For several weeks now i've been doing a bit of testing in our home kitchen with a very cheap and second hand Thai Kiwi knife & a newly bought Zanussi polyethylene cutting board.
Got the knife for free from one of the Chefs i sharpen for, the tip being a bit bent from prying.
He bought it while on holiday for less than 5 euro, but although it cut well he didn't really like it as both the blade and the handle were too small for him (plus he's more into Japanese knives).
He did say however that these Kiwi knives are becoming a trend with a growing number of his professional colleagues.
This Kiwi knife is really cheap, very stainless, very lightweight, thin bladed, and the edge can easily be kept frighteningly sharp with just a mirror steel and/or a ceramic rod.
The simple wooden handle is nothing special, but so far it works well.
The blade steel itself isn't very hard, but with a thin relief bevel (mine is ~20 degrees inclusive) and a freehand microbevel of ~30 degrees inclusive done on a DMT red diafold the edge manages to stay arm hair shaving sharp on skin level for over a week in my kitchen use.
What absolutely kills it is trying to cut just one fresh crusted bread, then the edge looks like i've been sawing through a brick, and i have to reset the entire relief bevel on the Tormek again.
If i don't try to cut hard food like this the edge seems to hold up just fine.
Currently i'm applying the microbevel with an oiled Spyderco white ceramic stick to see how a bit finer edge performs and holds up.
An important part in all of this is the cutting board, as it's surface has to be very edge-friendly to get the maximum edge life out of these Kiwi knives, and so far i think i've found a very good performing one, made from polyethylene by Zanussi (on the bay for 16 euro including shipping from England to the Netherlands)
Got the knife for free from one of the Chefs i sharpen for, the tip being a bit bent from prying.
He bought it while on holiday for less than 5 euro, but although it cut well he didn't really like it as both the blade and the handle were too small for him (plus he's more into Japanese knives).
He did say however that these Kiwi knives are becoming a trend with a growing number of his professional colleagues.
This Kiwi knife is really cheap, very stainless, very lightweight, thin bladed, and the edge can easily be kept frighteningly sharp with just a mirror steel and/or a ceramic rod.
The simple wooden handle is nothing special, but so far it works well.
The blade steel itself isn't very hard, but with a thin relief bevel (mine is ~20 degrees inclusive) and a freehand microbevel of ~30 degrees inclusive done on a DMT red diafold the edge manages to stay arm hair shaving sharp on skin level for over a week in my kitchen use.
What absolutely kills it is trying to cut just one fresh crusted bread, then the edge looks like i've been sawing through a brick, and i have to reset the entire relief bevel on the Tormek again.
If i don't try to cut hard food like this the edge seems to hold up just fine.
Currently i'm applying the microbevel with an oiled Spyderco white ceramic stick to see how a bit finer edge performs and holds up.
An important part in all of this is the cutting board, as it's surface has to be very edge-friendly to get the maximum edge life out of these Kiwi knives, and so far i think i've found a very good performing one, made from polyethylene by Zanussi (on the bay for 16 euro including shipping from England to the Netherlands)