Having An Edge: making my first knife

[dcarch]

I saw on 60 Minutes last week of a guy who makes chef knives and his knives were selling over $2,000 on eBay.

A high quality knife in the kitchen is important if you are into serious cooking. A high quality knife is required if you are into making sushi. Yet a high quality Japanese knife will set you back around a $1,000.

I have a few good knives, but they are not top notch knives. I wish I could go for one or more of those works of art.

It occurred to me to try this out.

I have a few (bi-metal) metal cutting saw blades. I figured that if the saw blade steel can cut metal, it can most likely be good enough to make a knife to cut food with.

With a little time to grind and to sharpen the blade, I mounted it in some parts I happen to have in my junk drawer in my shop.

All I can say is that, what freakin frightful sharpness I was able to put on the edge!!! I was actually using it to shave off hair on my arm!!

If the steel tough enough to cut metal to begin with, I would assume the edge will hold for a long long time for cutting food. Looking forward to making some sushi with it.

Please forgive the design of the knife. Just happen to have the parts around. Really this is just a prototype for a bigger knife which I will be making someday.

Don’t ask me what the characters say. A friend copied them for me.

dcarch

[Conal]

Hey I'll bet that knife could saw through a brick and then slice a tomato wafer thin! Sorry couldn't resist.Reciprocating saw blades are designed to be very flexible so you could probably make a mean fillet or boning knife with one.Looks like a fun project;congrats on your first knife.

[judiu]

When I used to travel for a living I met an older gent who made knives from spring steel that he got from the leaf springs in old cars and trucks. Got my mom's favorite paring knife from him; great little knife it was!

[dcarch]

Hey I'll bet that knife could saw through a brick and then slice a tomato wafer thin! Sorry couldn't resist.Reciprocating saw blades are designed to be very flexible so you could probably make a mean fillet or boning knife with one.Looks like a fun project;congrats on your first knife.

Thanks. I couldn't find any recipes using bricks, tomatoes yes.

When I used to travel for a living I met an older gent who made knives from spring steel that he got from the leaf springs in old cars and trucks. Got my mom's favorite paring knife from him; great little knife it was!

Yes, that would make a very good knife. Saw blade is much easier to do.

dcarch

[paulraphael]

You might want to take a look at bladeforums (for knifemaking in general, or knifeforums or foodieforums for kitchen knife communities. The steel choice and heat treatment are important ... you can't do anything without good choices here. Steel used in a saw blade is likely to have huge carbides for abrasion resistance, which make it a poor choice for knives. People will talk your ear off about the pros and cons of different alloys.

[scubadoo97]

People will talk your ear off about the pros and cons of different alloys.

got that right Paul