Filet knife advice

D

DHackney

Joined
Jul 12, 2004
Messages
178
Guess who? Newbie pest #1 :D

On my way out the door from work, yesterday, a cohort of mine asked me if I'd be interested in making him a small filet knife :confused: He wants it small as it's going to be for Colorado trout - 6" blade is what he's expecting.

I'm a bit tentative, to say the least, and would greatly appreciate some help on what steel to use, how thick, heat treating, tempering,....

I'm guessing no thicker than 1/8" and a differential tempering for the flexibilty required for a filet knife?

Also, if you think this project is too much for a newbie, please feel free to say so.

Finally, what should I charge if you all think it's a doable project?

Many thanks,
Dana Hackney
Monument, CO
 
Can't help you with any of this, but I will say that most of the time I've seen handmade fillet knives the makers tend to weld/solder metal bolsters, or a full guard, on then use scales behind them. This keeps the flex in the blade from getting under the scales and popping them off. I suppose you could try to get around this by using soome type of screws to keep the scales on, too. If you try that I'd use threaded inserts that the screws tighten down in, rather than trying to tap the metal of the tang itself.

I suspect this is a pretty advanced type of knife to make altogether, mainly because the heat treat has to be done very carefully. I would think 1/16" stock would be more appropriate, too, for most general fillet knives. Could be a definite learning project, though! Best of luck!
 
Fillet knives are a pain in the arse to make, and you don't get what they are worth to make, either. UNLESS they want to pay the going price for one of your regular priced knives. Few people want to pay the full price. Phil Willson is probably one of the best fillet knive makers around, and he used to use mostly CPM steel. His fillet knives are legendary. I use 440C. Some of my early fillet knives I made of L6, and they made good blades. I put a mirror polish on them to try to ward off some of the rust. There is a maker in Illinois that makes a fantastic fillet knife using a laminated steel, and his blades are really great. I don't know where he is buying his steel, but I would like to know.
 
I made one from 5160. I was not a good choice for a knife but it was one of my first projects. The handle was forged with the blade. No slabs or bolsters just a piece of steel. I love this method and particularly it is quite right for fillet thing...

One of my friends is using it for 4 months and no complaint...

Best wishes,
Emre KIPMEN..
 
Forget differential HT. Ask if he wants a stiff or flexible blade.My 6" Rapala is only 1/16" at the thickest part, a stiff one could be just a bit thicker. Stainless steel would be nice but you have to know how to HT it .Stabilized wood would be more practical too.
 
I wouldnt use 1/8" stock. Hell.....tell him to keep it dry and go with High carbon. Will rust if left unkept but you can HT that yourself.
get 3/32" 0-1 stock from McMaster Carr.
Differential HT - AND REdraw back the spine with a propane torch to make sure its flexable. 0-1 will air harden some. Keep the edge in water.
Hand sand finish.

If your scared of the scales popping loose use loveless bolts and acraglass (spelling) epoxy. Not going anywhere!
 
Dana,
I live in fish country and have made a few filets over the years.
I'm a forger so I don't know what this will be worth to you. Many of my friends who fish, tell me that being able to "feel" the tip is most important to them in a fish knife. They want even flexability throughout the length of the blade. A finely ground tip doing that distal taper thing back to the guard. You can use eighth inch stock on a 6 inch filet. Just start that taper asap. I aneal,
profile, cut the shoulders, just start the bevels and then heat treat while the
blade has most of it's thickness. Personally I like to clay harden the more delicate blades. It's a real trick to torch the spine of a knife that thin.
When you use clay the flexable spine is done when you quench. When using clay one thing that will improve the experence is to apply borax to the clay coated blade as you bring it up to temp. Just at dull red. EARLY ON. Cover both the exposed blade and the clay covered portion. This keeps the blade from decarbing and helps bind the clay to the metal. The clean up on the blade after the quench is small. When you start back on the grinder you'll be working with a blade that is straight, not burnt up and the heat treat is fina'
May be some small help in here. Fred :D :D
 
time for another WORD document :) . I do this a lot on this forum. I compile the list of all the replies and print myself a hardcopy so I can add it to my fast growing library of knife making topics. This way I have it on hand when I need to refer to it. I can't tell you how many of these printouts I've made since first visiting this fantastic resource but there are A LOT of them.

MANY thanks you all!

Dana
 
Grinding a fillet knife is a HUGE pia. First, if the blade is going to be flexible enough, if has to be thin. The blade needs to be supported so that it doesn't flex while grinding. I have used wood. 1/16 " steel thickness has worked for me. Profile, have it heat treated, then grind it slowly with bare hands. Be very, very careful not to over heat, especially watch the edge. I used ATS 34 heat treated by Paul Bos. Can withstand higher temperature without destroying the temper.
 
1/16" ATS-34.Shoot for a Rockwell of 58-60 for a trout knife.Use Corby rivets (three of them).Grind slow .Forget a mirror finish.
I'll be honest about my fillet knives....
I sell about 100 fillet knives a year.I grind the blades by hand on about 20 of them.I purchase the blades from TKS and other suppliers for the bulk.The handmade ones sell for $150-250,the factory blades with burl wood handles sell for $65-100.I can make ten from factory blades in the time I make one by hand(you do the math).The material and HT on the factory blades is excellent,especially the TKS blades with cryo.
 
I make mostly fillet knives for salmon,and all of my customers like my stiffer blades better than the 1/16 ones. I use 1/8 stock with a distal taper ground in starting from the ricasso useing a combination of hollow and flat grind .THey are a pain to make but worth the effort..
 
Allan, Stacy, Dan, Fred, Steve, Brian, and all, for the advice. I'll be experimenting with these ideas and let you know how it turns out.

Best regards,
Dana Hackney
Monument, CO
 
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