Scalloping a blade

[Lone Shepherd]

I make custom kitchen knives, and plan to make a carving / slicing knife, similar to this one.

It would be nice to be able to scallop the blade, to lessen resistance and prevent food from sticking, but I'm not sure how to do that, and get nice, even scallops. Would a dremel and some sort of jig be the way to go? Any ideas?

 

[David Loukides]

I have never tried this!!!!!
1st Radius a bench grinder wheel to your liking. (Convex).
2nd Raise or lower the tool rest to make the contact point of the grinding wheel contact the blade where you want it to grind.
3rd Clamp, screw, weld or some how fasten a stop on both sides of the tool rest so when you push the blade up to the grinding wheel it will only allow you to grind into the to the depth you want.
4th Mark your blades spine the spacing you want the relief to be put at
and make a mark on the wheel guard above the center of the wheels radius.
By lining up the blades marks on the spine and pushing the blade into the stop mounted on the tool rest it MIGHT give you the results you want.

Try a thin piece of scrap stock first!!!

As my Dad used to say "Take this with a grain of salt."
Good Luck
Dave

 

[GibsonFan]

I'm just talking off the top of my noggin here... but perhaps you could build a little jig out of scrap wood to hold the piece at the proper angle. Then put the proper size Dremel-style stone in the chuck of your press, with stops on the table to keep the blade lined up. This may or may not be faster than the bench-grinder idea.

 

[twistedneck]

The hard part is aligning the scallops and making them the same exact size. This is the job for a mini mill!