Chicken "splitting" knife?

HomeBru

HomeBru

Joined
Nov 9, 2006
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My family and I raise range-fed broilers (small scale) and do the processing ourselves. We love them roasted whole but the few times I feel the need to cut them up, I've found all of my knives just a bit wanting when it comes to splitting the keelbone and backbone.

Boning knives are not tall enough to get good leverage or control, the big chef's knives are too tall and have too much curve to do well so I'm considering something in-between. Maybe 1"-1 1/4" tall at the tallest point, relatively triangular in shape with just a little curve in the blade. Probably flat ground with the grind going only maybe 1/2 way up the blade for strength and the handle parallel to the mean of the cutting edge? I'm thinking 8" blade length with a pretty substantial handle for control... Would 3/36 be too thick?

Here's a VERY rough digital sketch...

knife.jpg


Has anyone seen or made anything like this? This will be my second knife project so any and all ideas are welcome!!!

Thanks,

J-
 
i think you might find that popping joints and what not might call for little less pointy of a tip

you can most likely go with 1/8 or even 3/32 the bevels on the one i just did not long ago were maybe 5/8 tall on 3/32 stock ant to keep the strength in the tip i clipped it like a wharnclif blade
 
butcher_block said:
i think you might find that popping joints and what not might call for little less pointy of a tip

you can most likely go with 1/8 or even 3/32 the bevels on the one i just did not long ago were maybe 5/8 tall on 3/32 stock ant to keep the strength in the tip i clipped it like a wharnclif blade
Click to expand...

Thanks, Butch, I was hoping you'd chime in! I liked the look of your boning knife and I'm thinking similarly. The jointing I usually do with the belly of the blade, so the pointy tip isn't an issue there. I was thinking pointy so it could reach through the body cavity along the neck to split the spine.

J-
 
I have a friend that raised chickens a couple years ago, so I made him a chicken de-heading knife. It was basically a cleaver, but on it I etched the words "The cluck stops here" I thought that was funny.
 
HomeBru said:
Thanks, Butch, I was hoping you'd chime in! I liked the look of your boning knife and I'm thinking similarly. The jointing I usually do with the belly of the blade, so the pointy tip isn't an issue there. I was thinking pointy so it could reach through the body cavity along the neck to split the spine.

J-
Click to expand...

if you have a style of work then by all means make the knife that fits the style thats all i am working on when i ask a chef what he will be doing with the custom knife he/she is ordering

cant wait to see what you come up with
butch
 
Perhaps you would want the point the be as high as the middle-line of the handle
 
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