Help me design a knife for my Momma

Mark,

Just for my $.02 the most used kitchen knife just has to be the 6" utility knife. I know santokus are cool. I've built a couple, but they don't get grabbed that often.

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I've finished 3 of those utility blades. One in mircata and ATS34 and two in S30V and G10. I think I've going to dub the G10 version as the 'ultimate' kitchen blade. Practically indistructable, easy to grip when wet, kinda cool pattern.

It's not wood, does not look near as nice. And even tho I'm not tactical by any means, it think it makes a great kitchen blade.

Just an opinion, you know.

Steve
 
Hey, I think I gave you a piece of D2 when we got together this summer. For a using blade that the dishwasher won't hurt it's a great steel.
Hope your shoulder is in good shape....That's some hard stuff.

Larry
 
If we're talking about kitchen knives I'd be listening to Steve. :D The knife I use is like the one he posted, and I get all irritated when it's not where it's supposed to be - when I'm spreading peanut butter I want the right tools!

Don't remember who said it, but mosaic pins are great. They really dress up a knife if you're using Micarta or G10. And I'd recommend that over stabilized wood, just because stabilized wood does move and will absorb some moisture, I don't care what anyone says. This comes from direct experience. :) And yeah, I've used stabilized from several sources, so I think it's fair to say it's not as stable ( ;) ) as the synthetics. I doubt your Mom would care a lot; she's certainly more interested in its provenance than its prettiness. Consider whether she has a color theme too! :D

Be sure to share your result with us before you send it away! And if you think about it later, how about some actual use results? I'm always interested in hearing what people think after they've used a good knife for a while.

I almost forgot to mention this, and you're gonna make fun of me, but I made a kitchen knife out of O1 for a buddy's wife. Next time I saw it in their kitchen drawer it was rusty and unused. No hand washing in that household... :rolleyes: Yes, I did manage to hold my tongue.
 
Nowicki said:
Hey, I think I gave you a piece of D2 when we got together this summer. For a using blade that the dishwasher won't hurt it's a great steel.
Hope your shoulder is in good shape....That's some hard stuff.

Larry
Click to expand...

ahhhh D2 is not SS so it will need to be kept some what Maintained I'm not sure where you got that info from?..who's forging D2 :eek:
 
Larry,

Was the rod you gave me D2 or W2 ? I was thinking it was W2.

Anyway, Ive settled on handle material. I'm trying to get this piece. if it's already sold I'll try to find a similar piece.
 
Mark Williams said:
Larry,

Was the rod you gave me D2 or W2 ? I was thinking it was W2.

Anyway, Ive settled on handle material. I'm trying to get this piece. if it's already sold I'll try to find a similar piece.
Click to expand...


If its 3/4" and shiny it's D2. The W2 I have is 1/2" and not.
That knife I forged for our cutting contest this summer was from a piece of that stuff. The 2 in the middle. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=30758
I know it's not stainless but with 12% crome it is as close to it as you can get and still be in the high carbon range.....It will rust if you abuse it but with vary little maintainance it will hold up well. I forged several fillet knives from it and they work well, even around salt water. They are a little stiff but I like my fillet knives a bit stiff. Here is a larger one. http://www.nowickicustomknives.com./imagenes/available/10big.jpg It will hold an edge great if you do it right. The ones I forged for the kitchen are the ones I use the most. I did a few for some chefs and some butchers, they say they are their favorite knives.
They are a bitch to forge,(HARD). I cracked a lot of them in the heat treat until I figured it out. It is an air hardening steel but I edge quench it.
Hint, normalize and make sure you have an even heat before you quench it and draw it right away.
Mark, remember it is hard so I hope your sholder is up to it, and remember she will be pleased with it in the long run.

Larry
 
i would have to say as a chef the most used knives are the chefs knife and the paring knife. i find a smaller chefs knife is better for most operations, you can still use it for the big stuff, like bunches of battonet carrots ready to be cut into a small dice. instead of laying out a handful you need a half a handful so the blade cna cut across all of them evenly... but then the knife is also small enough to use for smaller operation, i've even been known to peel vegatbles when the paring knife is not around. i would say a 6" chefs knife is small enough but nig enough. not intimidating and very versatile. just my 2 cents. good luck.
 
Nowicki said:
Here is a little tutorial where I forged D2. The knife went to tracer-san.
http://www.nowickicustomknives.com./docs/makingaknife.htm
Click to expand...

cool thanks... you just don't see much of that around

I'm confused a little here D2 is 1.05 carbon
and so is 154CM and ATS34 so why not used one of them as they are considered SS

I see you're across the bay from V/beach
I spent 3 years in little creek on the amphib Base..73-76
I made my first saleable knives on board the USS Shakori 1974
looks like we stated messing with them about the same time. :)

how did you edge quench the D2 and not have the spine harden where it's air quench able steel?
 
I guess the spine does get hard but the edge gets harder. I usually draw it back a little longer. Haven't tested it for hardness but acording to the books it gets a RC somewhere between 62/63. Its the only steel I got a customer complaint for.
I made a hunter for a guy with the antler form a nice buck he harvested early in bow season. He used it the rest of that season and through the next, several deer. When cleaning his stuff to store for the next year he went to sharpen the knife, not that it needed it but because that is what he usually did. He used a small file on his other knives so....he put the knife in a vice and took a few swipes with the file. Took teeth off his file! Guess I did that one right.

Larry
 
Dan,

"I'm confused a little here D2 is 1.05 carbon
and so is 154CM and ATS34 so why not used one of them as they are considered SS "

I know you know, but just to clarify for folks, being classified as stainless is not based on carbon content - it is the chromium. Any steel over 13% chromium is considered stainless.

440C is up to 18%
154Cm is 14%,
D2 is 12%.
L6 is around 2%.
10xx ain't got no chromium.

In my book D2 is close enough to be considered stainless.

Steve
 
The original definition for stainless steel was 12% chrome .As far as knife steel D2 is sometimes called semi-stainless.Anyway it won't really rust and it makes a good blade. Dozier knows !
 
that's a yeahuper Steve

Larry said
I know it's not stainless but with 12% crome it is as close to it as you can get and still be in the high carbon range.....

the "as close to it as you can get and still be in the high carbon range"
befuddled me?
On my chart the carbon in D2 is the same as 154CM and ATS34 with higher chromium so I'm just wondering why he doesn't use one of them in the stead? :)

Mete
Bob uses a machine finish on most of his low end users so
if it came to a mirror finish I'm thinking he may want to use another steel.
D2 has it's ups and downs for sure.
I have a sword blade I ground with 6 Hollow grinds on it and the pattern the heat treat left on it is great I won't clean that up for the world :D
 
[QUOTE=
On my chart the carbon in D2 is the same as 154CM and ATS34 with higher chromium so I'm just wondering why he doesn't use one of them in the stead? :)

I'm not shure why but I think The chrome helps reduce friction durung a cut. The blades seem to glide through whatever they cut. Besides I still have 60 to 80 lbs of it left so I'll put it to good use.
 
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