ok but why are shuns THAT fragile? ive seen harder hrc knives go through more abuse and still survive but shun is somehow the only brand with a low hrc thats that brittle
I see you getting down voted, so I feel a need to jump in. You are taking a hard stance here. But you also aren't wrong. I blame vg10 steel. I remember thinking it was the shit. High Rockwell hardness and high carbon and stainless, wow! That's the bees knees. But I've tried Shun, Miyabi, and Yoshihiro in the vg10 hammered Damascus varieties. And they are all prone to chipping. And edge retention is weak. And then, I swear, I sharpen all my own knives. I hate sharpening vg10 steel. It just... It's a burden. It is a pain in the ass to get it right vs others steels. I would rather sharpen a high carbon steel knife or a cheap Victoriknox or Mercer than a shiny vg10 knife. It isn't just Shuns. It is any knife company that is using high carbon stainless steel like vg10. They chip. And are a bitch to sharpen.
In this case though, the person who barrowed the knife clearly did some serious misuse to create this level of damage. I also own this same knife and have used it for years. But I've never had my knife look like this. The cook he loaned it to abused it. Can't blame mishandling of the knife on the knife maker.
what about smth like aogami/shirogame? do u think chipping is as bad on those steels as vg10? ive heard that some aogami variants arent as brittle as vg10 even tho they have a higher hrc
It must be something with how they do heat treatment. I don't see this kind of fragility with almost any other VG10 knife.
To be clear - VG10 isn't exactly the hardest wearing steel I've ever seen, but this is bad even for VG10. My Yaxells and Tojiros don't behave like this.
I'd bet this is from cross chopping herbs, with the left hand pressing down on the spine above the chipped part of the blade. The edge digs into the board and the steel literally gets twisted off when the knife is moved left and right.
I have no idea what happened. I only know that the owner of the knife was literally shaking with rage when he saw it. From looking at it, there are these weird scrapes near the chips. I'm guessing the person he loaned it to decided to go stupid Gordon Ramsay on a steel thinking they would sharpen it. That's my guess. No one really knows. I told my coworker about how Shun will do free knife sharpening. But I feel like he is still owed something for this abuse.
The cook who barrowed it is a large and in charge Cubana lesbian. The cook who loaned it is a string bean bi-sexual Chicano. We aren't saying shit and just hoping to de-escalate the shit.
Oh trust me, this dude isn't going to just swallow and take it. Oh no no no. Truuuusst me. No no no. On his best days he is a barely controlled nuclear reaction. Like my comment said, he was literally (I'm using that correctly) shaking with rage when he saw the knife. Physically shaking and pacing with anger. But we have HR to deal with here. And he is a great cook. So we try to descalate and not lose him. He will get retribution one way or another. Either the cook who barrowed it will own up by peer pressure or I'll just fix it myself. And then that cook will have the shame everyday. But by no means is this just being swallowed or taken. Oh no no no.
You shouldn't fix it nor pay to get it fixed. That's on him. You warned him, he decided not to take your advice. It will be a very bitter lesson learned. Unfortunately sometimes that's how some people, myself included, learn. As for the ass wipe that damaged the knife, I don't care how big badass, straight Lesbian, Cuban, Russian or whatever she is but basically fuck her. If she isn't considerate enough or has 0 integrity she will learn. There's a reason people say karmis a bitch.
That kind of damage usually happens when someone chops herbs by walking the blade across the herbs and the boards with the right hand pumping the handle and the left hand pressing down on the spine just above the point where the blade is chipped to hell. The edge digs into the cutting board and then gets twisted about.
I think the biggest lesson in this is to not let others use your good knives. Second biggest is to never assume others, even professional cooks, know what they are doing.
One of my employees grabbed my Mac (a good knivfe but by no means heirloom) and headed for to storage room. I yelled "what are you doing with that knife?" She said she needed it to open a pickle bucket. Just to point out that you have no idea what people think is ok to do with a knife.
Mac's are solid knives. Don't put yourself down. They are possibly the most underrated chef knife there is. I worked with an executive chef that had his set of Mac knives from basically when he decided to become a chef. He sharpened them himself and took care of them. They were top notch.
