Dishwasher safe?

Willie71

Willie71

Warren J. Krywko
Joined
Feb 23, 2013
Messages
12,214
Ok, I know no one thinks any knife should ever go in a dishwasher. I agree with that. But.... for three years my sister has been asking for a dishwasher safe knife.

So, if you were going to do it, how would you? Small compromises (hopefully not huge) would be acceptible.

I was thinking a nitrogen stainless with g-10 handle. What would you do?
 
I wouldn't be too worried about a stainless blade with a high tempering temp range, with G10 and a high temp adhesive with plenty a couple of good mechanical fasteners. Clearly millions of knives go through dishwashers every day, and don't disintegrate instantly. The biggest issue I've seen is handle material (even man-made) swelling and breaking free or cracking, no matter whether they have cutler's rivets or corbys or whatever the production kitchen knife companies use.

I've got a whustof beater that's never seen a dish washer, but just kicking around the kitchen and occasionally getting left in the sink, has had the black corian looking scales crack and swell, and parts break loose of the fasteners.

Definitely any type of 5 min epoxy is out of the question. Acraglas would probably be fine with a really stable handle material, but it doesn't flex that well. The only reference to G-Flex max temperature was 200 degrees F, I would think that's probably too low, and wouldn't be surprised for water temps to exceed that in some washers?

Loctite Speedbonder 324 has a 350 degree F limit, which I'd feel much more comfortable with. I can tell you that I've tried removing scales that were glued up using this or 326, by leaving them in boiling water for a long time, and I could never get them to release, had to get the handle material nearly scorched with a heat gun to remove, so I'd feel pretty confident about using it.

In fact, I've switched to these adhesives exclusively in the past couple of years, after witnessing their performance, and other advantageous characteristics, such as ease of clean-up.
 
With water and the grit from the dishes in it being abrasive, I was thinking 0.010" or 0.012", with 15dps.
 
A chef's knife I made a while back was (unknown to me) ran through a dishwasher for several years. It looks like crap, but it hasn't fallen apart yet. I used loctite ea120-hp epoxy (formerly hysol e120-hp)
The blade is aeb-L and held up just fine.
If I was to do one knowing it would go through the dishwasher I'd probably use the same epoxy, canvas micarta for the handle, and secure it with Loveless bolts.
 
I have some knives I made 7 or 8 years ago that have been through the dishwasher hundreds of times. I made them to test the durability of unstabilized hardwoods. None of them are anything to look at but they are ALL still functional. They were made with ATS-34, various hardwoods, Acraglass, & straight 1/8" SS pins.
If I wanted to make some knowing they would see regular trips through the dishwasher I would choose my favorite stainless steel, my favorite color of Micarta or G-10, Corby bolts, & Acraglass.
Just make the user aware that they will dull faster than hand washed knives. The chemical that etches the glasses to keep them from getting "frosted" will also etch the edge and dull them pretty quick.
 
I made three kitchen knives of different styles. They were done in ATS-34 and 440-C with linen Micarta handles with Corbys. I used an epoxy that I'm not even sure is still made. The company was called Industrial Formulaters. If they were used they went into the dish washer.The handles stood up so well there isn't a separation on any of them I believe that's because of the Micarta and the Corbys. this was about twenty years ago. The blades had been given a qualified heat treat - the same steels from the same heat treating company worked great for hunting - but it seems that the machines they have been through sure know how to destroy edge holding.
I've go a small piece of Elmax coming. I will make one more and hope it will work out a bit better.
Frank
 
I'm not worried about falling apart. I'm thinking compromises to minimize how often I have to sharpen the knife. I like the suggestions so far, and wonder if high temp silicon would work to glue the scales. Stainless corby bolts rather than pinning the scales.

?????????
 
Steel suggestions to minimize wear on the edge in the dishwasher?????
 
There is no way to minimize edge damage in a dishwasher, the salts added and the detergents attack the edge of any knife, any steel. G10 and Micarta are also bad choices. Best bet, buy professional food processing knives used by commercial butchers with injection moulded handles. These knives go in commercial dish washers all the time and get sharpened daily. They aren't designed to last forever either, but the grips will not be damaged at all in the dishwasher and the cutting edges will need touching up after just about every washing. That's the price you pay for using the dishwasher. Good makers of such knives are Friedrich Dick and Otter here in Germany but many others are also good. Try a local restaurant supplier and see what they have.
 
had an O1 blade bocote handle go into a commercial dish washer. what a mess but what shocked me most was that the 2 ton still held and the wood was darkend but in good shape (not warped or anything) had to side load the epoxy to pop the handles off adter driving the pins out. reground the blade and cleaned up the scales and reglued them back on with new pins. owner wass amazed how good it looked. need to add the owner was not the one that put it in the washer as he knows better he was at work and someone "barrowed" one of his knives
 
I would go with a one piece g10 hidden tang with a corby or two. I would want eliminate as many glue joints as possible , you would only have the area near the ferrule exposed. You wouldnt really need epoxy even just use some sort of sealant in that area.
 
Kevin Wilkins said:
There is no way to minimize edge damage in a dishwasher, the salts added and the detergents attack the edge of any knife, any steel. G10 and Micarta are also bad choices. Best bet, buy professional food processing knives used by commercial butchers with injection moulded handles. These knives go in commercial dish washers all the time and get sharpened daily. They aren't designed to last forever either, but the grips will not be damaged at all in the dishwasher and the cutting edges will need touching up after just about every washing. That's the price you pay for using the dishwasher. Good makers of such knives are Friedrich Dick and Otter here in Germany but many others are also good. Try a local restaurant supplier and see what they have.
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I'm curious why you would be concerned about micarta or G-10 in the dishwasher. I would think they would hold up fine. Now the attachment method is key, but I don't see how those materials would be effected at all by going through the dishwasher.
 
the concern would be the blade being bathed in hot abrasive alkali solution. dissolve some automatic dish washing soap and see the amount of grit there is, grit that is sprayed at decent pressure throughout the washing cycle. that is why the makers of fine china, crystal, and good tableware all say NO DISHWASHER.
 
scott.livesey said:
the concern would be the blade being bathed in hot abrasive alkali solution. dissolve some automatic dish washing soap and see the amount of grit there is, grit that is sprayed at decent pressure throughout the washing cycle. that is why the makers of fine china, crystal, and good tableware all say NO DISHWASHER.
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I got that, and i recommend NO dishwasher for my kitchen knives. However I wasn't asking about blades, he mentioned G-10 and Micarta. I'm not sure what ill effect the dishwasher would have on these materials. I could see the grit abrading a highly polished G-10 or micarta, but I'm wondering if he meant that the dishwasher would actually damage these materials structurally.
 
As I said previously they don't stay sharp long in the dish washer but the effect on cloth micarta isn't a concern and if you use corbys or the like with a good fit, you shouldn't see any separation. There is a slow scuffing produced on the handles as time goes by.
Frank
 
G10 would probably be better, I had a micarta sanding stick that deformed pretty good.
 
Why not use removable handle scales? Throw in an extra pair and boom she will be set for a while. If they get destroyed then she had an extra pair of scales.
Maybe try 3v for steel with some sort of finnish? It would be pretty close to bomb proof then.
Of course I'm extremely new and I could have just made a huge ass out if myself lol
 
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