Recommendation? Critique my Gyuto Design

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CoryS

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Apr 23, 2020
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Hey guys preparing to make a Gyuto knife out of Nitro-V 3/32nd bar stock for my parents. What do you think of the following mock up?

1u8CBZj.png


The blade is 8" long by 2" high with the tang taking up the rest of a 12" bar stock, making it about 3.5" in a 5" handle. I have the tang taped .5 degrees towards the end.

I haven't figured out how to draw bevels in Fusion yet, but I want it to go up to about the handle to give me an area to to some needle scaler marks at the top.
 
I’d tilt that tang the opposite of how it’s tilted now. Keep it in line with the spine or even elevated for knuckle clearance.
 
CoryS said:
Wouldn't that make fitting the guard difficult?
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Not necessarily, the angle the tang and guard junction make is still 90 degrees. However the tang isn't parallel to the spine, thus the guard face will tilt forward some. It's just personal opinion, I like the look and feel of the blade with the tang pointed up. It provides better knuckle clearance and feels better to me.

Edit: the tang and spine are parallel in this instance.
 
You mean bolster? It would make it easier if nothing else, since you would have 90 degrees angle between tang and spine. If you look better at Japanese designs you will see that most gyutos have the handle in line with the spine.
 
Skiller1nc said:
I agree with josh, tilt tang up not down. And i think you need more taper from the back to the start of the k-tip. Ive used this design alot and really like how if performs.

uTZrMmt.png
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Thank you! Would you mind sharing that file with me?
 
The spine should be parallel with the tang ... no tilt either way.

I would make that angle from the spine to the tip a smooth curve (see my image). If you really want the angled tip, Skiller's sketch is good if the tang was straight.

I'm not sure what those tiny holes are, but if they are for pins they are in the wrong place. Put the first pin 1" back from the guard (not the shoulders, but the back of the guard), and get rid of the back pin.

Also, the curvature of the edge from the straighter rear portion toward the tip should be gradual, not sudden. It should also rise a bit more. The spine is straight until it drops a bit at the tip in a gyuto, and the edge is angled upward from heel t tip. Again, look at the image for guidance.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
The spine should be parallel with the tang ... no tilt either way.

I would make that angle from the spine to the tip a smooth curve (see my image). If you really want the angled tip, Skiller's sketch is good if the tang was straight.

I'm not sure what those tiny holes are, but if they are for pins they are in the wrong place. Put the first pin 1" back from the guard (not the shoulders, but the back of the guard), and get rid of the back pin.

Also, the curvature of the edge from the straighter rear portion toward the tip should be gradual, not sudden. It should also rise a bit more. The spine is straight until it drops a bit at the tip in a gyuto, and the edge is angled upward from heel t tip. Again, look at the image for guidance.
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That you for all the advice! The tang is at 0 degrees in the drawings, but each side is tapered toward each other to the tip at .5 degrees.

I am doing my best to go off the image you shared, the angle is just a bit harsh. I do want to keep the K-Tip, and am shooting for a peak blade height of about 2", s some slop in the spine is probably needed. Does this look any better?

yB2sCix.png
 
CoryS said:
Wouldn't that make fitting the guard difficult?
Click to expand...
No, the nice thing about a hidden tang on a kitchen knife is you can raise it without effecting the flow of the knife. With a full tang it would look out of place, but with a wa handle they’re usually tapered towards the blade anyway. I usually slightly elevate it to help with knuckle clearance, but you don’t have to. The flow on a hunting knife is different than a kitchen knife.
Most of the time anyway.
A good guy to ask would be Harbeer
( H HSC /// on here). His knives have great flow and look very sleek.
 
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thanks Josh Rider Josh Rider , it only took me A year and a half of full time knife making kitchen knives to figure it out

I think I’d like to see a sketch without the tang and with your handle design, hide the tang and let’s see the handle

I also think you should play around with the corner of your k-tip, i’m not in love with the angle you chose and I don’t think it looks good imo.

As far as the edge profile.... Some people like a flat area with a hard stop and others like a large sweeping curve.

I would play around with cutting out the profile on cardboard and seeing how it rolls along a flat surface like a cutting board

I think the problem I have is that with a tall heel like that and somewhat short length of 8 inches, I don’t think the k-tip works well.

I think the K-tip works well for a longer slimmer blade... or you need to play around with the angle so it looks a little sleeker

You could make a tall wabacho style with a flatter edge profile, but then I would lose the k tip... https://www.instagram.com/p/B5dDSORn3Sg/?igshid=1uskhnx4tx373
 
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Skiller1nc said:
I agree with josh, tilt tang up not down. And i think you need more taper from the back to the start of the k-tip. Ive used this design alot and really like how if performs.

uTZrMmt.png
Click to expand...

THIS. Don't make the tang/handle parallel to the flat spot of the cutting edge. It seems like you're only doing that because you're drawing this on the computer. Draw it out by hand on cardboard or balsa wood, cut the outline out and test the interaction of the knife profile on a cutting board.

The handle should be in line with the spine. The angle of the cutting edge to the spine produces finger clearance from the cutting board. There are many Japanese chefs' knives/gyuto with a heel height of only 42 mm to 46 mm or 1 2/3" to 1 4/5".

Like Stacy alludes to, check out real examples of these knives to understand their design. Don't reinvent the wheel especially because that design won't roll very well.
 
Yes, the tang needs to parallel with the spine. This will make the handle an extension of the spine. Any different and the knife will look and handle oddly.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
tang needs to parallel with the spine.
Click to expand...
Stacy, do you see this as a hard rule or not?
On kitchen knives with a shorter heel height, I will often make the center line of the tang (and handle) follow a line to the point of the blade, which often raises the angle of the tang/handle up slightly, allowing for a little more knuckle clearance.
 
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weo said:
Stacy, do you see this as a hard rule or not?
On kitchen knives with a shorter heel height, I will often make the center line of the tang follow a line to the point of the blade, which often raises the angle of the tang up slightly, allowing for a little more knuckle clearance.
Click to expand...
That's one reason for the humpback/sweeping shape of some Japanese gyuto spines - the handle and spine are parallel/tangent at their juncture, but the handle still points generally toward the tip.
Of course cutting board height & anatomy of the user matter in this, too.
 
id honestly beef up the hidden tang too, you can have a failure at those sharp corners much easier than you think with a fully hardened mono steel blade. Add width, use radius not sharp corners, or cut them in after heat treat.
 
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