[kevpenbanc]

Before we get onto referring knives, how do you plan on sharpening them ?

Do you already sharpen, do you plan to learn, or do you have someone in mind to sharpen for you ?

$800 is a lot of money if you don't have a plan to keep them sharp.

The majority will recommend to buy knives individually.

What knives are you replacing ?
What style of knives are you familiar and comfortable with ?

Cheers
Kev

 

[kevpenbanc]

The problem is that there are so many options, and personal preference can make a huge difference.
You may hate what I like and vis versa.

The safe recommendation is to buy a good cheapish knife, tojiro DP or equivalent, and a combo stone, king 1000/6000 or equivalent, and have at it.

Once you've played with those for a while you'll have abetter chance of telling us what you like and dislike, thereby getting more meaningful recommendations.

I'm not trying to fob you off, but there is a massive amount of options out there.

Having said that, if something takes your fancy, then asking for feedback on a specific knife may be another way forward.

But until you've tried something yourself it will be as hard for you to appreciate our comments as it is for us to give any meaningful advice.

 

[kevpenbanc]

Denisl,
Check out Korin and see what they have and what you like.
I believe that MTC Kitchen are also in NY, it'll probably be worth visiting them too.
Generally with handles the japanese handles aee lighter than western, mainly a preference thing.
If you like damascus, then go for it, you may find a hammered damascus knife thats not too expensive.
I have a thing for damascus and a few of my knives have seen heavy use and abuse, a few minor scratches here and there. Depends how fussy you are about it as to how upset you may get about it. Most of my damascus knives still look fine
MTC have the Takamura Hana which is a very fine knife, and looks good too - I'm not recommending it as a first knife, but something you can think of later
Have a look at the stores, get something cheap to start with and go from there.
Have fun.
Kev