Fillet Knife Questions

[Michael J. Spangler]

so what do you guys think about using thin stock for a fillet knife and just sharpening an edge on it after HT. no bevels to be ground just profiling. is 1/16" thin enough???? ahhh back to the boss thing. he wnats a load of fillet knives and i'm wondering how i can make them relatively inexpensive, so he can afford them, so i'm pricing everything up today, just need to know if the thin stock will work. thanks

Mike

 

[galadduin]

Fillet knife has to be flexible i guess, thus if you start with a thick stock you will be grinding much (as I can remember you stock remove). So beginning with a thin stock would be wiser. If you forge to shape, it wont matter if it is thick or thin...

 

[peter nap]

1/16 is about right Mike. I use band saw blades. Remember when you profile it you need to control the flex by adjusting the width. You will need to back the blade to grind it. I just use a strip of hardwood.

 

[fitzo]

Michael, 1/16" stock, profile, HT, slack belt grind makes a pretty good filet knife. Up at about a 10" length I used to switch to 1/8" stock and hollow or flatgrind for a stronger spine so the blade didn't wander during the filet cut.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

ATS-34 in .06,.08,.10,and .12 works great (440 or whatever you prefer would ,too),depending on the length and desired stiffness.I have Admiral laser cut them in batches for me,but for a fillet knife you can grind them to profile fast at those thicknesses.Slab handles with two Corby rivets make for a quick and reasonable cost knife.The HT with cryo can be the biggest expense sometimes.Make them in batches of ten ,or so ,for cost and time effectiveness. Carbon steel in the spring steel class (10XX and 51XX) would be even cheaper.,but you do have to deal with rusting.HT is a bit trickier with thin and long HC steel.