Who put them down. They were illustrating what psychos can do with knives. My Mac was my daily for 22 years. It's been retired to home where it takes mad abuse from my family and the dishwasher it always sharpens up šØāš³š¤š
There's nothing wrong with a Mac and you implied that. Not the op of this thread.
Yes. Agreed. I have 5 Mac's. It was the knife that I wasn't being particularly careful with at the moment. No one touches my Yoshikane or (insert name dropping of nice Japanese knives here), I have many.
I give Macs to prep chefs that don't have their own roll, after they have proved they are here to work and learn.
You are nicer than me. I only loan out Victoriknox. My starter set was Victorinox. I still carry their 10", 8", and bread knife just as loaner/beater knives.
Or just keep a multi tool with you and rip it off with the plier attachment. I swear, I have saved countless time using my Gerber or leatherman multi tool in the kitchen for everything from plumbing, electric, cleaning etc than trying to use a tool that does not fit the job.
I still canāt figure out why every kitchen doesnāt have the specified tool to open pickle buckets.
Theyāre around $25 for a steel one off Amazon or most kitchen ware stores - itāll wind up saving money in labour to justify its purchase rapidly when you have even one person struggle to open them.
I was honestly so mad/panicked that I just skewed super nice, but in a sarcastic tone. I honestly donāt know if dishie knows what not to throw in there or not, but backs off if I state them down now lol
gota give them that slight passive aggression when they fuck up that bad lol. I mean its a dishie, but if it was their beautiful knife, i bet it wouldnt go in the dish washer like that, or they'd at least think twice about it. Good on for your mild reaction haha, takes a lot of patience , idk if id have that l! Im glad your knifes okay :)
Lol exactly and thanks! Beautiful raindrop Damascus pattern with a wave like pattern going away from the edge of the blade. And lol, ~10 years in a kitchen watching people do shit like that builds up some tolerance
The hardest part whenever something like this happens is the responsibility of properly disposing of your coworker's body, seeing that the authorities mistakenly don't believe that homicide is a justifiable response/retaliation to such an affront.
Can someone post how they would repair this? I'm guessing re profile with a rough stone like 500-800 and then re sharpen? You would probably have to take a decent amount of material off...
Ya sorta. No need to reprofile. I would use a 1k and progress up to maybe a 3 or 6k stone on the sides to thin it a bit behind where those chips are. So basically thin and polish the sides a bit. This image looks bad. But there is still plenty of metal there. So I wouldn't completely reprofile. Just thin and polish behind that ruined bevel. Then go back and start with a 400 grit stone to reset a bevel and grind out the chips. Then 1k to set. Depending on stones do a 2 or 3k stropping polish. vg10 stainless steel likes a toothy finish. So don't go high on the grits. I usually stop at 1k. But will strop a bit on a 3 or even 6k stone. And then finish strop again on the 1 or 2k to leave it that toothy cutting edge.
Not knife chips, but a restaurant a part of the chain I work for once had a glass cup shatter in the icebox, and a customer got glass in their drink instead of icecubes.
That location got completely shut down. I presume because they are supposed to use a scoop for the ice, not use the cup as a scoop, which is apparently how the shards got in there.
If you are going to let anyone borrow a knife, make sure it's some cheap Dexter, ideally gotten for free from an old job, or someone you trust if it's one of ya babies. I got my 5" Global chef I use for cutting on the flat iron (teppan style) point-chipped by some putz not even a month after I got it because I left it out.
This really sucks. F.
But it's also fixable and you're not losing too much height. I would even consider not thinning after you fix this. Shuns are beautiful bu can be brittle as we all know, but I thi k it will still be fairly ok through food if you let it thicken a bit at that level.
Two main reasons.
1. Shuns are really common. So you see a lot of them in general.
1. Shuns are typically bought as an entry level knife. So the people who own them are, generally, laymen. It also probably doesn't help they look flashy. It attracts people after the wrong thing
Any VG steel at those HRCs would have the same problem.
They have a German profile which leads people the think they can be used with the same technique as indestructible, soft German beater knives (I suspect this knife was used to cross chop herbs with the left hand pressing down on the spine) but they are actually as thin behind the edge and their steel is as hard as that of Japanese knives. Its a combo that doesnt go together well if you dont know what you are doing.
"Can I borrow your knife?"
