I am looking at making a few fillet knives as Christmas gifts. These knives will see a lot of use from saltwater to fresh, small fish to large. Not looking to build a show piece, but a functional hard working fillet knife.
First I started researching steel. Well, looks as if there are 1,000 different opinions on what steel is best for a fillet knife and you guessed it...none of them are the same. I see quite a few people like carbon steel too. I see different opinions on thickness and stiffness as well. Below is a list of questions to help guide my research process. Any help would be greatly appreciated as there are not a ton of fillet knife topics in the archives here.
What my requirements are:
Thickness somewhere from 0.060" to 0.080" I am going to guess 0.075" would be about ideal.
Stainless is a must.
~8" cutting edge (But would like to make a couple 10" for the larger stripe & kings we catch)
Handle material: I like blasted canvas micarta, but have seen a lot of discussion about horse trailer mats as being very good and "grippy" on a fillet knife.
Questions:
Steel: Being very new to knife making I am completely lost on this, if it was a skinner/hunter I would know exactly what I wanted to do - but with it being a fillet....well...my ignorance on the topic is shinning bright
. I know the knives must be stainless to put up with the abuse they are going to receive. I have a Knives of Alaska "Steelheader" in 440C that is a good knife, but I would like a little more flex out of it (its ~0.085" thick). I have the common Walmart Rapala $8-$25 fillet knives of unknown steel that flex really well, but dull fast. So with that being said, I think I have talked myself into using 440C as a good mix of stainless and cost for my first fillet, but I am open to suggestions.
Steel hardness: Completely lost on this one too. Depending on the steel, (for talking purposes lets say 440C) what would be the best hardness? I have seen the numbers 58-59 spoken of in old post. What is a good mix of edge retention and flexy?
Steel source: Since I only am capable of building a knife via the stock removal method I am having a heck of a hard time trying to find surface ground steel in anything close to the thickness of what I need. Any suggestions for a source?
handle material: I think I really want to try the "horse trailer mats". We use them as target backers at our rifle range and I think they would be very "grippy" when wet on a fillet knife. My question is what is the best way to attach and shape it?
I would love to hear advice, tips, hints and anything else anyone would like to share with me.
Thank you in advance for your time!
First I started researching steel. Well, looks as if there are 1,000 different opinions on what steel is best for a fillet knife and you guessed it...none of them are the same. I see quite a few people like carbon steel too. I see different opinions on thickness and stiffness as well. Below is a list of questions to help guide my research process. Any help would be greatly appreciated as there are not a ton of fillet knife topics in the archives here.
What my requirements are:
Thickness somewhere from 0.060" to 0.080" I am going to guess 0.075" would be about ideal.
Stainless is a must.
~8" cutting edge (But would like to make a couple 10" for the larger stripe & kings we catch)
Handle material: I like blasted canvas micarta, but have seen a lot of discussion about horse trailer mats as being very good and "grippy" on a fillet knife.
Questions:
Steel: Being very new to knife making I am completely lost on this, if it was a skinner/hunter I would know exactly what I wanted to do - but with it being a fillet....well...my ignorance on the topic is shinning bright

Steel hardness: Completely lost on this one too. Depending on the steel, (for talking purposes lets say 440C) what would be the best hardness? I have seen the numbers 58-59 spoken of in old post. What is a good mix of edge retention and flexy?
Steel source: Since I only am capable of building a knife via the stock removal method I am having a heck of a hard time trying to find surface ground steel in anything close to the thickness of what I need. Any suggestions for a source?
handle material: I think I really want to try the "horse trailer mats". We use them as target backers at our rifle range and I think they would be very "grippy" when wet on a fillet knife. My question is what is the best way to attach and shape it?
I would love to hear advice, tips, hints and anything else anyone would like to share with me.
Thank you in advance for your time!
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