Review My Chef Knife Please!

C

cjweaver13

Joined
Jun 19, 2018
Messages
43
First attempt at roughly 8" chef knife. I am many things, an artist isn't one of them so please excuse the drawing, but measurements were taken afterwards when a couple proportions didn't look right on rough draft.

I will most likely end up on 1/8" steel with a simple flat grind, or if I get thinner steel maybe a scandi-ish grind.

PS. I know pins are not centered will adjust

image1%201_zpsokzbolg4.jpeg
 
From the standpoint of ease of grinding and ease of use, I prefer slightly less belly and a straighter edge. It assists with slice cuts. Sort of a Guyto blade profile. They still work well for rocking cuts, but they are much nicer and require a shorter cutting stroke for slicing cuts.

Also not particularly relevant on a chef's knife, but I don't like putting the forward pin so close to the tang/blade transition. But unless this knife gets wildly abused, it shouldn't be an issue. Three pins are also probably a bit of overkill on this sort of knife, from a strength standpoint. If you prefer it stylistically, keep it obviously, just saying it isn't likely needed.

Finally, unless you want the mass for some specific reason, I find 1/8" a bit overkill for a chef's knife. so I wouldn't scandi it unless the steel were exceptionally thin. I think even .062 with a slight convex or FFG fine.
 
Too much belly, butt of the handle is too square. If the spine and the edge are parallel, it is a camp knife. Chef knives are triangular-ish.

Hoss
 
So would you guys recommend almost coming off the heel at an angle with minimal belly to turn up tip towards spine for point basically? The other thing I can do which was the original plan, is bring up the edge to only 1.5" which would shallow out blade geometry anyway...
 
I made a cardboard cut out to play with for feel. The black line represents bringing the total edge up and going more of an angle instead of creating an upswept belly towards tip.

IMG_5223_zps5rvgz75r.jpg
 
there are no rules for kitchen knives except high sharpness/edge stability and comfort. look here http://www.epicedge.com/shopdisplaycategories.asp?id=76&cat=Knife+Style lots of styles and shapes and steel. the shape cjweaver drew in red would be very easy to grind. try 1/16" or 3/32" spine thickness, grind at 2* or 3* till edge is about 0.03", HT, then finish the edge at 7* or so. didn't mention steel. if doing it yourself, try O1 or 8670 tempered at Rc62 or so. make the handle of real wood and start oversize, say 5" long, 1" thick, 1 1/2" tall then shape till it fits. you should be able to hold a good cooking knife and not feel it because of balance and how it fits in your hand. use a heavier wood like dogwood or locust to get best balance. or go with black walnut or another lighter weight wood and see if you can get total weight to 3 oz or so.
 
scott.livesey said:
...didn't mention steel. if doing it yourself, try O1 or 8670 tempered at Rc62 or so. make the handle of real wood and start oversize, say 5" long, 1" thick, 1 1/2" tall then shape till it fits. you should be able to hold a good cooking knife and not feel it because of balance and how it fits in your hand. use a heavier wood like dogwood or locust to get best balance. or go with black walnut or another lighter weight wood and see if you can get total weight to 3 oz or so.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply! I haven't talked about steel simply because I am new and need to practice my grinding and knife making. Currently using scraps like leaf springs, saw blades, and mower blades that I can harden to an unexact amount before using a piece of steel with known properties to make for more permanent use.

Last night I grabbed all my chef knives off the magnet and just sat there with a couple onions for an hour playing with ergonomics and seeing what I liked. Honestly that helped as much as anything. A couple knives I thought I previously liked, I ended up hiding from myself when using multiple knives back to back. It was an interesting experiment!
 
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