Scimitar?

timos-

timos-

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Oct 22, 2012
Messages
2,164
No, not the fighting knife. The type that is used to break down large animal carcasses or cuts of meat.
A friend of mine recently opened a bistro in LA and he tells me he would really love to have a 12-14" long bladed "scimitar". Ive never heard of this style of knife used by chefs so I am very intrigued.
I cant find too much to go on though. Has anyone here used or made one of these blades?
How important is the amount of up sweep for the tip/belly? Is it useful to have a somewhat flexible blade or is this meant to be stiff. Would this be used in conjunction with a hacksaw?
It sounds like it could be a really fun project but a heck of a lot of grinding! Any insights in use would be very appreciated.

TIA
-Tim
 
The name's indicative of it's military cousin with the curved profile. More like a cleaver with belly instead of a flat angle. Designed for more of a draw or pull cut than a push (hope that makes sense) :D

Victorinox-12inCimeterGranton-2.jpg


Great if you've got to break down beef, pigs, lamb, things of that size, but functional for poultry and fish. I've used them with hacksaw for large format protein breakdows, great for getting to primals and sub-primals quick.
 
In kitchen cutlery it is often spelled "cimeter". You can look at commercial products like the Victorinox Forschner Fibrox version for ideas.

Search Google images for "cimeter knife" for plenty of examples.
 
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thanks guys, that is the way he spelled it infact...cimeter. Wow, very cool, there is a WHole lot of room for creativity with this design. Should be fun. AEBL is probably the economical way to go for stainless, or I bet 3V would be great for semi stainless. CTS XHP would probably be best I am thinking.
 
Ok here is my template so far, got enough Bellly?

BUTCHERS%20SCIMITAR.jpg
 
thanks bluntcut, i think i lost sight of that trying to fit it on 2" wide stock....here we are with more of an upswept tip.
BUTCHERS%20SCIMITAR%2014in.jpg
 
Yeah much better. I like/prefer the edge profile as (heel to tip): 0-4" flat; 4 - 9" gradual curve; 9-14/tip tight curve. In a single stroke: start the cut -> slice away -> end trim.

edit: this blade profile conducive to warp at ht, especially for low Cr steels. Cts-xhp steel would be a good fit for this blade: stainless + wear resistant but still easy to sharpen and less chance of ht warp.
 
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thats a good way to explain it.
Im definitely gonna work two of these into my next batch of stainless. Ill probably go with .130 thick aebl, distal taper starting about 5-7" from the tip to about .015 behind the edge. with a full height flat grind but convexed edge, should be ok geometry im thinking.
 
Does your friend want this mainly for use behind the counter, or does he want to use it to be a bit showy?

And you are going to want a grippy handle material there. Gloves and meat juice make those things impossible to hold on to. I would suggest either some really rough canvas micarta, or the bias cut palm you got from me. Sand it to 600 then give it a really heavy buff, the black fibers will stand just a touch proud and give you a really good, grippy and tactile surface.

Best of luck!
 
Lol, nothing to do with showy, apparently this is a popular shape for pros breaking down anything from primals to whole animals. Probably when they dont have a bandsaw available? Thats interesting method on the black palm, ill have to try that Ben!

-tim
 
Cool shapes these Cimeters! Some in the web remind me of the Mah-Chete or the earlier Atayal long knives.
 
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