Chef knife forging thickness

[Moz Blade]

Hi guys,
I’m working on some chefs knifes at the moment. 5160 steel (I know not the greatest).
I was wondering how thick some of you forge your spines. And also how high to forge the bevels in? By that I mean dose the blade start to become thinner right bellow the spin? Or is the middle of the blade still pretty thick once your done forging? I have just been having some issues with my touch mark and keep grinding through it. And I’m pretty sure it’s cause my blades are to thick in the middle.

Thanks

 

[weo]

I'm sure you'll get a variety of answers, but my 'norm' is to forge to just under 1/8" thickness. This usually results in a surface ground blank (to remove forging marks) at around 0.090" which the spine then gets ground down to anywhere from 0.075"-0.085" at it's thickest during the final grind. If I was going for the 'brut-de-forge' look, then I'd forge thinner.

And also how high to forge the bevels in?

This depends on the blade and use. Most of my chef's knives are full flat grinds, but on smaller blades I'll start the shinogi line (where the bevel starts) about where the bolster ends.

 

[Diego_B]

I am no expert on this but this is my personal experience. I forge my blades to thickness since I do forged finished blades like this.Not sure if you are trying to do the same or not? If you aren't worried about the texture showing then I would just forge thicker than you need and then grind it down to your desired thickness. Kinda sucks to do I think unless you have a surface grinder. If you are wanting the texture then I I typically shoot for thinner than what I think and that usually lands me around .100-.125 after griding it down to shape. I am shooting for .100 so if it lands thicker than that, I'll go back and flatten the entire thing some more.

I don't typically have a set height for how high I forge my bevels in but since I forge from a .25x1.25 bar, I have to pull down my stock to 2" at the heel and then after I taper and all that stuff I find that the blade gets slightly thinner from the top of the spine but its not very significant most times.

 

[HSC ///]

It varies alot depending on several factors
Here’s one I just finished
I generally don’t forge in the bevels on laminated steels which this is

 

[Michael Black]

I'm sure you'll get a variety of answers, but my 'norm' is to forge to just under 1/8" thickness. This usually results in a surface ground blank (to remove forging marks) at around 0.090" which the spine then gets ground down to anywhere from 0.075"-0.085" at it's thickest during the final grind. If I was going for the 'brut-de-forge' look, then I'd forge thinner.

This depends on the blade and use. Most of my chef's knives are full flat grinds, but on smaller blades I'll start the shinogi line (where the bevel starts) about where the bolster ends.

Sounds pretty close to what I do. My last brute de forge chef was .100" thick at the spine, and I didn't forge in any bevels, but left that for the grinder.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

My advice is always the same - forge to a thinness you like. Thickness is not what you want in a kitchen knife. Anywhere around .10" to .12" is a good place to stop forging and start grinding. I like a final spine at the ricasso around .07" to .09".

 

[Moz Blade]

Be

I am no expert on this but this is my personal experience. I forge my blades to thickness since I do forged finished blades like this.Not sure if you are trying to do the same or not? If you aren't worried about the texture showing then I would just forge thicker than you need and then grind it down to your desired thickness. Kinda sucks to do I think unless you have a surface grinder. If you are wanting the texture then I I typically shoot for thinner than what I think and that usually lands me around .100-.125 after griding it down to shape. I am shooting for .100 so if it lands thicker than that, I'll go back and flatten the entire thing some more.

I don't typically have a set height for how high I forge my bevels in but since I forge from a .25x1.25 bar, I have to pull down my stock to 2" at the heel and then after I taper and all that stuff I find that the blade gets slightly thinner from the top of the spine but its not very significant most times.

My advice is always the same - forge to a thinness you like. Thickness is not what you want in a kitchen knife. Anywhere around .10" to .12" is a good place to stop forging and start grinding. I like a final spine at the ricasso around .07" to .09".

beautiful knifes! Yes I also leave the forge makes on top so yea I think I just need to forge thinner. Thanks

 

[Moz Blade]

Thanks for all the info guys. Yea I’m definitely forging to think. I was just worried about warps but I am starting to trust my heat treat so it’s probably time I did some thin forging experimenting.

 

[weo]

so it’s probably time I did some thin forging experimenting.

This is a good idea, and I suggest experimenting to find the limit, especially with a relatively inexpensive steel. I (and others, I think) found that if my edge gets below about 0.020" thick (ground, not forged) pre-quench, I get a lot of warping in the edge.

 

[FredyCro]

I don't forge, but the other day I've seen a great tutorial by Jason Knight on YT on hand forging a chef knife.