Sushi/Chef Knife

[cookhj]

So some of y'all have probably seen some of my knives on here or ARFCOM and i've been getting better and a little more creative with my designs (although they're still fairly simple). a friend of mine here in San Antonio is a chef at a really nice seafood restaurant and wanted a custom made japanese style sushi/chef's knife. i started out with an old nicholson metal file and threw it in the forge.

once i got the shape of the handle i did a little bit of forging on the blade to make it wider. once i got the width where i wanted it i took it to the sanding belt which took up the vast majorty of the time i spent working on this project. the steel was extremely hard and the progress was slow going. my instructor finally got in some 60grit belts which made the work go a lot faster.

after i got all the shaping done i heated, quenched and tempered the blade. i went on knifekits.com and bought some black canvas micarta, some stainless steel pin stock and some jb weld for the handles.

after some work back on the sanding belt i sharpened the blade shaving sharp.

after class i dropped by my buddy's restaurant and delivered the knive. he was amazed at how well it turned out. as i drove to work i got a text from him that said, "Damn son. That blade is sharp as shit." he then sent me some action pics of a salmon getting fileted.

 

[thegeek574]

that is a really nice. it is plain, and not perfect, but that makes it feel used. great looking knife.

 

[cookhj]

thanks! yeah, it's not all that pretty, but it wasn't designed to be. my buddy said that he just wanted a functional knife that was sharp as hell.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

A lot of folks have looked at this, but only one has commented.

I will start by saying that the knife looks functional and the forging looks good.The photos show it can cut. The finishing looks poor, however.
I know it is a user knife.......but would you buy a new truck from the dealership that had dents covered in primer, just because it was going to be a work truck? I doubt it!

A culinary knife should be finished to a smooth and clean surface. The "Brut de Forge" look is popular with some folks for frontier knives, but does not belong, or look right, on a kitchen knife, in my opinion. No need for a polished blade, but a 220 grit satin finish might have been a better choice.

 

[wolf-man-12]

Ditto.....2

 

[Patrice Lemée]

...it's not all that pretty...

There's the understatement of the day.

As sharp as it may be, I would think that a polished finished would have been much nicer to fillet/sushi if not essential.
Looking forward to your next one.:thumbup:

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

Thanks for sharing the photos! Cool knife.

 

[Tx Bass Tech]

I like the knife even though it's not real pretty. What restaurant does your buddy work at? That's a nice looking salmon, I'd drive from Austin to eat that! I know some of you guys from up north will laugh at me, but good salmon is hard to find down here in Texas.

 

[cookhj]

i offered to do a better finish, but my buddy said he wanted it left as is. i agree it would've looked better without a lot of the scratches, forging marks and file pattern, but i tried to make the customer happy!

he works at Sandbar at the Pearl Brewery here in San Antonio. it's a wonderful seafood restaurant if you get a chance to come down this way.