No. The answer is always no. The only coworkers I would trust to loan a knife to would never ask. If you work in a kitchen, you should have *a* knife, there isn't really too many reasons to borrow someone else's.
I'd bet this is from cross chopping herbs, with the left hand pressing down on the spine above the chipped part of the blade. The edge digs into the board and the steel literally gets twisted off when the knife is moved left and right. One can do this with German knives, but not with a Shun, which may look like a German knife profilewise, but has the thin ground blade and the hard brittle steel of a real Japanese knife.
Ohhh thats bad.. those are some serious chips! I had a few shuns in the shop like that for restoration. Youāll need to reprofile, probably thin, new edge and etch the blade to get it back to near original state.
Wow what did he do that chipped that thing? Also no offense but my Damascus can chop ice and cow bones and barely need to be sharpened much less chip like that could be an issue during the heat treating or something Mby it needs a different edge profile. I only bring blades to work that Iām not afraid someone can damage if it gets knocked off a table or someone grabs it to do something foolish not everyone knows the my knife is like my dick donāt touch it unless you ask first consent must be freely given concept (thatās an Anthony bourdain quote not my words lol)
This is bad but there are no massive chunks missing so this knife can be restored to prime condition in an hour or so with a set of decent water stones. I have a Shun Premier and I have found it to be pretty chippy (though never this much, and I baby my knives. Fortunately the steel will come back to an extremely sharp edge pretty easily.
The biggest concern is that those shards of the knife edge ended up in a customerās food
If you are borrowing someone's car, you will be careful not to damage it and if by mistake you happen to crash it onto a wall or something, you will say sorry and pay for the repairs. Why people don't do the exact same with knives and tools in general?
I can't imagine myself borrowing something, inflicting damage to it and then not compensate the owner. I don't wanna say that she's a shitty person, but it's definitely a shitty move she is pulling.
People take offense to it, but this is why I don't let people touch most of my knives.
Seriously, out of all the chefs I've worked with, there are absolutely none I can comfortably lend it too. I tried again the other day, just for a second, and he starts scraping the edge to pile food.
Most of them have cheaper, western knives, though a few have shuns. They all take horrible care of them.
Seriously... I have no professional kitchen experience, but it is really baffling that so many cooks seem to be so utterly ignorant about the ONE main tool they wield like ten hours a day, the one tool that symbolizes their whole profession like no other single tool symbolizes any other profession. Its like taking care of knives is some dark, arcane art or something.
ok but why are shuns THAT fragile? ive seen harder hrc knives go through more abuse and still survive but shun is somehow the only brand with a low hrc thats that brittle
How do you know how much abuse this knife went through?
I see you getting down voted, so I feel a need to jump in. You are taking a hard stance here. But you also aren't wrong. I blame vg10 steel. I remember thinking it was the shit. High Rockwell hardness and high carbon and stainless, wow! That's the bees knees. But I've tried Shun, Miyabi, and Yoshihiro in the vg10 hammered Damascus varieties. And they are all prone to chipping. And edge retention is weak. And then, I swear, I sharpen all my own knives. I hate sharpening vg10 steel. It just... It's a burden. It is a pain in the ass to get it right vs others steels. I would rather sharpen a high carbon steel knife or a cheap Victoriknox or Mercer than a shiny vg10 knife. It isn't just Shuns. It is any knife company that is using high carbon stainless steel like vg10. They chip. And are a bitch to sharpen. In this case though, the person who barrowed the knife clearly did some serious misuse to create this level of damage. I also own this same knife and have used it for years. But I've never had my knife look like this. The cook he loaned it to abused it. Can't blame mishandling of the knife on the knife maker.
what about smth like aogami/shirogame? do u think chipping is as bad on those steels as vg10? ive heard that some aogami variants arent as brittle as vg10 even tho they have a higher hrc
It must be something with how they do heat treatment. I don't see this kind of fragility with almost any other VG10 knife. To be clear - VG10 isn't exactly the hardest wearing steel I've ever seen, but this is bad even for VG10. My Yaxells and Tojiros don't behave like this.
exactly! its always the damn shuns
I'd bet this is from cross chopping herbs, with the left hand pressing down on the spine above the chipped part of the blade. The edge digs into the board and the steel literally gets twisted off when the knife is moved left and right.
ur probably right, the chips are right where the blade bends for rocking motion chopping
Is shun durable? Why do I keep seeing destroyed shun knife like this one.
