Posted by David Sherman on Friday, January 09, 2004 at 0:57AM :
In Reply to: Thanks! posted by Todd Wilson on Friday, January 09, 2004 at 0:07AM :
I have never been able to get as good a edge on a stainless knife as on good quality regular steel. They also don't hold an edge as well. I think lots of knife companies make stainless blades because they think the average consumer will think it's as good as real steel plus it doesn't rust. Unfortunately that just isn't true. My favorite kitchen knife is an old one of my grandmother's from the 1920s. It's the only one that isn't stainless and it will slice food better and longer than any of my new stainless ones. You don't make saw blades or drill bits or end mills out of stainless steel, and you don't make good knives out of it either.
Another problem with stainless is it work-hardens quickly if you don't keep actively cutting it. Have you ever tried to cut a stainless bar with a hacksaw? If the hacksaw blade is sharp and you keep enough pressure on it so each stroke cuts throughout it's length, and keep a little oil on it, it cuts easily. However if you let the hacksaw slide without biting in, you'll soon get a very hard surface on the stainless that is next to impossible to break through. I wouldn't be surprised if something similar happens when trying to sharpen a stainless knife. Sharpening is essentially a machining operation, and stainless is never fun to machine.
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