Kitchen knife designs?

coop7

coop7

Joined
Apr 9, 2012
Messages
318
I'm gearing up to start making knives again and saving up for a decent grinder. My wife suggested I make some kitchen knives, but I know nothing about kitchen knife design, I've done some searching on the forums and found some helpful tips, but are there any you shall/you shall not rules when it comes to kitchen knives? I'm wanting to make a 4" paring, 6" utility, and a 8" chefs to start with. Appreciate any help. Here's on of my paring design as of yet.
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Hey Cooper. Your blade looks interesting but looks drop-point-ish. Serious study of handle geometry for kitchen knives is the key for me. They aren't like hunters.
Knife control and elevating your fingers from the cutting board are two key items of note, but not so much for paring. At least not on the clearance.
Tried and true designs are as they are for good reasons.
Find some designs out there you like and give them your own personal spin.

I'm still learning so take this for what it's worth. Good luck!
 
Devin Thomas just made a post about chef knife designs. Larger than yours, but still has elements you should poke at.

The one thing I would change for sure is to have an open heel instead of closed (meaning, the plunge clears the heel of the knife and you can sharpen freely).
 
There have been a LOT of good threads on kitchen knives in the last few months. Just search for that on Bladeforums, and you'll be able to read up on a great deal of discussion.
 
Want the quick and dirty version? Find a production kitchen knife shape that appeals to you and work your mad tracing skills.:D Don't try to reinvent the wheel just yet. There are a number of very talented makers of other types of knives out there who have made some pretty mediocre kitchen knives their first time out. Some continue to do so. The snobs will tell you that kitchen knives are very unique and hard to make so you will likely not get it right ever. Well, they got the first part right. but the second part not so much if you do a bit of research.
 
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