Santoku knife

H

Hubert S.

Joined
Dec 14, 2019
Messages
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I was wondering if y'all could take a look at the knife design below and let me know if you see anything wrong with it? The blade length is about 7in and the height at the heel is just under 2in. The hidden tang is 1/2" wide. I plan to use 0.082" thick AEB-L and grind after HT.

I am new to knife making and don't really know what I'm doing. I have read a lot about different ways to grind kitchen knives and I am more confused than before. Any beginner friendly advice how to grind the blade would be greatly appreciated as well.

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At .082, that thing is going to be a laser.
It looks good, although it looks more like a gyuto to me. Looks really good though.
I made a few gyutos at around .90 and the customers told me they are thinner than they usually go for in a chef knife, but they loved them.
 
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Thanks for the feedback. I am not sure what the exact difference between santoku and gyuto is. My initial version was a little shorter, a little taller and had more of a sheep's foot tip, if that is the right description. That design is shown in the picture below.

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Your design looks good, but more like a k tip gyuto. At 7 inch length 2 inch is also maybe a tad too wide. My 18 cm Kasumi santoku is 4cm wide at the hill, I really love how it feels in the hand. The spine at the tip should be more round, yours looks more cut off. Don't get me wrong, your design is also ready to go and should make a great knife as well.
 
I dont know ... I do not read this design as a Gyuto at all. The Gyuto's I have seen (and own) are more symmetrical in terms of the spine versus the edge - with the tip being about middle of the overall height of the blade. On this design as a Santoku I see the overall edge geometry and position as pretty much appropriate. I agree that, compared to "traditional" designs, the spine drops too rapidly to the tip - most designs have much more of a smooth continuous curve to the tip starting a couple inches or so back from the tip (but agree with others that the design as posed will have no functional impact.).

For examples of the designs, you can go to japanesechefsknife.com (or click here). examples of Gyotus can be found here. examples of the santokus can be found here. If you continue to want to go for a Wa handle, you might want to go to more like a 3/8" tang height - still plenty strong, and will make it easier in terms of creating/using an opening in the handle for the tang.
 
IMO, that is a Santoku. Gyotu are shaped more like a western chef knife. I like your design a lot.

Do you plan on doing the heat treating, yourself?
 
I plan to heat treat myself. This will be the first time using AEB-L for me. I got the foil in the mail yesterday and have one blade for a German Spätzle knife profiled and ready to go. I want to get two more blades profiled today.
 
Cushing H. said:
For examples of the designs, you can go to japanesechefsknife.com (or click here). examples of Gyotus can be found here. examples of the santokus can be found here. If you continue to want to go for a Wa handle, you might want to go to more like a 3/8" tang height - still plenty strong, and will make it easier in terms of creating/using an opening in the handle for the tang.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the links. I do want to try a wa handle. I was planning to mill a shallow slot in the bolster and drill a 1/2" hole from the back side, then use a dowel with a slit for the tang to connect the bolster and the main portion of the handle. Is 3/8" really strong enough for the thin stock (0.082") that I'm using?
 
Hubert S. said:
Thank you for the links. I do want to try a wa handle. I was planning to mill a shallow slot in the bolster and drill a 1/2" hole from the back side, then use a dowel with a slit for the tang to connect the bolster and the main portion of the handle. Is 3/8" really strong enough for the thin stock (0.082") that I'm using?
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should be strong enough - I just recently made one out of even thinner stock and it seemed solid enough.

I learned a LOT about reasonable ways to construct a Wa handle from Carter Hopkins. the photo below is my first "trial" attempt. Lots of really good hints and "tricks" he passed on to me (similar to what you are proposing - but actually much simpler to execute). If it is ok with him, I can just join you to the private conversation and you can review the conversation (though if you are a basic member, not sure if you can join private conversations????)
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I would love to learn more about how to make wa handles, especially if it is easier to do than what I am planning. I had no idea there was private messaging, I just registered a few weeks ago.

That handle looks nice. I will attempt something much more basic using two pieces of wood and no spacers.
 
Hubert S. said:
I would love to learn more about how to make wa handles, especially if it is easier to do than what I am planning. I had no idea there was private messaging, I just registered a few weeks ago.

That handle looks nice. I will attempt something much more basic using two pieces of wood and no spacers.
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Yeah - it looks like I can not start a private conversation with you - as I recall you need to be a paid member to use that function. Are you able to pay the basic membership fee??
 
Hubert S. said:
That handle looks nice. I will attempt something much more basic using two pieces of wood and no spacers.
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thanks. Like I said, it was really just an exercise to run through the construction techniques. With what I have there, the same basic techniques are easily expanded to much more complicated patterns. The spacer really is not hard at all - you might want to consider it (the biggest issue is that metal heats up when you grind it and kills the epoxy bond)
 
Here is a revised drawing with the blade height reduced and a more rounded tip. The cutting edge is the same. I think I like this one better than the first one.

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Cushing H. said:
Yeah - it looks like I can not start a private conversation with you - as I recall you need to be a paid member to use that function. Are you able to pay the basic membership fee??
Click to expand...

I was just looking at the paid subscriptions page. I don't understand the message limits, 5 conversations and 15 messages for basic members. Is that for one year?
 
I like it a lot and think it will make a better all purpose kitchen knife. I saw the first design now on tablet and like it as well. Since they are your firsts you could do both and compare them for us :)
 
Hubert S. said:
I was just looking at the paid subscriptions page. I don't understand the message limits, 5 conversations and 15 messages for basic members. Is that for one year?
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the "private messaging" is set up as a "conversation" with another person that you or that person initiates. It looks just like these forum threads do - that means that you are able to converse with up to 5 people, and spread out among those people you get to "post" 15 times within the various "conversations". (I went with the Gold membership because that level has much higher limits. If I am able to invite you to that conversation I mentioned with the back-and-forth on the various construction hints - you would need the gold membership level because of the number of individual postings involved.......)
 
FredyCro said:
I like it a lot and think it will make a better all purpose kitchen knife. I saw the first design now on tablet and like it as well. Since they are your firsts you could do both and compare them for us :)
Click to expand...
Maybe, someday. This will be the third knife I make so I want to stick to one design until I get it right. I am going to cut out two hoping that there will be one that I don't mess up too badly. I have enough stock to make ten or twelve, just in case...
 
Hubert S. said:
Here is a revised drawing with the blade height reduced and a more rounded tip. The cutting edge is the same. I think I like this one better than the first one.
Click to expand...
the only thing that catches my eye is the swept back edge at the heel of the edge. I would just make it a straight down vertical, BUT at that point is is purely personal preference - I would just adopt the look you like yourself!
 
I only had time to profile one blade. I like the way it looks, but it needs a bit more cleanup work. I want to round the choil and spine before heat treating. I am hoping to heat treat tomorrow, but I still have to mount the quench plates to the vise.
 
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