The paring knife is used for peeling, coring and slicing small objects. The serrated bread knife not only slices bread but can double as a meat or large vegetable slicer. The chef's knives are probably the most often used tools in the kitchen. Some have narrow profiles which are handy for separating melon slices from the rind and similar tasks. Other knives in this length involve the boning knives designed for cutting meat from bones.
Butcher knives are heavy duty slicers good for meat cutting.
Some slicers have serrated edges which are excellent for bread knives or granton edges which are excellent for raw meat and fish slicing. Cleavers are used to separate bone joints and to deal with other heavy duty meat cutting and chopping applications. We'd suggest starting out with the basic three or buying one of the ready made block sets. You can then add other models as you go along. Please visit the pages for each of the knife brands we sell for more detailed features and benefits.