I bought a cheap Henkel stainless knife: i found it to be not razor-sharp, not chip-resistent, & not dulling-resistent. Then i bought a less-cheap Chinese hi-carbon knife: it was better than t' last in all 3 areas. Then i bought an expensive-ish Japanese hi-carbon knife: it was much better than t' last in the 1st & 3rd areas.
As common sense generally implies, more $ = more quality. BUT MY QUESTION IS, how can you tell if your $ actually goes into a SHARPER, more CHIP-RESISTENT knife, & not into the ads of a posh brand or useless exotic features
Eg
-Pestige makes a knife more expensive, but not necessarily sharper, more chip-resistent or more dulling-resistent
-Costlier alloys are $ier, but without heat treatment, not sharper etc
-Handmaking=$ier, not necess~sharper etc
-Higher Rockwell rating=$ier & sharper, but not necess~ chip resistent
By spending more money on the Japanese knife, my knife got actually better. How do I ~repeat this process~ if i spend more again?
On choppers i put on a 30 degree angle and finish it with 6000 grit stone + strop. On slicers i put on a (probably too thin) 10-15 degree angle and finish it like the chopper. When i am lacking in wisdom and use the slicer when i should use the chopper: macro chips form. If i use the slicer as usual, micro chips eventually form...because I don't sharpen often enough (too much work with the stones). Neither macro or micro chips form on my chopper. Thanks for all your input!