My 4th knife, First Kitchen Knife

[Albatross]

Made my first kitchen knife out of a farriers rasp. Used laminated wood scales bought on Etsy for handle. Brass pins.

Definitely the most challenging project so far in knife making for me. Spent a long time on the grinder.

Made this for my wife. From what I’ve read on these forums, making something like this softens spouses to the hobby.

Just kidding, made it for her because I wanted to do something nice for her and she always complains about our current knifes when she cooks. It’s a nice chopper. Something that I know she will use.

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[KenH]

Looks like the edges of the handle are rounded over enough to feel good in the hand. Looks good, did you have a 2X72 grinder for the work? OR, files? How did you heat treat the blade?

I might ask about the blade still showing the rasp teeth, will this be a place for food particles to collect making cleaning more difficult?

 

[Albatross]

Looks like the edges of the handle are rounded over enough to feel good in the hand. Looks good, did you have a 2X72 grinder for the work? OR, files? How did you heat treat the blade?

I might ask about the blade still showing the rasp teeth, will this be a place for food particles to collect making cleaning more difficult?

I used a 1x30 harbor fright grinder. The rasp is hardened. So after I was done with grinding, I did 2 one hour cycles in an oven at 400 degrees. The teeth are showing, but are sanded flat, you can slightly feel them when touching.

Honestly, I have no idea about the food particles and cleaning. But I have seen a bunch of chefs knives out on the web made this way.

The handle is very comfortable. I sharpened it and we will start using it tonight. I will let you know if there are any issues with usage and cleaning.


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[CDHumiston]

That looks great especially using a 1x30! That must have been a huge rasp! Heat treat sounds about right for a file knife. That's how I do it, but I do two 2-hour cycles at around 325.

My wife abandoned all her Henkels knives when I started custom making her kitchen knives. She loves the knives I make her, and it definitely softened her up to my hobby.

I always bring them in during the process and let her hold them and give me advice on the shaping of the handle and the thickness of the blade. She also tests every knife that goes out the door. Very helpful!

 

[KenH]

Chris, you follow the same process I do with getting the wife's input to her knives.

OP, working with a 1X30 HF grinder is surely a handicap, but you did good. I started with that same HF 1X30 grinder, then after building my first 2X72 the 1X30 was used for knife sharpening. Works REALLY good for that. I forgot to mention how good I thought the wood on the handle looks. Good job. For kitchen knives I might suggest getting some thin metal, either carbon steel or AEB-L (or other SS) in the .100" range, or perhaps even thinner.

If HT'ing is an issue, just send to me and I'll be happy to HT a couple of blades for you, either carbon or SS. I am NOT in the HT'ing business, but am happy to help a new knifemaker get started.

 

[CDHumiston]

Chris, you follow the same process I do with getting the wife's input to her knives.

OP, working with a 1X30 HF grinder is surely a handicap, but you did good. I started with that same HF 1X30 grinder, then after building my first 2X72 the 1X30 was used for knife sharpening. Works REALLY good for that. I forgot to mention how good I thought the wood on the handle looks. Good job. For kitchen knives I might suggest getting some thin metal, either carbon steel or AEB-L (or other SS) in the .100" range, or perhaps even thinner.

If HT'ing is an issue, just send to me and I'll be happy to HT a couple of blades for you, either carbon or SS. I am NOT in the HT'ing business, but am happy to help a new knifemaker get started.

For larger kitchen knives I use AEB-L .082 and smaller ones I go all the way down to .062 from Alpha Knife Supply. I cut, shape and drill my holes in the .062 and then heat treat it. All the rest of the grinding is done on a heat treated and tempered blade. The thin stuff likes to warp if you grind it prior to heat treatment. That's my experience anyhow...