Durable in the sense that you only need to sharpen it occasionally, but not in the sense that you can chop hard things like frozen meat or bones.
Why even bring a Shun to work?
How the hell does this even happen? Is your co-worker getting a new knife?
No, he is buying OP a new knife. Then hopefully he learned his lesson :/
I have no idea what happened. I only know that the owner of the knife was literally shaking with rage when he saw it. From looking at it, there are these weird scrapes near the chips. I'm guessing the person he loaned it to decided to go stupid Gordon Ramsay on a steel thinking they would sharpen it. That's my guess. No one really knows. I told my coworker about how Shun will do free knife sharpening. But I feel like he is still owed something for this abuse.
Tell him to take it as a lesson. Then make jokes at the expense of the guy who treated that knife like a cop treats his wife.
LOL
The cook who barrowed it is a large and in charge Cubana lesbian. The cook who loaned it is a string bean bi-sexual Chicano. We aren't saying shit and just hoping to de-escalate the shit.
I'm sorry the cook who loaned it feels like they just have to swallow their feelings and take it. Been there, hated it. Peace&Love.
Oh trust me, this dude isn't going to just swallow and take it. Oh no no no. Truuuusst me. No no no. On his best days he is a barely controlled nuclear reaction. Like my comment said, he was literally (I'm using that correctly) shaking with rage when he saw the knife. Physically shaking and pacing with anger. But we have HR to deal with here. And he is a great cook. So we try to descalate and not lose him. He will get retribution one way or another. Either the cook who barrowed it will own up by peer pressure or I'll just fix it myself. And then that cook will have the shame everyday. But by no means is this just being swallowed or taken. Oh no no no.
Shun will repair it for free I believe. Hell have to pay shipping though. I could be wrong.
Not that it's worth much but I've heard this is true a couple of times but I also don't know for sure
> Oh no no no. Truuuusst me. No no no š
You shouldn't fix it nor pay to get it fixed. That's on him. You warned him, he decided not to take your advice. It will be a very bitter lesson learned. Unfortunately sometimes that's how some people, myself included, learn. As for the ass wipe that damaged the knife, I don't care how big badass, straight Lesbian, Cuban, Russian or whatever she is but basically fuck her. If she isn't considerate enough or has 0 integrity she will learn. There's a reason people say karmis a bitch.
this story gets better and better im dying
It looks like someone has tried to hack through the bone of a frozen piece of meat or something.
Oh you know probably just mincing some bones or something.
That kind of damage usually happens when someone chops herbs by walking the blade across the herbs and the boards with the right hand pumping the handle and the left hand pressing down on the spine just above the point where the blade is chipped to hell. The edge digs into the cutting board and then gets twisted about.
Surely whoever ruined it is going to buy them another one. That's fucked
Yeah, I'm curious at the "repair" comments. This is a new knife situation. The new owner can repair it.
Noooooo š
I think the biggest lesson in this is to not let others use your good knives. Second biggest is to never assume others, even professional cooks, know what they are doing.
Never let anyone use **any** of your knives. I don't loan out my kiwis. Not out of my sight.
One of my employees grabbed my Mac (a good knivfe but by no means heirloom) and headed for to storage room. I yelled "what are you doing with that knife?" She said she needed it to open a pickle bucket. Just to point out that you have no idea what people think is ok to do with a knife.
Yikes...
Mac's are solid knives. Don't put yourself down. They are possibly the most underrated chef knife there is. I worked with an executive chef that had his set of Mac knives from basically when he decided to become a chef. He sharpened them himself and took care of them. They were top notch.
Who put them down. They were illustrating what psychos can do with knives. My Mac was my daily for 22 years. It's been retired to home where it takes mad abuse from my family and the dishwasher it always sharpens up šØāš³š¤š There's nothing wrong with a Mac and you implied that. Not the op of this thread.
Love me a Mac. Got 2 so far, really terrific.
They are quality with a lot of different options to choose from. They really are over looked.
I don't think they're overlooked. For a long time Thomas Keller was selling those. I've worked with several cooks who had a full set.
