Santoku #7

[nc_cooter]

This is the 7th Santoku style knife I have made for a family of chefs in Canada. Hand forged 1084FG, OAL 11-1/2", blade 6-3/4", curly maple handle. Not my usual style, but a nice change of pace.
Thanks for looking.

Mike Broach

 

[Nathan the Machinist]

I figure that style of blade has got to be a pill to make. Looks great!

 

[Jim Rieck]

I like your sontoku and would like to make one myself, soon. Have you or anybody ground in the vertical grooves that you see on the commercial ones? If so, how is it done? Just getting prepped for my experiment. I asked a machinist relative of mine if he could do it and he said it would take a lot of "indexing" and it would only be worth the effort if I was going to make a bunch of them. Any thoughts?

 

[nc_cooter]

Nathan, this type of blade does require some creative forging. I made one for my wife and 7 for this one customer and don't plan to add it to my normal work.
Jim, I don't see what is gained by the groves and did not even consider them. The chef(s) I sell these to have used those blades and prefer this type.

Mike Broach

 

[Jim Rieck]

What I understand is that the grooves act much like the dimples on a golf ball. Where the golf ball slips through the air with less resistance, the knife slices through meat or cheese with less drag. I like the concept. It would be interesting to know if there are chefs out there that like the grooved sontakus.

 

[Atlas Knife Company]

Mathematically, a bead blasted satin finish works the same as dimples, they're just super tiny dimples. However, I can't imagine that it would really make a difference with something as spongy as meat. Slicing an apple or potato, yes. But, a properly thin blade and it really shouldn't matter. They do look cool though.