Wootalyzer's Pricing Post! - The price of today's woot item is saved here for future reference
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Shun Classic Sets
$299.99 + $5 Standard OR $12 Two-Day OR $15 One-Day Shipping
Condition: New

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Three hundred dollar knives.
Holiday dealz continue...

This brings me back to the days of infamous knife sets and roombas.

If only I had $305...

mariomario42 wrote:If only I had $305...

$335...California tax! Damn, they should have had this one a few months ago!

Shun makes EXCELLENT knives. But they're too rich for my blood. We have 2 and they'll cut something just by hovering over the item and speaking a magic word (not really, but they're *almost* that good.)

These knives are so sharp, I shaved just by looking at them.

If these are anything like Cutco knives you are going to need stitches in the next 12 months. My son sold $25,000 worth to family and friends and many of them have had wound repairs done. Should Woot bundle these with some butterfly bandaids or steristrips?

And that overstock reference is "out of stock." http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Shun-Classic-3-piece-Boxed-Flat-Set/3898651/product.html


[MOD: Not the same knives. This is a Woot Exclusive set]

I almost pulled the trigger as a gift for the wife but then she walked in and saw the screen. Her only comment was, "If you spend that much money on a set of knives, the first thing I'll use them on is your chest..." Then she walked out. Oh well, I guess it's time to keep looking...

That overstock reference is also not the same set of knives.

I assume everyone knows that these are not actually true Damascus knives. "Damascus-clad" just means that have a Damascus style pattern to them. It's just an aesthetic touch, and doesn't actually improve the hardness of the steel. Doesn't mean they're not good knives. But the pattern is there for show.

I bought my wife the 7 piece Alton Brown set several years back. Jeebus they are SHARP and stay that way if you take care of them. If you let your kiddos cut their own fruits and/or meats DO NOT allow them to use Shun knives as they may come to you with a stump.

ThunderThighs wrote:See my post above about this being exclusive. Not the same knives.

Maybe we should have put the Winnie the Pooh bandaids on Kids.Woot?

You are correct this is what they don't have there: "Knife set includes 8-inch chef's knife, 6-inch utility knife and 3.5-inch paring knife." All smaller like you mentioned.

jvspencer wrote:If these are anything like Cutco knives you are going to need stitches in the next 12 months. My son sold $25,000 worth to family and friends and many of them have had wound repairs done. Should Woot bundle these with some butterfly bandaids or steristrips?

The great Graham Kerr is famous for saying "You never cut yourself with a sharp knife." You can, of course, but his meaning was that a really sharp knife goes where you lead it, while a dull one instead seeks the path of least resistance. And it's the out-of-control blade that will cut you.

Incredibly sharp, don't drop the big one as it WILL slice all the way to China. The other ones will only make it to the Earth's core.

I have couple of Ken Onion Shun knives (gifts), and they are absolutely fabulous. Best knives I own, worth their price (easy for me to say, I suppose). Ridiculously sharp and stay that way for a long time. Mine don't have this D shaped handle, though -- I was wondering if they were better for right handed people? You can sharpen them yourself, but you will need to keep the different cutting angle in mind; don't use a regular steel either - get ceramic one.

I have to second (or third or fourth?) the comments on the knives - they are incredibly sharp and I love my Shun Santoku. But I can't really justify $300 for a few more, especially when one of them is a bread knife (never had problems slicing bread).

From the Description:

☻ Knives are hand crafted in Japan

I still remember the days when "Made in Japan" meant cheap poorly-made trinkets -- sort of like the stuff coming out of China these days. Now being made in Japan means high end electronics, quality cars and status cutlery like Shun and Kyocera. Times have changed.

We own the 6 inch chef's knife from Shun, same line as is being sold, and it is fantastic. We paid about $100 for it, and it is the only knife I need. Although the set being sold is an amazing bargain, it's also overkill for most cooks. I looked into chef recommendations before I bought, and in two separate articles the 7 inch santoku from Shun was named as the ideal if-you-only-bought-one, buy-this-one knife. One professional chef gave a $400 knife a higher recommendation, but that's not even in the same league, so I don't think that's a fair comparison. Maybe if I won the lottery.

