Kiwi brand knives - Page 2

That kind sir is the smell of Kiwi success :D   ok I will stop now . 

So that's what success smells like.  I thought it was cabbage.

 

BDL

I have several and they are amazing. I have a santoku, an usubu nakiri, and a "utility",  They are amazingly sharp and hold an edge.  The tang is short and a pinch grip is mandatory to keep from breaking the handle. I've given some as gifts and they get good reviews.  The best feature, however, is the price.  I buy them at the Wok Shop on Grant in China Town in San Francisco for $4.95 each.  They are light and convenient to pack and, at that price, expendable.  Go for it. Try one. I think you'll like it.

Kiwi brand knives are good. Also, Kiwi Pro Slicer / Peeler No. 218.

Sandy, 

 

do not sharpen Kiwi knives on a stone, you will lose the edge, bits will break off.  I hone my kiwi knives (No 193 about 7 inch with black plastic handle) with honing compound (on leather glued to a bit of wood). If the edge gets really torn up (with bent over bits visible), I can hone the edge back to use, but use anything harder with caution.  

 

I must confess though, that I use the knives for whittling.  Two have migrated to the kitchen, and are now classified as house cooking knives, but the other 38 have been cut down (on a bench grinder) to 45mm.  

 

I am part of the South Australian Scout Whittling team, and we introduced these knives last outing (College Park, 16 cubs (8-10 yo) 2 hours, no bandaids, (that is, no cuts)), and the cub scouts got further along with their carvings.  Kiwi knives are better than the two types of knife we used before.  The first batch was anything I could find in Op-shops (Australian charity shop selling donated goods.).  I found many knives labelled either 'China' or nothing, and steel quality was totally unpredictable.  I cut most of them down using a hacksaw, and learnt to discard any that cut too easily.  The second were 1970s whiltshire steel knives.  They are thick, hard to manouvre through the wood, but were cheap, and could hold an edge all weekend at a Branch event (when we teach 250 scouts (in groups of 25))

 

I personally have whittled with Kiwi 193 knives for two years, the rest of the team for about a year, and in that time I have only destroyed one knife.  The edge of my first knife has failed, and I cannot seem to reset it.  I have tried a stone (and found that I should not have), a diamond sharpener, and a honing wheel on a bench grinder.  I think once a kiwi loses its edge, it may have to be thrown out.    I really abused that knife, it was my main carving and whittling knife for about 18 months.  But at A$2.00 per knife, I can replace any whose edges fail. 

 

 

The tang seems to be quite short.  One uncut 193 I use for carving has the tang 'risen out' (metal visible, plastic distorted, but still holding).  I have not pulled a blade out yet, so I do not know what length the tang of the 193 is.   

I buy them at the Asian Supermarket (Kim Wah) at Adelaide Central Markets.  

"Do not sharpen Kiwi knives on a
stone, you will lose the edge, bits
will break off."
Is this to be taken seriously? What kind of miraculous steel has been used that can't be sharpened on stones?

Benuser, 

 

I lost the edge off a 193 kiwi trying to sharpen it on a coarse stone.  I have been unable to do the same re-shaping of the cutting edge that I do with other knives.  I feel that the edges are delicate, can be resharpened many times, but having lost its edge (after wood carving) and trying to reset it, and failing I am of the opinion that Kiwis have a great edge, but either I did the wrong thing, or the thin kiwi edges that come out of the factory are hard to replicate at home...

Sorry to hear about your bad experience, but any edge can be reproduced, with the right stones and right technique. I guess too much pressure was involved, and a much too great angle. Try it again, and make sure you hit only the part immediately behind the edge, and go on from there, until you raise a burr.