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graywings123

Identify this knife for me?

4 years ago

Can anyone tell me what this knife was designed for? It's not terribly sharp.


Comments (46)

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Maybe a boning knife? I've seen boning knives that look somewhat similar but not nearly that pretty!

  • 4 years ago

    Happy hour knife. Crack open a beer and cut some cheese.

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  • 4 years ago

    Can opener knife ;-)

  • 4 years ago

    Maybe for both slicing cheese and removing bottle tops…?

  • 4 years ago

    and jab a slice of french bread for the cheese.

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Not likely a boning knife, they have mostly an untapered and narrow shape (when looking at them from the side like this, from the cutting edge up) for twistability/maneuverability.

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    I did a google image search for it:



  • 4 years ago

    Ok now I wonder why my google image search didn't pull that up.

  • 4 years ago

    ^^ magic 🤣

  • 4 years ago

    Thank you Sephia! I cleaned out the apartment of an elderly friend who died and came across it, so the age would fit with that picture. What do you cut with a bar knife? Lemons? it doesn't seem sharp enough.

  • 4 years ago

    You should be able to peel, slice and cut citrus and other garnishes with a bar knife. If not, maybe just for cheese.

  • 4 years ago

    "it doesn't seem sharp enough."


    Dull knives are dangerous to use. Best to discard it.

  • 4 years ago

    ^^^ Wives tale.

  • 4 years ago

    Don’t discard it. Sharpen it.

  • 4 years ago

    Exactly. At 70 years of age, it may have never been sharpened.

    tj

  • 4 years ago

    Do consider sharpening.

  • 4 years ago

    "^^^ Wives tale."


    Nope, you guessed wrong. A dull blade can be expected to slip off of what's being cut, which can send it in the direction of fingers or hands. A dull blade can also limit the ability to make clean cuts with little effort.

    Good restaurants have their knives sharpened very regularly, like monthly or more frequently. Cooks/chefs hone a knife's blade with a few strokes along a honing steel (which aligns jagged edges that form from use) before use. You've maybe seen regular honing at a carving station. Sushi chefs (who need razor sharpness to make precise or thin slices) seem to work on their knives and switch between them constantly as they use them.

  • 4 years ago

    As far as this knife goes, it seems to have a more decorative rather than functional appearance and may not be made of a material that can hold a sharpening.

  • 4 years ago

    The blade is stainless steel. Word of warning, don’t put it in the dishwasher, because of the teak handle. We’ve been putting our cheese slicer in the DW for 30 years without caring for it, and the finish is gone.

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    "Nope, you guessed wrong."

    I didn't guess at all. The logic behind the theory is certainly plausible, enough so that I bought into it and repeated it many times myself. But then one day someone on the Cooking Forum asked if anyone had ever seriously cut themselves with a dull knife and that got me thinking. The first time I remember cutting myself with a knife was a small pocket knife that my God mother gave me as a child. I lost grip of the small blade while opening it, it sprang back and cut my finger. Over the years I've cut myself here and there, the most memorable being with a sheetrock knife right across and through my thumb nail and flesh. Occasional nicks in the kitchen, working in trades, around the house, etc. Never once that I can recall was I cut by anything other than a very sharp blade. Nor was slipping off of food that couldn't be penetrated the scenario of any kitchen accident. A blade so dull that it won't grab into what's being cut is not likely to penetrate the skin, either. Nor should the pressure of a knife be oriented such that the natural inclination would be for it to slip into one's fingers.

    Of course neither of us can "prove" which is more dangerous, so I'll just leave it to the readers to think about how often they've been cut by a dull knife versus sharp.

    There are plenty of reasons to prefer a sharp knife and I do keep mine sharpened and honed, but not for safety reasons.

  • 4 years ago

    Sorry, that's weak. Ask a cook or chef what they do and why. Or even a butcher. You're likely to hear safety mentioned as one of the reasons for regular sharpening. If you don't like getting advice from an expert, don't bother.

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Because I care about your safety and that of others, I located something I saw before. Kenji Lopez-Alt, a pro chef and now a cookbook and cooking technique guru very well respected in the world of food, has some words about knives:

    "There is nothing more frustrating in the kitchen than a dull knife. Not only does it make prep work a chore and your finished product less attractive, but it's also downright dangerous. A dull blade requires more pressure to cut into a food, and can easily slip off of a tough onion skin and into your finger. Ouch.

    Most home cooks should sharpen their knives at least twice a year, and much more frequently if they use their knives every day."

    Link - Kenji's advice on sharpening knives

    You can take his expert advice or don't, your choice.