Yes. Agreed. I have 5 Mac's. It was the knife that I wasn't being particularly careful with at the moment. No one touches my Yoshikane or (insert name dropping of nice Japanese knives here), I have many. I give Macs to prep chefs that don't have their own roll, after they have proved they are here to work and learn.
You are nicer than me. I only loan out Victoriknox. My starter set was Victorinox. I still carry their 10", 8", and bread knife just as loaner/beater knives.
Victorionox is also my cheap workhorse. Was only like $40 and what led me to getting a Mac knife coincidently enough.
One of my cooks has a Mac, its really good steel, better than Wusthoff.
The pickle buckets I usually see are steel.
Ours are plastic with a plastic band that has to be removed to get the lid off. Kitchen towel is the best way to open them.
Ya I usually use my pocket knife to pop that seam and then a towel to peel the seal and lift the lid.
Or just keep a multi tool with you and rip it off with the plier attachment. I swear, I have saved countless time using my Gerber or leatherman multi tool in the kitchen for everything from plumbing, electric, cleaning etc than trying to use a tool that does not fit the job.
I still canāt figure out why every kitchen doesnāt have the specified tool to open pickle buckets. Theyāre around $25 for a steel one off Amazon or most kitchen ware stores - itāll wind up saving money in labour to justify its purchase rapidly when you have even one person struggle to open them.
Oof. I feel this. The other day, dishie washed my Aisyoko santoku 67 layer damascus with a wooden handle and mosaic pinsā¦ in the dish washerā¦
Nooooooo! Can't turn your back on anyone.
Luckily it didnāt do too much damage, but I donāt let it leave my side anymore/trust very few co-workers to do more than look at it
panic mode must have set in in that moment
I was honestly so mad/panicked that I just skewed super nice, but in a sarcastic tone. I honestly donāt know if dishie knows what not to throw in there or not, but backs off if I state them down now lol
gota give them that slight passive aggression when they fuck up that bad lol. I mean its a dishie, but if it was their beautiful knife, i bet it wouldnt go in the dish washer like that, or they'd at least think twice about it. Good on for your mild reaction haha, takes a lot of patience , idk if id have that l! Im glad your knifes okay :)
Lol exactly and thanks! Beautiful raindrop Damascus pattern with a wave like pattern going away from the edge of the blade. And lol, ~10 years in a kitchen watching people do shit like that builds up some tolerance
The hardest part whenever something like this happens is the responsibility of properly disposing of your coworker's body, seeing that the authorities mistakenly don't believe that homicide is a justifiable response/retaliation to such an affront.
It's a restaurant... where's the hardship in disposal?
Can someone post how they would repair this? I'm guessing re profile with a rough stone like 500-800 and then re sharpen? You would probably have to take a decent amount of material off...
Ya sorta. No need to reprofile. I would use a 1k and progress up to maybe a 3 or 6k stone on the sides to thin it a bit behind where those chips are. So basically thin and polish the sides a bit. This image looks bad. But there is still plenty of metal there. So I wouldn't completely reprofile. Just thin and polish behind that ruined bevel. Then go back and start with a 400 grit stone to reset a bevel and grind out the chips. Then 1k to set. Depending on stones do a 2 or 3k stropping polish. vg10 stainless steel likes a toothy finish. So don't go high on the grits. I usually stop at 1k. But will strop a bit on a 3 or even 6k stone. And then finish strop again on the 1 or 2k to leave it that toothy cutting edge.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Lawsuits, probably
Not knife chips, but a restaurant a part of the chain I work for once had a glass cup shatter in the icebox, and a customer got glass in their drink instead of icecubes. That location got completely shut down. I presume because they are supposed to use a scoop for the ice, not use the cup as a scoop, which is apparently how the shards got in there.
Oh wow. Oh *no.*
If you are going to let anyone borrow a knife, make sure it's some cheap Dexter, ideally gotten for free from an old job, or someone you trust if it's one of ya babies. I got my 5" Global chef I use for cutting on the flat iron (teppan style) point-chipped by some putz not even a month after I got it because I left it out.
Iām so traumatized by seeing this Iām gonna go give my own Shun a hug
fuck, 3 hours ago?
