Fillet Knife

[Sean O'Hare]

Okay here is a fillet knife I just finished up for someone.

Specs are:

Steel: ATS-34 mirror polished
Blade Length: 7.5"
OAL: 12"
Bolsters: 416SS mirror polished
Handle: Black Linen Micarta
Pins: Mosaic & 416SS

The blade is a trailing point which I feel works great for filleting da fish and is very flexible.

Thanks for looking,
Sean

 

[clint c]

Nice job, and it does look mighty usable. Personally, I hate grinding fillet blades as they seem hard to control just by their thin flexible nature, but you sure seem to have it down!

Clint Chisan

www.chisanknives.com

 

[DaQo'tah Forge]

okay,,,,I have been looking for someone to question about this type of blade...

My name is DaQo'tah, and Im just learning to make knives for myself and a few friends.


My brother keeps asking me when Im going to try to make a fillet knife?

I have never seen how guys can grind such a thing, so I have no idea how hard they are to make.

What i wish to make for my brother is a knife with a blade about 7 inches long, must have some type of safe guard design, and have a handle of Micarta.

where do I go to see how to do it?

 

[Sean O'Hare]

Thanks for the comments guys. Ya fillet knives can be a pain.

I don't have any pics of making a fillet knife, I really should start taking pics of the construction phase of a knife.

The only major difference in making a fillet knife over any other knife is the thickness of the stock that you start with. For my fillet knives I use 1/16" stock - choice of steel is up to you. Although for obvious reasons a stainless is nice, but it is definitely up to you. When marking my blade I still mark two lines to grind to but they are closer together than other blades. Also because we aren't talking about alot of material to grind off be very aware of how much material is left! :footinmou It is very easy to over grind a fillet knife. Also I had to modify my tool rest to avoid the blade getting sucked down between the belt and tool rest (trust me this takes off way more material than you want!!!).

The only other thing is to take enough material off of the spine of the blade without taking too much so that the blade will flex with a little pressure. This is really a trial and error thing as it is a fine line between just enough and too much. One thing I do is test the tip by putting pressure on my thumb nail, if the tip bends with the blade it's good, if the tip wants to fold over onto itself you've gone too far and you've got another gift for a friend!

All other construction is exactly the same as any other knife. As for blade design I like a slight trailing point like what you see in this knife but many other people like a straight spined blade. Design is totally up to you.

Hope this helps.

Sean