Damascus Chef Knife 9.5"

The members of V-sharp and Fanteck have done it again! This knife is a wonderful representation of how functionality and aesthetics can be optimally combined. This chef knife remains on the smaller side at about 8” and comes very sharp out of the box. The pakkawood handle has a fitting shape that provides comfort and stability in the hand, even when wet. At the top of the handle there are 3 layers of beautiful acrylic in the colors of amber, pearl, and a deep red. These colors were achieved with a mother of pearl mix within the acrylic to provide an additional level of detail. This detail is functional too, as the acrylic stripes are flush with the handle. Acrylic is shock, water, and somewhat heat resistant, which will assist in the overall longevity of the blade. Moving on to the blade, I have another fanteck knife that uses a different handle but has an almost identical blade. On initial inspection the blades resembled each other very closely but I would say this blade may contain more folds than intended (not A bad thing). The folds allow impurities to be purified out of the blade and further allow strength and resilience to grow within the metal, providing at least A Rockwell hardness test of 62 or higher. My father, who was a heat treater for years, was very impressed by the VG-10 steel this knife is made of. Grooves in the blade are quite prevalent, as you can feel the texture within the knife’s side. Some Damascus receive a smooth finish while others keep the grooves a bit more deeply ingrained. Personally, I like the deeper side, it’s texture in the hand really makes it feel special every time you cut something for a meal. I am also very hard on my knives and I can say, without a doubt, you would really have to be trying to break this thing if you wanted to destroy it. If you want a dependable knife, that will make you look forward to cooking, last a lifetime, and look lovely while doing it, look no further!

I am a fan of high quality kitchen knives, and have a large collection of top-brand and custom-made chef knives, most are of Japanese style (gyuto, santoku) and Chinese style (cleaver). I previously used a 6" Nenox petty knife in kitchen, and it mysteriously disappeared. I came a cross this knife on Amazon, and decided to give it a try, as it costs less than 1/12 of the Nenox and about 1/3 of Shun classic. The knife came with a very nice presentation box and a edge guard. The blade is made of very standard Japanese laminate damascus steel with VG-10 core. Finish of the blade is excellent, and is on par with Shun Kaji series, and better than Shun Classic series. The surface texture feels more like Shun Classic. It is not super smooth and provide good food release. The damascus pattern is beautiful. The blade has a flat ground that creates a smooth transition from thick spine to thin cutting edge. The spine is straight from bolster to tip. The edge profile is excellent, perfectly the standard shape for a 6" petty knife. The out-of-the-box sharpness is not super sharp but sufficient, I do not really care as I sharpened it anyway. The best thing I like of the blade is it's stiffness. It feels rigid, compared to some petty knives that are slightly flexible. However, this is totally up to personal preference. Finish of bolster and handle is of first class, actually better than my Nenox petty, and all my Shun Classic and Kaji. The metal is beautifully polished, with colorful spacer to create artistic feel. The main part of handle is made of pakkawood, which is widely used for Japanese knives. It feels smooth and warm. I initially was afraid that the handle might be slippy in wet hand. It turns out to be completely fine. The metal parts parts are slippy when wet, however, the pakkawood gives secured grip. No problem. The cutting core is made of VG-10, which has been well-proven for kitchen knives. It is not a super steel as SG2, ZDP-189, HAP40 and M390, however, is a excellently balanced mix of sharpness, edge retention, toughness, easiness to re-sharpen, non-stain, material and manufactory cost. Specific of this knife, the edge performance is of standard VG-10, very similar to Shun Classic, and feels tougher than a new Shun Classic, which is reported initially brittle and becomes tougher after a few times of re-sharpening. I have been using this knife for more than 8 months now, from peeling apple to breakdown whole chicken (cut through joints only). It works very well and has never disappointed me. The materials used for this knife, VG-10 steel and pakkawood, are well-proven and every standard nowadays. The value of knife should be determined heavily on design and craftsmanship. And this knife is definitely worth the price.

While I have always tried to stay away from knives with this handle style I'm so glad I decided to try this one out. The handle fits your hand very well. The knife is small enough for precision work but still large enough to do anything that it's needed to do. Fanteck offer's quality knives at a affordable price. Japanese VG-10 is my all time favorite blade material. The damascas design is stunning all the colors and handle material works well together and fit and finish is superb. This is without a doubt the best knife you can get for the money. Many knives of this quality sell for two to three times the price of this knife. Right out of the box the knife is ready to work and extremely sharp! I wanted to test it's cutting/slicing ability and found that my wife had left a container of strawberries out overnight, the berries were a little on the soft side but the knife sliced them without any problem at all. I took some pictures of this and if you look close you'll see that some of the slices are so thin you can see right through them. Notice the thinnest slice in my pictures and you'll see the damascas pattern of the knife under it. This knife slices paper thin. With a little practice you'll be slicing and dicing like a pro. The knife is well packaged and would make a very nice gift also. Anyone would be proud to have one. There's even a blade protector to keep the edge protected when not in use. The knife holds a edge a very, very long time. If you have a steel just touch it up from time to time to keep it razor sharp.

I don't use this very often but I think the craftsmanship and build quality is excellent for the price.

WARNING ⚠️ I personally haven’t used the knife. It was a gift. Upon inspection at the gift giving, the inlay looks like a plastic epoxy resin type thing, the handle looks like plastic wood, and the “fancy gift box” it comes in was all chipped and merely particle board with a cheap peeling veneer. I’m so thoroughly unimpressed with this product and it’s expenses, from absolutely awful shipping issues with DHL, to barely audible phone calls from the manufacturer in China, to which my cellular provider marks as “likely Spam or telemarketers, to inability to actually talk to anyone about my shipping from Amazon (who don’t apparently ship with DHL??), to surprise customs fees that I was supposed to be reimbursed for (but not the full amount). I really hope that at least the actual blade is as awesome as I had been led to believe. Such a headache. Never again. No buying clothes, shoes and kitchen wear from Amazon. My list grows…. 🤨

Love the knife both look wise & the sturdiness and sharpness.

I love this knife! So sharp, good size and comfortable, nice design, and great value.

The knife blade is beautiful and stays sharp. The hadle loosened up the second day of use were the colorful top peices just spin in place and makes the handle not feel very solid at all