Recommendation? Kitchen knife ideas

J

Jkelley_Nomad

Joined
Jan 19, 2019
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13
Hi everyone, long time reader but first time poster.
I have just recently started to make some kitchen knives and after making several that I haven't been happy with I've finally gotten to a stage where I would love to hear some feedback from people far more experienced than myself.
I have just finished this 18cm santoku in 13c26 with dyed maple burl handle. I'm not sure if I have this photo thing worked out but here goes
08dHiDI
thanks for looking!
 
For some reason I can’t get your pic to post either... weird. Nice knife though!

I don’t like the color much, but I’m not a colorful knife kinda guy. My one criticism would be that you should “clock” your mosaic pins so that the points of the star line up the the spine, or the tip.
 
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The most important thing is how well does it slice or chop? Does it hold an edge?
How things look is purely a subjective thing.
If it were my blade, I'd probably make a bigger curve towards the tip, because to me, it looks like a cross between a santoku and a nakiri.
Keep up the good work.
 
Cutting wise it performs well, it's taken me several before that to figure out the right edge geometry, thickness behind the cutting edge etc as far as edge holding I'm not too sure yet as I haven't been able to use it extensively just yet, but I'm a chef by trade so I'll put it through its paces in the coming days. And thankyou I will try a little more curve in the next for a little more rocking ability. Thanks for the feedback
 
Overall, it looks good. The blade shape looks fine to me.

I take it to a near sharp edge in sanding, and then put a 10° to 15° per side edge on. That will slice and dice like crazy. If your use makes it seem a bit chippy, increase the secondary angle 5°.

Here are what I see that needs attention on the next ones:
The mosaic rivet isn't "clocked". This is esthetic, but the eye will spot it almost immediately. While attractive, it will always look "not right" to the brain. Nature had hard wired us to notice when something is "not right".

You would have done better with two or three mosaic rivets down the center than one in the front and two tiny ones right at the back edge. I wouldn't be surprised if the scales lift up on those back rivets or the wood splits there.

As a chef, you will have you knife wet, washed /rinsed constantly, and covered with food. A wooden handle ( especially with the rivets so far apart) will likely warp or crack, and will provide a harbor to bacteria. If you wash it regularly in hot soapy water, the handle won't last very long at all (which may allow you to re-do the handle). The health inspectors will likely not allow it in a commercial kitchen. For real use kitchen knives use solid and materials like linen Micarta, and G-10. They come in colorful varieties if you don't want black or brown.

I make all my professional knives with black linen micarta. I drill lots of holes through the tang to allow the resin to bond the scales through to each other and thus maintain the seal. I also use two or three Corby bolts, which are the strongest method ( and very simple to use) to bond a handle on. They also are less likely to squeeze out all the resin between the tang and handle, creating a glue starved joint.
When I want to use a mosaic rivet, I use two Corby bolts on the ends and a mosaic in the center. If you make the mosaic rivet a little larger, the effect is really nice.
 
No problems thanks for the feedback. I'll rethink the pin location, there are many holes drilled through the tang and just through the liner into the wood itself in the hope of a strong bond, but yes I see what your saying about the 2 smaller pins. The wood is stabilized would it still be as prone to warpage etc.?
 
Jkelley_Nomad said:
I will try a little more curve in the next for a little more rocking ability. Thanks for the feedback
Click to expand...

That's not what I was referring to. The edge looks good, especially towards the heel where some newbies have it flat. If you're a professional chef, you should know how much rocking you want. (I knew my description would be confusing)

Here's what I was referring to.

uNtYcqK.jpg


But again, this is purely a subjective thing.
 
Looks nice. How is knuckle clearance from the cutting board while using the knife with a hammer grip?
 
weo said:
That's not what I was referring to. The edge looks good, especially towards the heel where some newbies have it flat. If you're a professional chef, you should know how much rocking you want. (I knew my description would be confusing)

Here's what I was referring to.

uNtYcqK.jpg


But again, this is purely a subjective thing.
Click to expand...
Ah sorry yes I misunderstood. Thankyou
 
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