First knife design help, chef knife

[WC53]

Well I bough some steel a while back to start a new hobby and make a butcher knife. A bit of time and mother nature intervened and my lovely wife bought me a kanehide which I have been using. I have some 2” s35vn and aebl

I recently started a project of a 10” chef’s knife with my nephew (fif junky) who just graduated from college. He worked his way through school doing food prep at a chineese restaurant. He prefers a 10” knife and he is a meticulous slicer/chopper rather than a rocker. He is also a big fellow, 6-4/5, just for a little background.

We started looking at handle shapes for his big mits and put some clay on a much too small handle and worked it up to where he liked it. Took some measurements of that and then added tape to the handle so that he could use it and fine tune the shape. I think it is looking more like a dexter as time goes on... lol. I have a bunch of white oak that I will then make some test handles out of once he is happy.

My blade shapes seem to alternate between a roman sword and a seax.....;(. I tend to very much be a straight line fab guy. Probably why I made mission and shaker furniture. Attached is the shape I like the best (so far) along with the dotted line of where I think it needs to go towards. I know it is not right, and would appreciate any input. I left the cutting edge mostly straight due to his cutting style and I used a batton to add a shallow arc to the top of the knife to escape my straight line tendanices.

Thanks in advance

Tim

 

[Destructabot]

Sounds like a great project to do with your nephew! While the handle doesn't look too comfortable to me, if it works for him, run with it. As for the shape of the blade, I'd consider dropping the tip down more and having a smoother transition in the curvature of the blade. On your design right now, there's a pretty stark jump from flat to curve. Even for a slicing cut, I wouldn't recommend it to have that much flat to the edge.

 

[scott.livesey]

looks like a good start. some ideas from a maker with big hands. make the handle straight on bottom, don't force me to put my fingers where you want them. make sure when i grip the handle with blade on cutting board, my knuckles won't touch the board.

 

[Destructabot]

for reference:

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I'm not sure I like the top of the handle. It isn't terrible, and if you like it ignore my comments on it, but it looks uncomfortably to use. I might suggest trying a tiny change to it by drawing it so the spine just rises to the handle lift as a gentle curve. You could start that rise about an inch in front of the handle. *
The handle bottom should curve up as you started, but just fair into a very slight palm swell ( or straight back) ... no finger groove with a point.
I would round off the scales where they form that sharp point on the handle at the heel, as the thin wood will snap off in use.

I would make the spine a more even curve in the drop toward the tip. I would start the drop at the 4" point. *

Same for the blade edge at the tip ... it should be a smoother curve up to the tip from the 3" point and not so sudden of an angle change.*

You will be very happy with that blade in S35VN. Make it a FFG to the edge with the edge about .020" before HT. After HT, convex the last 1/2" to the edge to a zero edge making a seemingly thin edge. It will be tough and cut/slice wonderfully.

***TIP:
One good way to get smooth curves is to use an adjustable curve rule called an Acu-Arc. They cost about $20, and are worth $100 in time saved getting the curves smooth and continuous. It makes trying different curves out to see how they look fast and easy.

 

[WC53]

Thank you to everyone as all your comments help! Stacey I was looking for my french curve but could not find it. I will pickup an acu arc. I have to go pickup my newest progressives tomorrow so maybe all will be clearer I tried the free drawing program on my handme down computer but the free version won’t draw arcs

 

[Rhinoknives1]

Im the same siz as the young man you are making this for.——-//———————-I would lower the whole front of the cutting edge, while leaving all of the height in the heel of the blade to point the handle a little higher so it will still keep his knuckles off the board after many sharpening’s.....Also I live in the State of California and they don’t like wood handles in commercial kitchens .. Ask him, You May want to go with Kirinite or Other NSF rated handle materials because that sillyness will only get worse as time rolls by.. Also I would etch his name on the blade because knives have a strange habit of growing feet and disappearing in Restaurant kitchens..

 

[HSC ///]

Tim I don't know how many knives you have made or what your skill level is...but that length knife starting off is not that easy.
Not trying to discourage you (too much) but you may want to consider something smaller (if you are just starting out)

regards

 

[WC53]

So lower-edge as like my dotted line reference so tip down handle up? And he is done with restaurant work now, business degree and got a job working logistics for a trucking company. He cooks for all the big extended family in Ga.

 

[scott.livesey]

i made a similar blade from 1/16" O1 with a walnut handle and got final weight of 3 oz. good luck

 

[WC53]

Thank you. My steel is .100 which I used to think was thin. I think I can fly cut it a bit.

 

[Rhinoknives1]

So lower-edge as like my dotted line reference so tip down handle up? And he is done with restaurant work now, business degree and got a job working logistics for a trucking company. He cooks for all the big extended family in Ga.

I’m not seeing a pic with a dotted line? I would start at the heel of the blade and end up at the toe removing say 1/4” or so to raise the rear end of that handle up say 1/2” or so ..If he’s done with restaurant work, go with the white Oak that he likes.

 

[weo]

The only comment I can add is that I was taught that there shouldn't be any flat parts of the blade edge towards the heel. It should be a shallow enough curve that you feel a "stop" when doing a push cut of the heel to the cutting board, but looking down the edge from heel to tip, you should see an ever so slight curve that gets progressively steeper as you move through the front 1/2-1/3 of the blade.

That may be what you had drawn, just hard to see.

 

[skillgannon]

For a poor man's French curve you can use some knives that you have in your house. I sometimes do that even though I have a set of French curves.

 

[WC53]

Skillgannon, its all fun and games till you cut the tip off your sharpie... I guess I should not play with sharp things.

Weo, there is a very slight curve in there but maybe it is too flat.

Here is where I am at now

The blade is looking much better now. I will have to wait for Sunday when I see the youngster to play with the handle some more.

Thanks to everyone for helping me start this journey

T

 

[weo]

Weo, there is a very slight curve in there but maybe it is too flat.

I wouldn't worry about it too much in the drawing, just when you are grinding it down.

 

[tim37a]

I would make the blade taller from top to bottom just at the front of the handle and/or tip the handle up slightly at the back end. For me, at least, I want 1 3/4" from the bottom of the handle to the cutting board. This gives enough knuckle clearance so you won't bang them when you are rock cutting. I would make a cutout of the knife in 1/4" plywood and sand and shape it to get the final shape.

 

[WC53]

I would make the blade taller from top to bottom just at the front of the handle and/or tip the handle up slightly at the back end. For me, at least, I want 1 3/4" from the bottom of the handle to the cutting board. This gives enough knuckle clearance so you won't bang them when you are rock cutting. I would make a cutout of the knife in 1/4" plywood and sand and shape it to get the final shape.

I have been looking at just this. I have 2” stock, but I think I might need some wider. I will definitely cut it out in ply first as the shape gets more refined

 

[milkbaby]

You don't necessarily need wider stock to have the handle away from the cutting board. The difference in the angle of the handle to the angle of the blade edge at the heel can give you the knuckle clearance you need. Beware, if you angle the handle too much, it may feel awkward in use.

I always make a mock up/template out of balsa wood (you can use plexiglass, cardboard, mild steel, whatever is easy to cut in the shape of your design drawing) to test how the knife will feel in hand as well as interact with the cutting board. This will give you real life data about knuckle clearance. You can use clay or play-doh on the template handle to model the handle shape in 3D as well.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I think your latest sketch is pretty good. It is very close to a large chef I make. Handle looks a tad narrow, but not too much so.