filet blade questions

T

Terry_Dodson

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Jul 10, 2002
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I tried the search, but it isnt working for me. I was wondering what is the best shape for a filet blade (should it be curved or straight, if curved which side (inside or outside of curve) should be sharpened), is it sharpened (beveled) on only one side or both, and should it be real flexy or just a little flexy?
 
Do you mean a fish filleting knife? I am a chef.

There are three types:

This pattern has a narrow rather stiffer blade as the narrowness of the blade compensates for loss of flexibilty. These are good for taking a fillet off a whole salmon as you insert the knife at the head end, cutting towards the mouth, turn the knife and run down the backbone to the tail.

http://www.nisbets.co.uk/products/p...&BrandGroupCode=&BrandGroupName=&ShopByBrand=

C277.jpg


This is the one I have which is wider, but much more flexible. It will easily deflect by 4" from tip to handle on an 11" blade. This one is good for filleting a salmon, but you can't do the twist with it, so you lose a bit of meat by the gills. You can also use it for removing fillets off a flat fish as the flex on the knife hugs the bones as you cut.

http://www.nisbets.co.uk/products/p...&BrandGroupCode=&BrandGroupName=&ShopByBrand=

C280.jpg


http://www.nisbets.co.uk/products/p...&BrandGroupCode=&BrandGroupName=&ShopByBrand=

This one is a cross between the two and also has a very flexible blade also giving 4" deflection, but on a 6" blade. I have one of these from college days made by Sabatier in the days when knives were carbon steel. It is hair shaving sharp. This is the best for flat fish filleting. The blade is thicker at the ricasso 25 thou and tapers to about 15 thou at the tip, so the flex is progressive.

C610.jpg


All the blade grinds are plain taper from spine to edge with a secondary grind at the cutting edge. They need to be very sharp and should only be used for cutting fish. Any other use and abuse would invalidate a warranty. One of my chefs dropped the middle knife onto a quarry tiled and snapped off an inch of blade, but Global knifes are very hard tempered. Nisbets replaced it.

Hope that helps and apologies if you didn't want a treatise on filleting fish :o
 
A filleting knife is only sharpened on one edge , the outside of the curve.It has a symetrical bevel [ both sides] .They come in various lengths to match the size of the fish. I prefer flexible and most are but some are stiff.
 
I sell about 10 flexible to every one stiff fillet knife.A blade length of around 7-9 inches is most popular (depends on what they fillet in your area).A slight upward curve at the tip area is good.Flat grind and bevel both sides,distal taper evenly to the tip.13 to 17 degree edges.The Japanese fillet knives are flat on one side and beveled on the other (usually referred to as sushi knives, but actually sashimi knives),and are stiff.Sharpness is everything to fish filleters.I use ATS-34 and cryo temper it for the ones I sell.For my own use I use 1095.It will rust if you allow it to,but nothing gets sharper.
 
Thanks guys, Yes it is for filletting fish. That is the kind of info i was looking for. Now i will have to find out what the guy is going to be filleting :D
 
Andrew Taylor said:
Do you mean a fish filleting knife? I am a chef.

There are three types:

This pattern has a narrow rather stiffer blade as the narrowness of the blade compensates for loss of flexibilty. These are good for taking a fillet off a whole salmon as you insert the knife at the head end, cutting towards the mouth, turn the knife and run down the backbone to the tail.

http://www.nisbets.co.uk/products/p...&BrandGroupCode=&BrandGroupName=&ShopByBrand=

fillet1.jpg


This is the one I have which is wider, but much more flexible. It will easily deflect by 4" from tip to handle on an 11" blade. This one is good for filleting a salmon, but you can't do the twist with it, so you lose a bit of meat by the gills. You can also use it for removing fillets off a flat fish as the flex on the knife hugs the bones as you cut.

http://www.nisbets.co.uk/products/p...&BrandGroupCode=&BrandGroupName=&ShopByBrand=

fillet2.jpg


http://www.nisbets.co.uk/products/p...&BrandGroupCode=&BrandGroupName=&ShopByBrand=

This one is a cross between the two and also has a very flexible blade also giving 4" deflection, but on a 6" blade. I have one of these from college days made by Sabatier in the days when knives were carbon steel. It is hair shaving sharp. This is the best for flat fish filleting. The blade is thicker at the ricasso 25 thou and tapers to about 15 thou at the tip, so the flex is progressive.

fillet3.jpg


All the blade grinds are plain taper from spine to edge with a secondary grind at the cutting edge. They need to be very sharp and should only be used for cutting fish. Any other use and abuse would invalidate a warranty. One of my chefs dropped the middle knife onto a quarry tiled and snapped off an inch of blade, but Global knifes are very hard tempered. Nisbets replaced it.

Hope that helps and apologies if you didn't want a treatise on filleting fish :o
Click to expand...

thanks for posting this Andrew

I'll post this link on the knife making site..
http://www.knivesby.com/knifemaking.html
I'll quote you here and host the pictures in the quote so they are not lost in case the owner of the URL's want to drop the links,,
because of using their band width,
I'm sure where it's a bit of advertisement for them they won't mind:)
 
Dan Gray said:
thanks for posting this Andrew

I'll post this link on the knife making site..
http://www.knivesby.com/knifemaking.html
I'll quote you here and host the pictures in the quote so they are not lost in case the owner of the URL's want to drop the links,,
because of using their band width,
I'm sure where it's a bit of advertisement for them they won't mind:)
Click to expand...

No problem Dan. It isn't often I can can talk about knives with some authority :) I just wish I had thought of 'distal taper', what a lovely phrase. I was very pleased last night when looking as Nisbets UK site that they now do export to anywhere in the world. This is a new thing for them, I was a good customer of theirs when I was in the UK and I could do with some items for our home kitchen over here, especially a Peugeot pepper mill which is the best available and doesn't wear out.
 
I have an old ontario, 1095 I think. Looks like a fillet but most likly an old butcher. I want to make it a fillet anyway. I have removed the old scales, and I have new scale material. I know nothing about shaping and sharpening this type blade. SOME INFO PLEASE.
 
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