The only way your knives will be harmed in the dishwasher, unless they have wooden grips, is that the edges will tend to get banged into other metal things. If you can place them in the dishwasher so that this doesn't happen, they will be fine. If you put all your sharp knives in a heap with each other and other silverware during the handwashing process, then you subject the blades to similar abuse. Safety is a different issue. While I agree that it is pretty dangerous to have sharp knives sticking up out of the silverware basket in your dishwasher, putting them in a basin of sudsy water is even more dangerous. At least in the dishwasher silverware basket, you can see them. A sharp knife that is invisible under sudsy water is ridiculously dangerous. If that's how you would handwash them, then do yourself a favor and put them in the dishwasher. jefd

Thanks guys.... I'm glad I'm not the only one. I did search e-bay and they do not have any that match. I'm going to just try to live with it for now even though it drives me crazy.... maybe a spare will turn up sometime when I least expect it. Jessica, how liberating it must be to not care about the small stuff... if only! That's not a flame by the way, it's just the way the flash caught the melted spot. Kathleen, there might be 11 in the picture, but there are 43 in the apartment :o) Yes, Jasper the fat cat is still happy as ever and he's laid claim to the new furniture so that he's sitting wherever I want to be no matter where it is. I just switched him to some healthier low calorie food... the vet told me he was fat because I use an automatic gravity feeder, but he is wrong because Jasper was fat well before I ever bought that thing and his weight has stayed the same since I got it. I've learned my lesson... no more storing stuff in the oven for any reason!

It only takes 20 seconds to wash a knife if you are already washing other dishes. Those of us who wash knives in the dishwasher put everything in there. If I had to wash a knife by hand, I would have to take out my dishwashing supplies and sanitize the sponge or dishcloth after. I am a clean freak, but this is a task I do NOT enjoy. If I need another knife when one is in the DW, I go and get one of the others. I have duplicates for this purpose. I hone them regularly and have not had any issues with putting them in the DW. And actually, the reason I started putting them in the DW to begin with is because DH refused to hand wash knives. I got us both new matching Wusthof Classic chef knives and put a rubber band on mine. I handwashed mine. He didn't. I didn't notice a difference after a year. Really. Try it. Since then, everything goes in the DW. That said, I can't wait to get my new DW with cutlery tray!

I used the cheese wedge knife to slice an apple this morning. It worked, but was slower than using a regular knife. I liked that I didn't have to twist my hand as much. It occured to me that knives with top handles may be more ergonomic than knives with side handles. That's why I wanted to find out what other options were available. That extra large half circle knife looks pretty good. Maybe a big knife with a rounded blade would be ok, IDK. The apple cutting involves 3 steps: chopping into quarters, removing core, then slicing. I usually do 12 slices, but 8 would be ok. I hold the apple in my hand for the last two steps. Maybe there is a better way, but I won't use it if it's harder to clean than a knife. I'm trying not to use my thumbs since one is inflamed. Even if it were healthy, why strain it if there is a more straightforward way to cut? Maybe I should get an apple corer that doesn't slice, and one of those big circle knives. IDK.