Utility knife design (kitchen)

Matt Rochester

Matt Rochester

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Nov 28, 2014
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I'm going to make some kitchen utility knives and am wondering what the dimensions typically are? I have a gyuto that I make and am thinking of just scaling it down. Maybe 9" OAL, 4-5" blade, 1-1 1/2" tall at the heel? Any thoughts? I will try to get a drawing up.

Not sure about pin placement. Can I get away with 1 in the bolster or would 2 be better. This will be my first two tone handle. Any woods that wouldn't work well together? I think I will drop it to 1" at the heel.
 
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Matt, I'm by no means an expert, but I see utility knife as primarily a slicer... so I think most of your dimensions are about right, except maybe blade being a bit too tall. I'd think even 1" might be a bit too tall, personally I'd like mine even under ¾" for a 5" blade.
 
I agree with Wolf. I think it is a great design,but maybe a bit wide at 1". But, it is a bit subjective.

Also, I think it looks pretty slick with 2 pins. Mechanically, since you will likely be epoxying as well, 1 pin should probably work. You could always go with stainless on the bolster with similar pins to hide em.
 
A slicing knife's geometry is dictated by how thin and how high the blade is. A blade with to little height needs to be more thin in order to slice. A knife that is taller at the heal can be thicker as well. For a truly wicked slicer, both can be used.This slicer is 1 1/2" at the heal, the spine is .078 at the handle. The blade is 5 1/4".

Like most things its a trade off. This knife was made to slice mushrooms and does this job quite well.
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Fred.Rowe said:
A slicing knife's geometry is dictated by how thin and how high the blade is. A blade with to little height needs to be more thin in order to slice. A knife that is taller at the heal can be thicker as well. For a truly wicked slicer, both can be used.This slicer is 1 1/2" at the heal, the spine is .078 at the handle. The blade is 5 1/4".

Like most things its a trade off. This knife was made to slice mushrooms and does this job quite well.
Sv-tbatlWm4K4gSpxrHlxtYesTrUYfvCaLscYQGj2zg=w778-h438
Click to expand...
Learn something new everyday on here. Thanks Fred!
 
The .070 is a good thickness for this project. Are you grinding after heat treat?

Fred
 
Definitely! Any woods that wouldn't work together for the handle? I'm going to put a liner between them. I was thinking ironwood or black wood for the bolster.
Fred.Rowe said:
The .070 is a good thickness for this project. Are you grinding after heat treat?

Fred
Click to expand...
 
Matt, I must finish my CAD model- we're obviously approaching similar design from different perspectives... I was thinking an ebony bolster (reasonong being it's oily so would be less prone to absorb joices from food), some other wood (possibly stabilized burl) for the handle, separated by a yellow bronze 'liner' (I manufactured some stuff for the drug industry and was told that it's very resistant to corrosion).
 
Ebony would be a good choice also. I may just go with black paper micarta and some stabilized wood. I will get some pics up somewhere when I get it finished.
 
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