The blade quality doesn’t look great but I think any decent cook that knows how to hone will do just fine with it.
I’m not sure I’d spend the money and replace my expensive knives for a relatively rare edge case but it’s a neat innovation that might catch on elsewhere, or maybe they’ll make premium lines.
Is this issue possibly that amateur knives are too "polished"?
This doesn't seem to be a "professional chef" problem yet seems to be a significant "amateur chef" problem.
Is this simply the case that a knife with professional use takes enough dings and scratches that foods won't vacuum seal to the face of the knife?
I would say, if this idea becomes popular, knife producers can create their own versions in the new models, or retrofit old knives at the shop.
I think trying to make an ultrasonic vibration add-on for regular knives would be even harder to make into a useful product than an integrated knife/transducer.
If the handle is rigidly fixed to the blade, there would be very little vibration. So it seems like the only way to make an add-on would be as a sleeve over the regular handle. That would make for a bulky handle, and it seems like it would need a counterbalancing weight at the back. So the result would be very unwieldy, like one of those electric turkey-carving knives that are basically kitchen hedge-trimmers.
I'm waiting to see what skilled chefs think of this knife. The idea of an ultrasonic vibroblade has always seemed like a neat one to me, and I'd be happy to hear that someone managed to make one that was genuinely useful.
[1] https://www.beneaththewaves.net/Projects/SonicCarereg_Lock_P...
If this was a small 40$ attachment you could put on the dull edge of any knife, this would be great.
Also works for helping with fluid containment.
The other weird thing about this is that neither a potato nor a cucumber demands an ultra-sharp knife.
