My latest Chef's Knife

Drew Riley

Drew Riley

Well-Known Member
Just wanted to share one of my latest projects. This was one of those knives that really wasn't planned, but more of a spontaneous endeavor, after talking to a friend of mine who had bought a kitchen knife from me in the past.

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Here's a pic of how I finish the "heel" of the blade, so that I ensure full edge contact with the cutting board, while still bing able to implement a ricasso into my knives.

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Here's a little better view of the finish. Not quite a perfect mirror.... just a LITTLE bit of a satin polish. I hand sanded the blade up to 600 grit, then did a final fluff and buff on my buffer with some polishing rouge. Sorry for the slightly out of focus pic...

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Here's a better pic of the handle. Even though a chef's knife is typically employed using a "pinch grip" just forward of the handle, I still like to have a sizeable handle that's relatively ergonomic and fills an average hand.

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As for the overall specs:

8" blade
5" handle
The blade was made via stock removal from some 1/8" thick x 2.5" 1095 high carbon steel. I know that 1/8" is a little thick for a kitchen slicer, but I personally like just a little bit more heft and rigidity than the average chef's knife offers. The balance point is right at the ricasso, so it feels very good in a pinch grip and leaves just a little bit of forward weight when gripping from the handle, which I like.

I did try to do a "hamon" on this by doing a partial edge quench. I was successful, but I didn't care for how my blade etched in vinegar and lemon juice, so I polished most of it out. As it ages and patinas, the hamon will pop back out. Should be a nice little surprise for the user... ;)

The edge is beveled at 30 degrees. This is probably a little "obtuse" for your average kitchen knife, but I feel that it's a good compromise for maintaining a sharp edge while still having a little strength behind it, since it's undoubtedly going to be bouncing off a cutting board, hitting bones, etc... Perhaps I'm overthinking/overkilling here, but those were my thoughts.

Thanks for looking guys... comments, questions, and criticism are welcome.
 
Looks good !

I'm not personally a big fan of a ricasso like this on a chef but to each their own :) Please don't misinterpret that as a criticism just not my preference. Looks like a great job on that style.

Are you talking 15 degrees per side for a total of 30 ? IMHO that would be as you suggest for a durable edge. Less for high performance cutter.

I've certainly gone less on 1095 like 10 per side.

Looks great. Ditch the brass and make another with some flashier scales :D Although the brass with improve with patina IMHO

-Josh
 
Thanks for the feedback Josh.

I do in fact mean 15 per side, and I actually thought about doing 10-12 degrees per side, but decided against it. The primary bevel goes down to about .005 to .007 thick, so it's still a relatively good slicer, but still not as high performance as it could be. I suppose even doing a 20 degree secondary with a 30 degree micro bevel may be something to try in the future.

As for the scales, they are about as plain as I could have possibly made them... hahah
Looks like I left out what they are: Black paper micarta with 1/4" brass corbies. I didn't have an nickel corbies on hand, or I probably would have used those. I do like how brass patinas though.
 
Good job, and my wife LOVES the brass rivets in her knives. I used stainless rivet in a stainless guard for her and she fussed - wanted to "see" that rivet in the guard as in the handles. I guess that's why they make Fords 'n Chevys - different tastes for different folks.

I've been making a few 6" chef knives with the back straight so the cutting edge forms a nice arc almost from ricasso to tip- not sure that's truly a chef knife, but my wife and couple other friends really like the rocking motion.

Sure is a nice job with the knife -

Ken H>
 
Sounds spot on to me.

FWIW- I think VERY FEW folks would notice a difference between what you've got and thinner geometry or steeper sharpening angles.

Typical folks who may want to push the limits will sharpen in their own preferred style etc.

For 99.9% of users I think you nailed it.

-Josh
 
KenH said:
Good job, and my wife LOVES the brass rivets in her knives. I used stainless rivet in a stainless guard for her and she fussed - wanted to "see" that rivet in the guard as in the handles. I guess that's why they make Fords 'n Chevys - different tastes for different folks.

I've been making a few 6" chef knives with the back straight so the cutting edge forms a nice arc almost from ricasso to tip- not sure that's truly a chef knife, but my wife and couple other friends really like the rocking motion.

Sure is a nice job with the knife -

Ken H>
Click to expand...

I tried to capture it in the second pic to an extent, but I decided not to leave any straight spots anywhere on the edge, like a typical chef knife might have towards the rear of the blade.
I actually put a very gradual curve or "upsweep" on the back to give it a little more rock when chopping with the heel.

I just gave the knife to my friend who I mentioned in the first post. He's gonna put the knife through its paces over the weekend and get back to me on monday with his thoughts. Looking forward to seeing what kind of feedback he has after actually using it for a few hours.
 
Andrew,
Looks like you have made a very serviceable culinary knife. Us folks in the west used knives like that and were very happy until the Japanese style knife invasion started about 15-20 ish years ago.

Keep them coming!
 
Andrew,
I see nothing to complain about there! Nice design and very well executed.
As for edges to each their own. I do Japanese and traditional Euro chefs ands it almost a 50/50 split.
Great job, keep em coming!

God Bless
Mike
 
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