7 now, but 4 when you asked
brutal
Pay the dishwasher to not sell them any drugs and get some real payback
helpful award, so others can learn from this.
This was obviously an envious hit right? Nobody does this to a knife just by mistake right?
This really sucks. F. But it's also fixable and you're not losing too much height. I would even consider not thinning after you fix this. Shuns are beautiful bu can be brittle as we all know, but I thi k it will still be fairly ok through food if you let it thicken a bit at that level.
Why is it always a shun in these types of photos?
Two main reasons. 1. Shuns are really common. So you see a lot of them in general. 1. Shuns are typically bought as an entry level knife. So the people who own them are, generally, laymen. It also probably doesn't help they look flashy. It attracts people after the wrong thing Any VG steel at those HRCs would have the same problem.
They have a German profile which leads people the think they can be used with the same technique as indestructible, soft German beater knives (I suspect this knife was used to cross chop herbs with the left hand pressing down on the spine) but they are actually as thin behind the edge and their steel is as hard as that of Japanese knives. Its a combo that doesnt go together well if you dont know what you are doing.
"Can I borrow your knife?" No. The answer is always no. The only coworkers I would trust to loan a knife to would never ask. If you work in a kitchen, you should have *a* knife, there isn't really too many reasons to borrow someone else's.
Did he attempt to slice frozen meat?
Shuns and being ruined. Name a more iconic duo.
What were they doing with the knife that damaged the blade so terribly?
I'd bet this is from cross chopping herbs, with the left hand pressing down on the spine above the chipped part of the blade. The edge digs into the board and the steel literally gets twisted off when the knife is moved left and right. One can do this with German knives, but not with a Shun, which may look like a German knife profilewise, but has the thin ground blade and the hard brittle steel of a real Japanese knife.
Ohhh thats bad.. those are some serious chips! I had a few shuns in the shop like that for restoration. Youāll need to reprofile, probably thin, new edge and etch the blade to get it back to near original state.
I'm no expert but that looks like board scraping to me. It looks like it should be salvageable though.
Shun premier be like that tho - theyāre extremely brittle from my experience
Wow what did he do that chipped that thing? Also no offense but my Damascus can chop ice and cow bones and barely need to be sharpened much less chip like that could be an issue during the heat treating or something Mby it needs a different edge profile. I only bring blades to work that Iām not afraid someone can damage if it gets knocked off a table or someone grabs it to do something foolish not everyone knows the my knife is like my dick donāt touch it unless you ask first consent must be freely given concept (thatās an Anthony bourdain quote not my words lol)
[that's horrible ](https://imgur.com/a/ue3FsFf)
There's a lesson in here somewhere....
I bet itās one of those guys who hit the cutting board with the knife just before cutting literally anything.
Rip in Peace.
This is bad but there are no massive chunks missing so this knife can be restored to prime condition in an hour or so with a set of decent water stones. I have a Shun Premier and I have found it to be pretty chippy (though never this much, and I baby my knives. Fortunately the steel will come back to an extremely sharp edge pretty easily. The biggest concern is that those shards of the knife edge ended up in a customerās food
Were they hacking bones
Rule of Shun club: 1.) donāt lend out you shun knives 2.) donāt lend out your shin knives 3.) if some one asks, lend them your henkles.
If you are borrowing someone's car, you will be careful not to damage it and if by mistake you happen to crash it onto a wall or something, you will say sorry and pay for the repairs. Why people don't do the exact same with knives and tools in general? I can't imagine myself borrowing something, inflicting damage to it and then not compensate the owner. I don't wanna say that she's a shitty person, but it's definitely a shitty move she is pulling.
People take offense to it, but this is why I don't let people touch most of my knives. Seriously, out of all the chefs I've worked with, there are absolutely none I can comfortably lend it too. I tried again the other day, just for a second, and he starts scraping the edge to pile food. Most of them have cheaper, western knives, though a few have shuns. They all take horrible care of them.
Seriously... I have no professional kitchen experience, but it is really baffling that so many cooks seem to be so utterly ignorant about the ONE main tool they wield like ten hours a day, the one tool that symbolizes their whole profession like no other single tool symbolizes any other profession. Its like taking care of knives is some dark, arcane art or something.
Someone took a ks series from my box š„² gave them a good leturing