Japanese knives

[chicken neck]

The next thing you will/might need is a decent cutting board & sharpening kit.

Presumably any cutting board is OK provided it is wood, right? Are plastic boards bad for knives?

Is this any good for sharpening?
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.hartsofstur.com/acatalog/Furi_Ozitech_Knife_Sharpener.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.hartsofstur.com/acatalog/Fur ... pener.html</a><!-- m -->

 

[Pig Cat]

Hadn't considered chopping board quality/type when thinking of knives. One day it would be nice to get a high quality set, so what sort of board would one use them with?

 

[Yellow Jim]

I think the general consensus is that end-grain wooden boards are considered the best for your knives. Plastic ones aren't too bad, but avoid glass ones as they'll dull the edge like mad and also aren't particularly safe.

 

[antdad]

The next thing you will/might need is a decent cutting board & sharpening kit.

Presumably any cutting board is OK provided it is wood, right? Are plastic boards bad for knives?

Is this any good for sharpening?
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.hartsofstur.com/acatalog/Furi_Ozitech_Knife_Sharpener.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.hartsofstur.com/acatalog/Fur ... pener.html</a><!-- m -->

I thought Arrowhead would have piled in at this point. Get a water stone. Even if it doesn't have a high carbon steel edge it's worth learning to use. You can use pull through sharpeners and steels but they straight rather than sharpen properly.

 

[Arrowhead]

I suppose since they're fancy and Japanese a waterstone would be the thing. My (Western) kitchen knives never see anything more refined than a 600 grit diamond plate and a steel ... Rc59 does sound a bit hard for that approach though. Make sure you dry it well, chicken neck.