Santoku indents

viral

viral

Joined
Jan 20, 2013
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So I'm not much if a knife maker, I don't have the proper set up, but I am getting awful decent at putting on handles and such, a friend Of mine was asking if I could find a blank of a santoku blade with the indents. I know some of the blank suppliers have some but I'm not into that junk, I like having them made for me by a real knife maker. Now my question comes, could I get ahold of a solid flat ground blank and then drill holes through it or something? I havnt seen many custom knives with the indents because I think they would be a pain in the ass. Well if anyone has any ideas let me know, or if someone would be up to attempting to make one of these for me, shoot me a pm or reply here.
 
I have a slicer (don't recall the maker) with the indents. I think they are supposed to keep the meat from sticking to the blade but IMHO they don't do a thing. I think they are just a marketing gimmick.

Tim
 
viral said:
Now my question comes, could I get ahold of a solid flat ground blank and then drill holes through it or something?
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Drilling holes in a beveled, hardened blade would be pretty difficult.

Some people swear by 'em, but I see no real advantage to indents or Granton grooves. I agree with Tim that they're just a gimmick. As for holes, not only do I not see an advantage but it seems they would be a real pain to clean.
 
james terrio said:
Drilling holes in a beveled, hardened blade would be pretty difficult.

Some people swear by 'em, but I see no real advantage to indents or Granton grooves. I agree with Tim that they're just a gimmick. As for holes, not only do I not see an advantage but it seems they would be a real pain to clean.
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Not only are they gimmicky and offer no real advantage but they also shorten the life of a blade IMO.
 
I made a fancy jig to grind grantons...and after some testing agreed that they were just a sales gimmick. I find a medium to coarse satin finish will release food just as easy.
 
I use a satin finish now, and a convex grind on the right, flat grind on the left for right handed users. I usually offset the bevel 70/30 favouring handed ness. I tried other offsets, but 70/30 is what I like.
 
I found that adding a short hollow grind on the right hand side made thin sliced potatoes come off better.
 
bladsmth said:
I made a fancy jig to grind grantons...and after some testing agreed that they were just a sales gimmick. I find a medium to coarse satin finish will release food just as easy.
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Although I prefer the look of satin finish that runs parallel to the edge, I wonder if a belt-style finish of the same grit running across the blade might release a little better. Guess I'll just have to try it...

Nathan the Machinist said:
I found that adding a short hollow grind on the right hand side made thin sliced potatoes come off better.
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That makes sense, too.

Although super-fine/mirror finishes do seem "stickier", in all honesty, I'm not convinced it's really that big of a deal. In asking clients and cooks, they seem to mostly like basic finishes simply because they know they're going to get scratched and scuffed up anyway.
 
I tried horizontal and vertical 400g finishes, and couldn't tell the difference in food release. Above 600g and I start feeling more sticking. I think the problem with the poll is that people have preferences for looks, not necessarily function.
 
I take the bevel to 400 grit and them use a Scotch-brite belt to make a satin finish.
 
Willie71 said:
I tried horizontal and vertical 400g finishes, and couldn't tell the difference in food release. Above 600g and I start feeling more sticking. I think the problem with the poll is that people have preferences for looks, not necessarily function.
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Yeah, it's not very scientific. All it really shows is that people like different finishes :o I agree with you that 600 is about the upper limit required for good function... anything finer is strictly for looks.

bladsmth said:
I take the bevel to 400 grit and them use a Scotch-brite belt to make a satin finish.
Click to expand...

That works on almost every knife :)
 
If you take the mirror finish idea to the ultimate conclusion, two mirror finished pieces of metal in contact will literally weld themselves together. I suspect it would be the same with a mirror finished knife and a potato slice, to a lesser degree.

Tim
 
Per my previous post, I don't recall if the two pieces of metal had to be wet or not.

Tim
 
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