Kershaw Pure Komachi 2, 9 Piece Block Set

I have had these knives for two and a half years now and they still provide good service. After about a year, however, they were in real need of sharpening -- don't think they will stay sharp forever.The good news is they can be sharpened without special worries -- I use this sharpener B007Y15LD4 but any standard one should do the trick. There are no sharpening instructions with the knives, nor is there any on the company's website. I sent an e-mail to customer service and got a noncommittal answer. They said the straight-edged knives could be sharpened normally but recommended I buy their sharpener. They also said the serrated blades should be sharpened professionally. I didn't feel the cost and quality of the knives justified the expense of professional sharpening so I just use the serrated blade groove of the sharpener listed above, and that works OK.I really like them and give them five stars for the price -- note the "for the price" caveat, which is important. My wife doesn't care for them and would probably give them three stars. She thinks we should have spent more on a good European set like Henckels. I disagree. I like the colors and think the knives are great for non-professionals, they just will need some sharpening on a regular basis after a while. .However, the colors also have one major drawback for households with little kids. These are the same colors used on plastic kids' toys, and our 2.5 year old son thinks they must be great to play with. We have to pay special attention to keeping them away from him. If they were black and boring, he would probably be less interested.The colors have not come off even after a lot of washing with the scoury side of kitchen sponges -- except the little green paring knife, from which the colors scratched badly on the side of the knife during what I thought was normal washing as we had washed earlier. Perhaps I got hold of a sponge with a steel wool scouring side? Not sure what was different, but once and only once, the color came off badly from one of the knives.

I'm not a professional cook, and most of the time I don't even have anyone else to cook for. That said, I'm becoming more and more engrossed in the ways of the kitchen, and these are adorable- yes, that was my biggest selling point when I bought these babies.Now that I've used them, the only thing I would say could stand to be changed is the size of the block-- it does seem to take up a bit more space than it needs to.These arrived quickly, very sharp- they sliced through a not-too-ripe avocado skin like butter, and made very quick work of bell peppers- and absolutely gorgeous. It's the first thing everyone seems to notice about my kitchen now- this rainbow of high-quality kitchen knives in a great (if big) clear plastic block that really shows them off.Maybe my cooking will get as much attention as these do someday!!!There's no wonder these haven't gotten a single one star review thus far- and more than 80 five star reviews. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!UPDATE: 5/6/2014: I bought these on October 25, 2012 (thank you Amazon, I never would have remembered the date) and, a year and a half (give or take) later, I have been using them, on average, every other day, and have had no need to sharpen them. The color is still solid, they are still good quality and attractive, and I have found that the clear knife block can actually be taken advantage of for decorating purposes- small decorative pieces inside make a surprising and adorable statement. I played with my rubber duck collection in this way, and have gotten nothing but compliments. Work with what you've got!If you're in a small kitchen or camper trailer, go ahead and buy the knives without the block, but if counter space is not your number one concern, I say go for it!

Purchased this set after I was waiting a month for the 8-piece set that didn't come with the block - I decided to cancel the order for the 8-piece and order this. The knives are fantastic. The color indicates what they should be used for, which will help to cut down on potential cross contamination. They are extremely sharp and make prep work a breeze.As others have indicated, the knife block is a joke. My husband and I literally laughed out loud at the size. It is a very inefficient use of space. The block easily takes up more counter space than a 4-slot toaster and there is more air between the knives than they are actually using.We ultimately purchased a magnetic knife bar, and enjoy having the knives on display in that fashion. I only lower by one star because I did not like having to pay for a knife block that I ended up throwing away.