If you're looking for a real bargain, though, a couple weeks later I bought a ceramic Yoshi knife just to for the kick of trying something new. I'd never used a ceramic blade. I found one for a little over $10. After several months of daily use, it has actually stayed sharper than the Shun and is currently my go-to knife for most kitchen jobs. I expect it will break eventually, given that ceramic is brittle, and indeed the tip has already chipped. That hasn't impaired its ability to slice through anything like butter, though.

I am impressed and happy with my Shun, but if you're looking for just a good slicing knife and don't mind being gentle with the blade (store it protected in a block or sheath), try the Yoshi first. The handle is round, large, and plastic, but the blade is every microgram as sharp as a Shun.

Sharp knives are safer than dull ones. A sharp knife will do what you command (even if you command it to cut off the tip of your left thumb) while a dull, cheap knife that you've been too lazy to sharpen is likely to move unpredictably through your soon-to-be-bloodsoaked food.

That said, you don't need to spend $300 to get nice knives. You also don't need to spend over $30k for a nice enough car, $20 for nice enough wine, or $1000 for a disease-free enough hooker, but some people will find the returns to be worth it.

These are nice knives. I have some Shuns (mostly from the Elite series but a couple Classics). Treat 'em right and they will serve you well for years. Here are a few points to consider:

Honing! Learn it! Learn it right! Love it!

Good cutting boards (plastic or preferably non-bamboo wood) will help your edge last.

A 10" chef's knife will make quick work of large volumes of food, but may be challenging for smaller hands.

Knife skills! Again, learn 'em! Take a course, or if you're cheap & adventurous, there are some good how-to videos on YouTube.

Be careful! Other posters aren't kidding. These really are freaking sharp knives. They'll do what you want, but make sure you're not cutting stuff with your thumb in the way, or your mirepoix might well turn into blood pudding.

TL;DR - Good knives, but you need to know how to use 'em!

ThunderThighs wrote:See my post above about this being exclusive. Not the same knives.

Maybe we should have put the Winnie the Pooh bandaids on Kids.Woot?

Excuse me Your Thighness, but shouldn't woot have the Woot Launch icon? Since this is a woot exclusive item?

waterdogs wrote:Mine don't have this D shaped handle, though -- I was wondering if they were better for right handed people?

Yes. If you're a lefty, I'm afraid you're out of luck, as these handles are likely to be quite awkward for you.

CowboyDann wrote:Excuse me Your Thighness, but shouldn't woot have the Woot Launch icon? Since this is a woot exclusive item?

I think the Launch honor is more about new products which Woot is the first to sell. This set (or bundle) is exclusive to Woot, but not the items. My guess is that you can find the separate knives elsewhere. It seems foolish for Shun to design and manufacture knives just for a closeout seller like Woot.

PS - I haven't seen a Launch in a long time!

Worth noting the Shun Classic line have asymmetrical handles and beveling, so I would assume these are intended only for right-handed people. Southpaws beware.

mesa50 wrote:W
If you're looking for a real bargain, though, a couple weeks later I bought a ceramic Yoshi knife just to for the kick of trying something new. I'd never used a ceramic blade. I found one for a little over $10. After several months of daily use, it has actually stayed sharper than the Shun and is currently my go-to knife for most kitchen jobs. I expect it will break eventually, given that ceramic is brittle, and indeed the tip has already chipped. That hasn't impaired its ability to slice through anything like butter, though.

From a purely sharpness-per-dollar approach, nothing will top ceramic knives. You can get a ceramic knife that will split hairs for $10.

That said, you may find that you're so careful with your 4th one (because you've chipped the first 3) that it's actually costing you prep time, relative to a metal knife.

jvspencer wrote:If these are anything like Cutco knives you are going to need stitches in the next 12 months. My son sold $25,000 worth to family and friends and many of them have had wound repairs done. Should Woot bundle these with some butterfly bandaids or steristrips?

And that overstock reference is "out of stock." http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Shun-Classic-3-piece-Boxed-Flat-Set/3898651/product.html


[MOD: Not the same knives. This is a Woot Exclusive set]

Don't compare these to Cutco knives. Cutco knives are cheap crap being sold as great knives because of the mlm marketing schemes and getting your relatives to buy them (the only people I've known to actually buy them have bought them from relatives in the mlm program). If you actually have seen cutco knives, you would know they aren't worth crap.

