Like this? They're available at your local Smart & Final or restaurant supply store...

crableg re: that wasted tape Read through your manual--on some machines, there's a setting you can choose that spaces the labels much more closely--esp. valuable if you're making lots of labels at once, but useful even if you're only doing one (though you do need to press "code" and "feed" at the very end to push it out a little extra before you cut it off. Liz_H, your labeler is a simpler model, I think, and I couldn't find that function in the User's Guide. But look in section 2, under "Designing Labels," for "setting label length"; it's not the same function, but it might help you w/ wasted tape, if you can estimate how long your letters will be.

Here's a picture of my knife scratch that I made on the Blanco Silgranit metallic grey earlier this afternoon. This was with a serrated steak knife. I originally did about 15 saws across and then "topped" it off with about 10 more to it before I took the photos. It definitely took some effort to get the indented scratch there. It's noticeable mostly from certain angles, most probably wouldn't really notice it if just looking at the sink. I haven't tried eliminating the scratch yet.

So, party_music 50, didn't folks show you how some of us knife lovers can have opinions and good tips? I found so many good ideas and I too had to waste some money and learn. I've always loved cooking. I have various knives for various tasks, but the one I go to these days for a lot of simple slicing and chopping is the one Sushipup mentioned, the Victorinox Fibrox 8" chef's knife. I have both the 8" and the 6" and bought my cookin' sis the 6". We both love that one. It's sharp, easy to hold, lightweight, easy to clean (just wipe with your soapy dish cloth, rinse, and put away), AND it has a very nice, textured handle that gives a secure grip. I used mine so much I went to a town farm market knife sharping kiosk to get it tweaked. He gave me some tips to refreshing the edge (realigning). I was surprised to find how much I love this little knife. The 8" version is just as nice. I have "too many knives" with some redundancy, for sure. LindaC, I believe I've got the very Chicago Cutlery 6" knife that you have. No longer my favorite for a while, but probably because I let it go dull-ish. I also have some of the older Elephant Sabbatier carbon-steel knives. Just wipe it clean and put away. That one is probably 40 to 50 years old and my father did a "bad bad thing" by trying to sharpen it with one of those electric can opener sharpeners that took a lot of the steel off in a certain area. The 6" knife at the top with the wooden handle is an older Chicago Cutlery forged knife. Above: a Chicago Cutlery 5" parer I bought at Walmart a couple of years ago. Too bad the yellow rubber grip deteriorated. The knife at the bottom with the black handle is the 8" Vitorinox Fibrox. dcarch, I have hung onto the ratty Chi Cut knife thinking that I might fashion a wooden handle for it (it has a sort of long tang). Party, I think people has mentioned this, but don't put kitchen chef's knives into the dishwasher or leave in the sink (one of my siblings does this). I'm with dcarch in thinking that you might want to treat yourself to a nice knife, say that 6" Vitorinox. Than your sister can test it when she visits. I'll have to warn you, however, I was impressed with how sharp they were from the factory. Over the summer, I took my favorite knives to the fellow at our farmers' market and he did a great job. I was going to by one of those pricy but very good Apex sharpening systems, but I decided to take knives to the farmers' market fellow and I will just tweak them sharper as needed on a nice sharpening stone I have for that sort of thing. Ci_lantro, I bet that carbon steel Chinese cleaver is great to use. Photo? I have a few cleavers and a heavy one is good for persuading hard squash to see things my way.