they travel to big cities like New York, San Francisco…or foreign countries.

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Yes, I agree. I’ve never seen Masahiro or Mac knives at any of the kitchen stores that I’ve been to. (Admittedly, I haven’t looked in NYC or SF) There used to be a store in Boulder that sold Messermeister, but I was there a few weeks ago and they no longer carry them.

Bu the way, how did your previous Messermeister Asian Precision knife and the Mac knives work out for you? Were you able to retore them? Sold them off? Kept them for yourself?

I’ve put the Messermeister Chinese cleaver into my own knife drawer. (I tried using it exclusively for about a week, but went back to my gyuto. I need to try again, I think.) Some of the others (Henckels Twin, Forschner Rosewood, classic Chicago Cutlery) I’ve restored and given to friends who like to cook but have crap knives. Most of what I’ve picked up are still unrestored, waiting for me to upgrade my shop equipment and make more of my own knives first. I’m sure I’ll give away a few more to friends who’d appreciate them, and then probably try to sell the rest.

Of course, this doesn’t include the “serviceable” knives I buy, repair, and donate to the food bank. I just gave them 15 knives (Henckels International, Forschner Fibrox, Dexter-Russel Sani-Safe, etc) when I sharpened the rest of their knives for them.

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As a hobby/starting business, do you see you have potential to go into the knife making business or the sharpening business (beside the theater business).

Well, the business goal has always been knife making. I’ve had a lot of practice repairing damaged knives, as well as extensive modifications (removing bolsters, shortening blades), but I’m not setting up shop as a sharpener. Most folks are expecting me to charge the same $5 as the guy with a bench grinder, and that wouldn’t cover the costs for my style of sharpening. (And yes, a lot of the damage I repair has been caused by bad sharpening.)

Theater? There’s no money for me in that. It’s just a creative outlet! :smiley: