FDick 8144723 9" Chef's Knife

I received this knife several weeks back, and using it is a pleasure. Like you would expect of a chef knife, it is versatile enough to dice an onion, yet sturdy enough to carve a rotisserie chicken. The blade shape is ideal for rocking along the cutting board. The handle on this knife is the most comfortable I've seen. It's large enough to feel relaxed, and narrows right below the bolster to give a firm grip.

What really surprised me about this knife though, is its excellent bolster design. A common problem with European knives is the bolsters tend to get in the way of sharpening, leading to a recurve forming on the edge. With this FDick knife, the bolster is thin, and its profile is angled at the bottom, stopping short of the blade edge. The end result - when your using the knife, the bottom of the bolster doesn't touch the cutting board. Even using a whetstone, I found the bolster did not get in the way.

Properly cared for, this knife could last for decades.

Specs:
Full tang, full bolster, with classic triple rivet handle
Material: X50CrMoV15, tempered carbon steel (stain-resistant)
Weight: 274g
Handle length: 5 1/8 inch
Blade length: 8 7/8 inch
Blade width (top-to-edge, at handle): 1 13/16 inch

Functionality: 5/5
+effective for a wide variety of tasks.

+perfect balance. The handle extends further back to balance the 9 inch blade. As a result, this knife feels much lighter than it actually is.

+blade is sturdy and doesn't flex.

+blade geometry is perfect for rocking.

+very comfortable handle. Feels right at home in your hand.

+excellent bolster design. It has a low profile to keep the weight down, and shaped such that it doesn't interfere with sharpening.

+tempered steel has a slightly higher hardness, noticeable when using a whetstone.

Fit and Finish: 4/5
+handle integration is very good. The transition from plastic to metal is smooth.

+no sharp edges on the handle or on the top of the knife. I didn't have to do any polishing to get this knife ready to use.

+angle on the edge profile is perfect. 15 degrees out-of-box, consistently across both sides of the blade.

+edge is sharp out-of-box, and ready to use.

-+consistency of the edge bevel width falls in an acceptable range. It is slightly wider on one side of the blade, and narrower closer to the handle. I measured the difference between the high and low points to .015 inches. Significant variance in bevel width (>.04 inches), can lead to problems in the edge geometry over time if the user doesn't account for it when sharpening. While there is a little variance in the bevel for this knife, it is not significant enough to cause issues.

-these is a small chip on the bottom of the handle. Doesn't impact functionality and not very noticeable.

Value: 5/5
+lower cost than comparable German-made knives with similar feature set. For example, the 9inch Wusthof comes in at $150.