Making Chicken Salad with Phil Wilson Fillet knife

I was fortunate enough to get a 4.5 inch bow river trailing point in bohler k294 @64 HRC form phil. The edge retention is beyond my expectation and I doubt I will see any other knife exceed it for a while.

Ankerson, Is that fillet knife in cpm 154? and if so at what hardness. Where would this fit in your category of testing?
 
The Mastiff said:
Too much onions Jim. :)

Man, what a beautiful cutting machine.

Wow!

Joe
Click to expand...

Thanks Joe. :)

Aotea said:
It is a beautiful knife Ankerson.
Try it on some fish. The distal flex should work fillets wonderfully.
Click to expand...

Can't wait until spring, hopefully I can get out and do a lot of fishing this year. :)

gine said:
I was fortunate enough to get a 4.5 inch bow river trailing point in bohler k294 @64 HRC form phil. The edge retention is beyond my expectation and I doubt I will see any other knife exceed it for a while.

Ankerson, Is that fillet knife in cpm 154? and if so at what hardness. Where would this fit in your category of testing?
Click to expand...


Yes, it's CPM 154 @ 60 HRC, I don't run Phil's knives for that thread as they are all off the sheet.

Congrats on the K294 Bow River, I know I love mine. :)
 
Very nice! Looks like a great knife to have around. Phil's knives are amazing.
 
Ankerson said:
Thanks Joe. :)



Can't wait until spring, hopefully I can get out and do a lot of fishing this year. :)




Yes, it's CPM 154 @ 60 HRC, I don't run Phil's knives for that thread as they are all off the sheet.

Congrats on the K294 Bow River, I know I love mine. :)
Click to expand...

Cpm 154 @60 HRC and off the sheet, that's pretty amazing and it says allot about phil's edge geometry and heat treat.
Phil is among the best when you want a functional slicing machine. Great fillet knife you got there!
 
gine said:
Cpm 154 @60 HRC and off the sheet, that's pretty amazing and it says allot about phil's edge geometry and heat treat.
Phil is among the best when you want a functional slicing machine. Great fillet knife you got there!
Click to expand...

He said he ran it at 60 so it would still be flexible, it's a medium flex. :)

He runs the hunters in the 62-63 range..

It's really thin.... And I mean REALLY THIN....

Blade thickness is only .011" towards the tip.... :eek:

Behind the edge ranges from .010" down to .005"..

Being 7 3/4" gives a lot of belly for slicing too. :D
 
I just received my Shelter Cove' 7in. fillet knife from Phil last week. You're right.....outstanding knives and workmanship.

I sent along some 'presentation grade' Desert Ironwood and he used N690 for the blade (@ 60 RC). Thin......yep and I love a flat grind, as well.

Phil's kydex sheaths are also worth noting as their F&F is much like his knives......outstanding.

Well worth the investment. On top of that, Phil is very much a gentleman, besides being a very skilled knife/sheath maker.
 
Damn you mad me hungry Jim and great pics too! I simply adore just about every Phil Wilson knife I've ever seen. I can just imagine what lasers they are.
 
Ankerson said:
I bet there was a big difference between those two knives. :D
Click to expand...
Uh, yeah... :D The Spyderco is no slouch, better than most of my production knives, but the grind on the custom is great. It comes in at 0.012 at the shoulder, my Krein's still have it beat at 0.005 - 0.008. But now we are truly splitting hairs. This is the level that steel selection and hardness (especially) are vital. Anything under 60HRC, I seriously doubt the steel will be strong enough that edge won't hold up. 63 - 64 (and higher) is where this geometry really shines, IMO.
 
Last edited:
Pictures of Ken's Phil Wilson Custom Shelter Cove in N690 and Desert Iron Wood. :)

Kens_Fillet_Knife.jpg


Kens_fillet_knife_1.jpg
 
sodak said:
Uh, yeah... :D The Spyderco is no slouch, better than most of my production knives, but the grind on the custom is great. It comes in at 0.012 at the shoulder, my Krein's still have it beat at 0.005 - 0.008. But now we are truly splitting hairs. This is the level that steel selection and hardness (especially) are vital. Anything under 60HRC, I seriously doubt the steel will be strong enough that edge won't hold up. 63 - 64 (and higher) is where this geometry really shines, IMO.
Click to expand...

Yes, hardness has a lot to do with compression strength so the general rule is the thinner the blade is behind the edge the higher the HRC hardness really need to be. :)
 
Jim,

Thank you once again for posting these pics for me. It was a very nice of you to help me out in that regard. It's fun to look at one of your own knives here on BF......especially one as special as this knife is to me. I saved up for this one.

Thanks again Jim and hope others can now enjoy more of Phil's work.
 
^^^^That is one nice fillet knife. I like the sweeping curves and that iron wood is unreal. Well worth saving up for, you will enjoy that for many years.
 
Thanks gine!!

I'm sure that my children will enjoy it for many years when it's passed on down, as well.
 
Ankerson said:
Yes, it's CPM 154 @ 60 HRC, I don't run Phil's knives for that thread as they are all off the sheet.
Click to expand...

Wait... what? Why would CPM-154 @ 60Rc with a nice thin edge be "off the sheet"? To my mind, that sounds like an excellent standard model for a modern stainless. Those numbers are not at all extreme, they're squarely in line with what CPM-154 was designed for.

Ankerson said:
He said he ran it at 60 so it would still be flexible, it's a medium flex. :)
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that Mr. Wilson knows as well as (probably much better than) I do, blades that thin do not rely on hardness for flexibility, almost entirely independent of their alloy content. I may of course be missing something here... :confused: Please explain.
 
Last edited:
james terrio said:
Wait... what? Why would CPM-154 @ 60Rc with a nice thin edge be "off the sheet"? To my mind, that sounds like an excellent standard model for a modern stainless. Those numbers are not at all extreme, they're squarely in line with what CPM-154 was designed for.



I'm pretty sure that Mr. Wilson knows as well as (probably much better than) I do, blades that thin do not rely on hardness for flexibility, almost entirely independent of their alloy content. I may of course be missing something here... :confused: Please explain.
Click to expand...


Edge and blade geometry of Phil's knives cause them to far exceed what most knives at normal thickness will..... Even at the same hardness range.

He said he would rather have the edge roll than chip in a blade ground THAT thin and knowing what I would be using THAT knife for it's a good fit for me...

Something you would have to ask Phil About though because I can't remember his exact words on it.

All I know is he is extremely serious about his fillet knives and what he does to them and how he does it.

Fillet knives are a whole different world than what I am used to...
 
Last edited:
James, you are exactly right. Flexibility is a function of the geometry, independent of hardness. I shoot for 60/61 on fillet knives so that when flexed very hard they will slightly yield and have a permanent bend. You can turn them over and bend them back. This will happen at higher hardness as well but the plastic range starts to get much narrower and as a result they are a lot less forgiving.

Jim, thanks for the great review. I use fillet knives in the kitchen a lot as well. Very handy to bone out a chicken breast or fillet out grapefruit sections. Phil
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top