Only members of a circus knife-throwing act are more obsessed with superior blades than chefs. Ask professional restaurant cooks what they cannot do without and nearly all will reply it's their collection of knives. Most chefs protect their knives and won't let anyone else in the kitchen go near

Q. What's your favorite knife?

Stephen Horn (owner, Maureen's on Longboat Key): My fish boning knife. I love to work with seafood.

Jeffrey Trefry (executive chef at Caf, L'Europe): It's a 50-year-old Dexter carbon steel 10-inch chef's knife given to me by an Italian friend many years ago. It is so precious, I keep it at home and use it for special occasions. Here at the Cafe, I can't do without my three-inch flexible paring knife by Henckel.

Giorgio Oldano (owner of Da Giorgio on Holmes Beach): I bought a Sabatier 10-inch chef's knife in Paris 35 years ago and still use it every day.

Jean Pierre Knaggs (owner of the Bijou Cafe): I have two. One is a 10-inch Henckel chef's knife, also called a French knife. And I'm also quite fond of my Japanese cleaver because it is so versatile. I use it as a knife and also as a spatula. I can chop and scoop. Very efficient.

Q. How often do you sharpen your knives and who dues it?

Horn: We have a service that comes in once a week to sharpen all our restaurant knives. The cost is about $10 for up to five blades. In between, I use diamond point steel to sharpen as needed.

Trefry: We use an Apex system here at the restaurant. About once a week I'll get out the stone, set the angle and sharpen my knives. In between, I hone my knives as needed. A chef can just tell by the feel when it's necessary. All the cooks do their own knife sharpening.

Oldano: During the season there are three cooks in my kitchen, including me. I sharpen all the knives. I do it once a week. Every other day, I hone my knives as I use them.

Knaggs: We all sharpen our own knives at the Bijou. I do mine every three or four days.

Q. What are some knives you recommend for the home cook?

Horn: Brands I trust include Henckels, Wusthof and Edgecraft. I favor a blend of carbon and stainless steel because they do not rust and have a lifetime warranty. I also like the Kyocera ceramic knives for detail design.

Trefry: Home cooks don't need to spend a fortune for the power brands. Buy a medium-priced stainless steel. You'll need a three-inch paring knife, an eight- or 10-inch chef's knife and a 10-inch knife with a serrated edge for slicing bread.

Oldano: Every cook can use a 10-inch chef's knife. I recommend stainless steel. My wife has one that she uses in our home kitchen and she says it does just about everything.

Knaggs: I think a four-inch paring knife is also essential. Avoid knives with wooden handles and shanks that don't go all the way through. Once they get wet, they loosen and will be no good.

Q. How often do you cut yourself?

Horn: I'm a 33-year veteran chef so I don't cut myself very often anymore--maybe once every two months or so. It's a young chef thing. Besides, my hands are so callused by now, I'm tough to cut.

Trefry: I haven't been to the hospital for stitches in six years. But I do cut myself about every month or so.

Oldano: I've never needed stitches, although every few years I do nick myself But don't ask me about burns. I haven't been so lucky in that department.

Knaggs: In 1980, in a kitchen in Monte Carlo, I chopped off the tip of my third finger, left hand. There was nothing to stitch; it just had to be cauterized. Talk about painful! I haven't done anything to equal that since, thank God. I've been cooking since 1972 and the more I do it, the more respect I have for knives. If I have one piece of advice to offer home cooks, it's this: Never, never try to catch a falling knife.