Sadly our household does not have a highly evolved taste in kitchen cutlery. Years ago I've made peace with the fact that our family of 4 could never own nice things like carbon steel Japanese cutlery. They would simply not survive the rigors and careless handling typically seen in our kitchen. Successful candidates would have to be stainless, and tough enough to take a knock or two.
We've been using these for 8 years, and they are just about broken-in by now!
They've survived the typical kitchen use/abuse beyond my expectation. No rust, no broken tips, no loose handles or catastrophic failure. I've been successful in training the family to avoid running them through the dishwasher, only use them on wood/plastic cutting boards, and strictly no screw driving or prying! That said, they are not babied and are often left dirty overnight without ill effect. They stay sharp for a very reasonable amount of time. Dulling occurs by rolling. I've never had to sharpen out a chip on these, which is remarkable.
I typically sharpen the PE's about once a year. I run them at around 13 dps with a 15 dps micro bevel off either the SM medium or fine. Once a month (if I remember) I would give them a few strokes on a fine ceramic steel to realign the edges. This usually results in no light reflecting off the apexes, and they stay sharp enough to last the next month. The SE's get a few passes on the SM perhaps every 2 months.
The steel is a pleasure to sharpen with aluminium oxide waterstones. It wants to get sharp, and does not create a huge burr. It deburrs easily, and takes a hair popping edge without much effort.
The one we reach for most often is the 6.5" serrated utility. It will stay sharp enough to slice tomatoes for months without a touch-up on the Sharpmaker. The serration pattern is simply fantastic for the kitchen. A couple of them usually join us whenever we go away for a weekend or on holiday.
What has been your experience with these kitchen knives? Have you rusted them? Have you chipped them? How does MBS-26 compare to VG10 or BD1N for kitchen use?
Maybe, just maybe, the family has been domesticated enough to be unleashed on a set of Murray Carter Minarai's in BD1N... Even so, I'll still keep a few of the SE utilities around, they've earned their permanent spot.
