Pixmaker wrote:
> I like the way the Japanese knife manufacturers attack the problem.
> They sandwich a piece of "high-carbon" steel inside a wrapping of
> corrosion-resistant steel ("stainless") to obtain the sharpness
> advantage of the very hard (but brittle) inner material with the
> corrosion resisting properties of the "stainless" sheath.

Pix-
I liked your post but I do have one small nit to pick. The advantage of
carbon over stainless is that it is easier to obtain razor sharpness
and to maintain it during use with a proper steel. Stainless can be
honed to great sharpness ( many scalpel blades are stainless) and will
maintain it longer without attention. But with carbon, you can restore
sharpness (during regular use) with less work. That's the tradeoff. The
level of polish obtained on Japanese blades using their traditional
honing techniques (like 10,000 grit stones) will achieve a level of
sharpness far exceeding that needed for most kitchen use. Now, for
cutting sashimi- that may be another story.

D.M.