Chef knife design

Yeah, a lot thinner. If it was me, I'd bring up the point about 3/16" to 1/4" and put a little more "rock" in the blade. Looks a little long in the flat section. I have little to no experience in these. I have two big ones that I need to heat and that is the only two I've made.
 
Dont forget to take that plywood pattern you made and take it to a cutting board...go through the motions as if you were cutting different ingredients, you will be able to tweak it just right.
Agree with the others best bet is to use 3/32 steel.
 
My thoughts on chefs knives are thin and simple. Figure out how to make the classic French or German chefs, and make them work well. Then start experimenting. I used 1/8" stock when I started out. It worked well if you ground it thin enough, but I've since switched to 3/32 or 1/16 stock depending on the knife. They are definitely better thinner.
Two schools of thought on the grinds too. Either a paper thin flat grind, or flat grind it with a thick edge and convex. Now when I say a thick edge, I'm still only talking 20 thou or so. Convex that down to zero. Its a tradeoff between ease of cutting, and food sticking to the knife.
 
I am not a chef. So, what I did was talk to some chefs that I know regarding what they look for in a knife, and picked up a couple books on how to use a chefs knife too bet a better idea as to the different ways they are utilized. If the knives are to be used by pros, my thinking is that none of my new fangled ideas will mean a rats ass to an established chef.
 
I will totally agree with those that vote for thinner steel stock, I've made many with 1/8" stock, but I agree 3/32 or 1/16 is an even better starting stock. I like your wooden mock-up, but also as others stated handles without specific finger notches are more 'chef like' and I also agree with moving the point up a good bit.
Good going checking before you take it to steel!
 
Kitchen knives are not parallel spine to edge, they are somewhat triangular.

A chefs knife is a long, wide triangular blade that should balance just in front of the handle.

Hoss
 
Looks a little long in the flat section.

It's my understanding that in a chef's knife, there is no actual "flat" section. The radius should gradually increase as you approach the heel, there should be a definite "stop" on the cut, but if you look down the profile of the edge, you shouldn't see a completely flat section.
 
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