[pjanda1]

I was at Scheels (big Midwest sporting good chain) yesterday, and saw a Kershaw knife set for $49.  I think it was this set.  The little chef's knife might not be useful for all, but the block, slicing and pairing knives alone might be worth the $50.  Add the Forschner 8" or 10" chefs, and you've got a very complete, decent quality set for $75.  Kershaw, are of course, the folks that make Shun.  I haven't held these knives, but sporting knives that have the Kershaw name tend to be pretty solid.  They had a whole bunch of them, but I'd still get there soon!  FWIW, the Scheels website shows the same set at $90, so I think you are out of luck if you aren't local.

Paul
www.wildburroaudio.com

[Zheeeem]

I was at Scheels (big Midwest sporting good chain) yesterday, and saw a Kershaw knife set for $49.  I think it was this set.  The little chef's knife might not be useful for all, but the block, slicing and pairing knives alone might be worth the $50.  Add the Forschner 8" or 10" chefs, and you've got a very complete, decent quality set for $75.  Kershaw, are of course, the folks that make Shun.  I haven't held these knives, but sporting knives that have the Kershaw name tend to be pretty solid.  They had a whole bunch of them, but I'd still get there soon!  FWIW, the Scheels website shows the same set at $90, so I think you are out of luck if you aren't local.

Paul
www.wildburroaudio.com

They seem to be stamped, not forged.

[Rob Babcock]

Too big a deal is made over the ol' "Stamped vs Forged" argument.  Some of the best knives in the world are made via the metal removal method.  A good example is Cut Brooklyn.

[pjanda1]

Its an obsolete arguement in my opinion.  It is now possible to get ridiculously hard stamped steel.  I'll put my stamped Hiromoto up against a soft, wimpy German knife any day.

Paul
www.wildburroaudio.com

[turkey]

Its an obsolete arguement in my opinion.  It is now possible to get ridiculously hard stamped steel.  I'll put my stamped Hiromoto up against a soft, wimpy German knife any day.

I use RH Forschner knives. They're stamped, and they work just as well as any other knife I've tried.

However, I've also used Wusthof forged knives and liked them, and also several different Japanese knives and liked those too.

There are a lot of good knives out there, some expensive and some not. I don't see that you can point to any one brand, origin, or manufacturing method and say it's "the best."