  • 4 years ago

    I agree about using sharp knives. The one and only time I got a serious knife cut was just as described above. While trying to cut potatoes, I pushed harder and harder on the knife and it slipped off the food and cut my finger. I keep my Asian style knives at a ten degree angle and sharpen often. They work fast and efficiently. Other knives are at fourteen degrees.


  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    In my experience, a sharp knife, or any tool meant to cut, is the safest and easiest to use.

    I’m pretty easy going, but a dull knife, especially when I’m busy, can send me over the edge. My kitchen knives are always sharp. Same with my outdoor tools such as axes, hoes, chainsaws, hoof trimmers etc.

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Elmer I hardly consider Kenji's casual mention something to be taken as anythjng more than just that.

    I'm sure you can find countless chefs stating that sharp knives are safer, just like you can find countless chefs talking about sealing in juices with a sear, raising the smoke point of butter with oil, and myriad other myths. All I know for a fact is that I don't recall ever having cut myself with a dull knife, several times having cut myself with sharp knives.

    We can all choose whose anecdotes and experiences to believe, I'll trust the ones I've experienced myself for the past half century.

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    You're free to be stubbornly wrong. I cited but one expert, find your own. You're an amateur relying on an n=1 anecdote.

    You're arguing just to argue. No one who uses tools regularly and depends on them would ever agree that dull tools are as adequate as sharp ones. Take your pick - lawn mowers, hair or nail cutting scissors, kitchen knives, chain saws, all need to be sharpened regularly to work properly. Common sense for most.

    Kenji earns a good living and got paid for his advice, that'a what a pro is. You're welcome to discount it, you look silly doing so. I'm done on this point.

  • 4 years ago

    I say trust yourself.

  • 4 years ago

    "No one who uses tools regularly and depends on them would ever agree that dull tools are as adequate as sharp ones."


    You're putting words into my mouth. I never said that dull knives are adequate. If they were I wouldn't bother to maintain the edges on mine. But as far as safety goes, that rests way more on proper usage. I struggle to think of any proper technique that would result in the blade coming towards your hand in the event of a slip. For example the common claw grip would keep the edge of a slipped blade away from harm. What techique would present risk?

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Maybe someone should start a post about sharp knives vs. dull knives and have at it there.

    🙄

  • 4 years ago

    What's the matter with here? The knife has been identified, do we need more discussion about it?

  • 4 years ago

    "I'm done on this point."


    You added the last paragraph after I posted. Are you "done" becaiuse you can't cite a safe technique that will put you in danger of being cut by a slipped blade? I suspect so.

  • 4 years ago

    Never underestimate a good knife fight I always say. 😀

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    I have experience with a lot of Dansk items, and the knives were never high-functioning culinary instruments. Much more decorative. OK, see if it will sharpen, but use as intended, as a bar tool. Originally sold as part of a bar tool set. I'd use it for cheese. I'm not sure it will even sharpen well. Such ado!

    https://www.replacements.com/silver-dansk-fjord-stainless-germany-hollow-handle-bar-knife/p/1013261?utm_source=google_shopping&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=shopping_feed&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjbyYBhCdARIsAArC6LLnOMF2ScQsXPNfp0-9jIcGZ_9wviuEsmmsR24Dv_U5Rf3UjXncBqsaAlIzEALw_wcB


    https://www.jenisandberg.com/shop-1/dansk-fjord-bottle-opener-bar-knife-stainless-steel-with-teak-wood-handle-mid-century-flatware-barware-made-in-germany-1950s

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Where's "Mythbusters" when you need them? They could have had fun with this one :-) ... and I'm not sure it wouldn't be busted!

  • 4 years ago

    My butcher was sharpening my knives, and we chatted about dull knives being so dangerous. I mentioned that, when I come home with sharpened knives, I always put a little note in the knife storage about it, because we get so used to the dull knives that we are careless in where we place our fingers, as well as use more force than is now necessary and THAT makes the blade slip. So, I’ve never cut myself on a dull blade, only a sharp one. But, that’s our own fault for not sharpening the knives regularly enough. Anecdotal, not for argument.

    That Dansk knife is pretty, and even if you just use it for decoration at the bar, it’s nice. Who makes cocktails with fruit garnishes at home, and actually prepares the garnish at the bar? In fact, do people even have bars? or better yet, wet bars? I grew up with houses with a wet bar of some kind, and I really miss one in my own homes.

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    bpath, my dear old dad, who always made sure that the kitchen knives were sharp, taught us to assume that a knife is sharp….much like always assume a gun is loaded.

    I have a wetbar in my house but we rarely use it for making cocktails and such. But I like having it.

