Flexible Filet Knife

B

Black Dog

Joined
Sep 10, 2006
Messages
31
I am still a stock removal guy and have had great results working with 154CM. A friend requested that I make a fillet knife for him. He is a guide in Alaska and wanted something to filet salmon. The Kings that they get can be up to 12-13 inches across. The blade would be about 13 inches long and about an inch wide. I would appreciate any input on making a flexible blade. How thin can I go before it would be too difficult to heat treat? Is it better to heat treat and then reduce to the final the thickness on the grinder (much harder work)? I am planning on sending it to Paul Bos for heat treating.
Any advice would be appreciated.
 
On very thin blades there are two choices.
A) Profile the thin stock and do the HT. Then grind in the bevels after HT. This is probably the most common method for real thin and flexible blades, like a salmon fillet.
B) Grind the bevels in about half way and do the HT. This has more warp risk and really saves little effort, since you still have to finish the bevels after HT.

I would suggest "A".
Tell Paul Bos what you want the knife to do, and he will do the HT the way you want. He is superb, and warping never seems to be a problem.
Stacy
 
Profile, drill, scribe center line, heat treat, grind. 154 grinds pretty easy when it's hard. Much less risk of warping that way. You do have to be real carefull with a thin blade to keep it from overheating. Dunk it often and don't use worn out belts and you should be fine.

I grind all of my stainless blades after hardening. If you use the right belts you won't notice much difference between hard and soft steel. I use 3m 967 36 grit belts for rough grinding but I'm going to try the norton blaze belts because I've heard they are even better.
 
I sent an e-mail to Paul Bos, who suggested that all grinding be done after the heat treat due to the length of the blade. This is in line with Jason's advice and Stacy's "A" suggestion. It appears that there is a consensus. Thanks.
 
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