I have a shun santoku, my advice is to make sure to hand wash and dry these right away or else they will rust.

http://www.amazon.com/Shun-DM0720-Classic-Hollow-Ground-Slicing/dp/B0000Y7L94/ $169.95
http://www.amazon.com/Shun-DM0707-Classic-10-Inch-Chefs/dp/B0000Y7KN6/ $189.95
http://www.amazon.com/Shun-Classic-8-Inch-Offset-Bread/dp/B00022YFIO/ $164.95
+
http://www.amazon.com/Shun-DM0831-11-Slot-Bamboo-Block/dp/B00022YELM/ $59.95

So, that would be $585 on Amazon for the first set. A good savings here from some very well rated knives!

Was going to get some Shuns (or Myabi) for the in-laws, given how they serve terribly sliced pieces of sushi from their fresh caught fish from their Sabatier knife set.

But just recenlty, looking at some of the odd knives in their block, I notice a japanese knife in it, all rusted. I realized they probably don't take care of their knives as well as they should and should stick to the completely stainless steel set.

jvspencer wrote:If these are anything like Cutco knives you are going to need stitches in the next 12 months. My son sold $25,000 worth to family and friends and many of them have had wound repairs done. Should Woot bundle these with some butterfly bandaids or steristrips?

Once you take away your son's commission, 95% of the rest of the $25,000 is probably pure profit for Cutco, given their knife are stamped sheet metal that could be made in 5 seconds.

The DM0742 goes for $120 at http://thebestthings.com/knives/shunpremier.htm

The DM0707 goes for $190 at http://www.amazon.com/Shun-DM0707-Classic-10-Inch-Chefs/dp/B0000Y7KN6

The DM0720 goes for $170 at http://www.amazon.com/Shun-DM0720-Classic-Hollow-Ground-Slicing/dp/B0000Y7L94

duplicate

I ran out of blades for my safety razor and I could not find my straight edge, so I went into the kitchen and borrowed it to shave. Very sharp knives! I did not notice a difference shaving between the 7" chefs knife and my straight edge except for the weight. Excellent knives.

If you can't afford Shun's, but want some quality Japanese knives from Shun's parent company, Kai, look for the Kai Wasabi Blonde 3pc Knife Set. The entire set was only $39.99 on Woot. Yes, I know that these don't even come close to Shun's or even Sabatier, Wursthof, Global, etc. But they are very good knives and look quite striking and you do get Kai Shun-like quality. But no, that particular set doesn't come with a Chef's Knife or Santoku.

http://www.woot.com/offers/kai-wasabi-blonde-3pc-knife-set-dec-09

From the previous Woot:

Warranty: Limited Lifetime Kai

Features:
☻ Traditional Japanese blade styling
☻ For superior cutting performance
☻ Reduces food sticking
☻ Blades are sharpened on a single side
☻ Daido 1K6 high-carbon, stainless steel for superior edge retention
☻ Blades are bead-blasted to an attractive finish and embellished with the Japanese characters for “wasabi”
☻ Handle is sturdy, clean polypropylene blended with real bamboo powder for the pleasing, blonde look of bamboo
☻ Handle impregnated with an antibacterial agent for super clean food preparation
☻ Easy to clean; dishwasher safe
6621Y- Blade Length: 8 inch
6615Y- Blade Length: 6 inch
6615D- Blade Length: 6 inch

In the box:
☻ Kai 6600-3L Wasabi Blonde 3pc Knife Set (6621Y/6615Y/6615D)

lwang wrote:Once you take away your son's commission, 95% of the rest of the $25,000 is probably pure profit for Cutco, given their knife are stamped sheet metal that could be made in 5 seconds.

I seriously agree (see previous post)... I seriously thought my friends CUTCO knives were bought from a dollar store. I'm basing that on the steak knives I saw, never looked at any of the chef knives though. Didn't know anything about CUTCO until I googled it after she told me what she paid for the set (from a relative).