  • 4 years ago

    @User - Perhaps he should have said assume they're dull because apparently dull knives are more dangerous.😝

    The poster I was referring to above was dcarch, I asked him to weigh in but who knows if he will. I did a quick search for past discussions and didn't find quite what I was looking for but did see this. Kinda funny to me, but food for thought:

    "It is non-sense that dull knives are dangerous. The reason for this myth is plain simple. 95% of the people use dull knives, you will obvious see 95% more dull knife injuries in emergency rooms. Not only that, people who have sharp knives mostly have much better knife skills. Knife accidents have nothing to do with dull knives."

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago


    LOL, FOAS

    Okay, this is my story about accidents.

    My MIL lost her right hand on a bandsaw when she was a young adult. She was just careless. It doesn’t really matter if the saw was sharp or not. The result would have been the same.

    Keep your knives how you find them to be the safest.

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    "Keep your knives how you find them to be the safest."

    No thanks, I'll keep them how they work the best, and that is sharp. Safety, that's up to me not the knife.

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    FOAS, that was my point. Safety is up to the user.

    The safest tool is one that works properly. A knife should be sharp.

    eta This is just my opinion, I’d add IMO but that should be obvious since I said it.🙂

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Does a truck driver who drives trucks all his life know about internal combustion engines? Some do, most do not. Does an airplane stun pilot who can do do all kinds of fancy maneuvers know about air fluid dynamics? Some do, most do not.

    Does a top notch chef know everything about knives? Some do, most do not.

    Does a knife maker know a lot of knives? You bet.

    I am a knife maker and I can't say i know all about knives.

    Kenji studied at MIT not in engineering, but to become an architect. That didn't work. So he got into doing what he is doing now. Pretty good at it. I would never believe that he knows the science about the kinetics knife behavior.

    But the doctors told me, "I see so many people cut by dull knives." Of course. I think you can agree that dull knife owners most likely have poor knife skills.

    It seems to me that when a dull knife slips, it always slip away from your fingers.

    But when you are not paying attention when using a sharp knife, it always cuts directly on your finger.

    Some of my DIY kitchen knives. I don't make pretty knives. Just sharp knives. Ultra sharp, ultra dangerous!

    Have a great Labor Day week end. I will be making sushi.

    dcarch



  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    "It seems to me that when a dull knife slips, it always slip away from your fingers."

    Thanks, dcarch, seems to me as well. I was just chopping an onion and tried to imagine a slipping blade. If it did slide towards my hand (more likely the cause of an old, limp onion than a dull blade) the side of the blade would hit my knuckles and the edge would be well clear. That got me thinking further about likely kitchen knife accidents. Instictively trying to catch a falling knife. Absentmindedly feeding a carrot or green onion too far, with fingers extended rather than clawed. Reaching into sudsy dishwater forgetting there's a knife in there. Any of these are more likely to cut, deeper, the sharper the blade is. All of these have actually happened to me.

    Even if the slipping knife scenario can occur in ways I'm simply not envisioning, it's pretty clear to me that this wouldn't be the cause of the majority of flesh and blade encounters, and that most more likely scenarios would be worse with a sharp blade. There's a reason dinner knives and such aren't typically sharp, even brand new.

  • 4 years ago

    The troll(s) is being well-fed today.

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    ^^^ I hope you're not calling me a troll, but if you are I don't appreciate it. I'm simply trying to support my disagreement with what I consider to be a widely circulated but flawed idea. I've listed several ways in which a knife accident can occur, all of which would be a greater risk with a sharper blade. I could list more. All we've been given to support the "conventional wisdom" is one single scenario, which I struggle to envision even happening in real life in anything but a freak accident. I'll gladly be generous and say that I can see the slip happening, but that does not negate the many other ways accidents can happen, all of which would be negatively impacted by a sharp blade.

    Anyone who doesn't like the discussion can SOB. As for the knife in question, it does appear to be more of a novelty than anything useful. I'd have no use for a dull knife in a bar, and less use for a fixed sharp blade attached to the end of a bottle opener. Considering the movement of a bottle opener, having a sharp blade approaching the opposing hand would be an accident waiting to happen. I would not sharpen it.

  • 4 years ago

    Of course not, FOAS. My apologies if you took it that way.

    I see a troll is one who, among other things, posts with the intent to provoke others to display emotional responses, simply for the h@ll of it. You don’t do that.


  • 4 years ago

    Count me as another who has never cut myself with a dull knife, only sharp ones. So I keep mine dull and adapt the claw formation when using a sharp one (well and a dull one). When I slice a things, I often use a serrated blade which can be sharp but seems to give me more control, but almost all my chopping is done with a Cuisinart because I hate knife work!