Wootalyzer's Pricing Post! - The price of today's woot item is saved here for future reference
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Kai Tan Ren 9-Piece Knife Block Set
$299.99 + $5 Shipping
Condition: New

*DISCLAIMER* Wootalyzer! is in no way affiliated with Woot!, and this post may not always be here!

I speak for my fellow geeky dudes: meh

Hurray knives!! I always say that. I am sure these are awesome I just like to say KNIVES!!

Looks pretty sharp.

perfect for juggling

You're missing the point.

Oh sooooo tempting! I'm gonna sleep on it and then decide.

dj55 wrote:Looks pretty sharp.

cut me some slack on my lack of cutlery jokes handy.

how do these stack up to Wusthof?

Found these for $149.95 on-line.

Wooden blocks are hard to clean inside. And you know a spider crawls down there at some point.

They're nice, but I think me owning them would just drag them down. Knives this swank deserve better than being used to slice up frozen pizzas and off-brand cheddar cheese.

not with this brand, but has anyone noticed a musty smell forming in their wood knife blocks?

sciuchetti wrote:Found these for $149.95 on-line.

Prove it! Give a link.

Ha! I could buy TWO paring knives at the price of this 9-piece set!
Oh, wait ...

So, what are the empty slots for? One's a honing stick for sure.

I always sit at the corner at Benihana's and snatch the chef's knife. Man those are sharp!

Sorry Woot, the IRS is getting my 299.99 instead of you. Now if you had an item for $9.99, that might have been a different conversation.

Can these slice through an engine block? Cause for that price, they should.

sciuchetti wrote:Found these for $149.95 on-line.

Can you be more specific? Online is a big place.

I can't find much information on Kai Tan Ren

Reviews for similar product (6-piece)

Discussion on a Knife forum about Kai Tan Ren

These are Shuns. Good price for nice Made in Japan steel.

Oh man, how am I gonna comment on the technical specifications of these?!?!? No PSU, GFX Card or USB's!

Well, to start here is a thread commenting on this brand of knives. They say these "knives to try to hit a middle point between cheap junk and the beginnings ranks of decent knives."

While you are at the Knife Enthusiast Forum (had no idea this existed until tonight), you can read a Basic Carbon Steel Explanation or perhaps a Novice's Notes to Sharpening.

EDIT: Added links to Knife Enthusiast Forum so its not just a duplicate of above post...

Has anyone used this brand before. I am pretty happy with my pampered chef just wondering how these compare.

kevlar51 wrote:not with this brand, but has anyone noticed a musty smell forming in their wood knife blocks?

Thats why you wash and dry them before you put them in there....... duh

I wonder if they are going to sell even one...I guess there is someone out there that could afford it, I however am not that person

Crocodile Dundee's mouth is watering....

Crate and Barrel is having a 50% off sale on 6 of the knives, but I couldn't quickly find a 9 pc set

angerbender wrote:Wooden blocks are hard to clean inside. And you know a spider crawls down there at some point.

if you clean the knives before you stick them in there you wont have to clean inside.. and remind me not to eat in your kitchen if you have insects crawling in there

Whats up with the empty slots?

angerbender wrote:Wooden blocks are hard to clean inside. And you know a spider crawls down there at some point.

I've never tried it, but it seems like canned air would do the trick, at least for the spiders.

Just a quick note:

Kai used to offer free sharpening on their knives by sending them in to the factory in Oregon but as of April 1st they partnered with "Perfect Edge" and you will have to pay to have your knives sharpened. The prices are reasonable, but I was pretty disappointed to find out about this yesterday when I was getting ready to send in my knives for annual sharpening. The site specifically mentions the Shun line so you may want to look into the Tan Ren line but being from Kai it is very likely that you will have to pay as well.

http://www.kershawknives.com/sharpening.php?brand=shun

Oh boy a knife to slice you some Nakiri!
I haven't had any Nakiri in ages.
And a $25 knife to cut a sandwich in half.

Looks like you *might* be able to get a 6 pc set at Crate & Barrel for $149, http://deals.lycos.com/deal/50-off-kai-tan-ren-knives-at-crate-and-barrel-448258 BUT I don't see that price anywhere for the 9pc set.

Wooden knife blocks are nasty. I like a double strip of heavy duty magnet to hang knives on. Hm, maybe that doesn't make sense but I'm up too late :/ Good luck, Woot.com...I think we'll be seeing these in the next Woot-Off.

from the description these sound stamped not forged as these are not of the 'premium line'. If you care enough about the heft of the knife to spend money on an expensive brand you would want forged for anything other than a travel deboner and a bread knife.

After researching around it seems that this brand was made exclusively for Crate&Barrel stores. Not sure if that makes any difference.

Lets not all buy these at once. I guess there isn't a sucker born every minute, or 15 on Woot!

An image search on the google of Kai Tan yielded unexpected results (NSFW).

Taken from the review of the 6 piece set

Feels flimsy
"I own the Shun line of knives, and love those. And also have some high end German knives. You can tell the difference between this set and the more expensive line by weight. These knives are almost too light, and not as easy to use for things like chopping. Unfortunately, I bought this set as a gift for my sister over a month ago and didn't know how flimsy they were until I used them recently in her kitchen. I'm quite embarrassed by this purchase. If I could do this again, I'd buy a couple of Shun knives instead."

review page

Granted, there is also a 5 star review that basically just says they're sharp

This will go great with my woot rug!

what no steak knives ?