Steak knives. Help needed

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Storm W

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Feb 19, 2019
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I stopped by a woodworking shop just to get my name out there for some sharpening work and got talking with the guys there. I ended up finding out they are trying to make some premium furniture. They needed a welder for that as well as looking for a knife maker for a batch of steak knives. What are some things to think about when making high end steak knives? Do they need to be serrated? I assume this is a planned for high end restaurants.
 
Steak knives need to be thin and sharp.

While they don't NEED to be saturated, any that will be used in a industrial setting probably do.

They also need to be stainless, with synthetic handles, and some sort of mechanical fastener.

They WILL be going in a dishwasher, and being used by the public on hard plates, not on nice wooden plates that don't damage your nicely honed edges.

I think it would be really quite challenging to make enough steak knives, at a low enough price point for a restaurant.

Say you have a small restaurant with 12 tables, you need to have at least 2 sets of cutlery for each, because you need to be able to seat another group of customers within a minute or two do the last customer leaving. You also need a couple more sets, just in case. So you need at least... Say 28 knives, forks and spoons. And that's a small restaurant.

Unless they have a LOT of capital, they're not going to want to spend time of money on knives, maybe 15-20$ each?

If you're making these by hand, you're gonna be really hard pressed to make any knife of profit with that low of a price point...
 
A.McPherson said:
Steak knives need to be thin and sharp.

While they don't NEED to be saturated, any that will be used in a industrial setting probably do.

They also need to be stainless, with synthetic handles, and some sort of mechanical fastener.

They WILL be going in a dishwasher, and being used by the public on hard plates, not on nice wooden plates that don't damage your nicely honed edges.

I think it would be really quite challenging to make enough steak knives, at a low enough price point for a restaurant.

Say you have a small restaurant with 12 tables, you need to have at least 2 sets of cutlery for each, because you need to be able to seat another group of customers within a minute or two do the last customer leaving. You also need a couple more sets, just in case. So you need at least... Say 28 knives, forks and spoons. And that's a small restaurant.

Unless they have a LOT of capital, they're not going to want to spend time of money on knives, maybe 15-20$ each?

If you're making these by hand, you're gonna be really hard pressed to make any knife of profit with that low of a price point...
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I know Craig Lockwood of Chop Knives is making a living of of them. If I heard him correctly he said that the steakhouse were using wooden plates. I don't go to high end steakhouses so I don't know how things are done there.
 
While I don’t make a habit of it ... a few times I have been to higher end steak houses, and the steak knives there are definitely NOT xyremely high end. Frequently serrated, pretty basic stainless. Don’t recall the handle material is explicitly ... but definitely not high end.
 
I make some carbon steel steak knives but they are going to individuals, I do a thin hollow grind typically on just one side of the knife this saves time and gives a more crisp look to the bevels since the stock is really thin. If your thickness behind the edge is extremely thin even if they use the knives on hard plates that dull them they will still cut without serrations. Personally when I see serrated steak knives it makes me think cheap so if your targeting high end restaurants they are looking for things to set them apart and create a better atmosphere, I believe when Craig sends his proposal to potential clients he works closely with that client to design the knives to flow with the restaurant which is extremely important and something they will really only get from working with a customer maker, see how long it would take you to make a small set of 6 or 8 with a standard handle material like micarta or g10, if you want to use stainless steel Aeb-l would both work very well. Carbon steel would be cheaper to produce, steels like 15n20 or 8670 would both work well, if you are upfront about not putting them in a dish washer it’s really not hard to wash and dry steak knives should only take a few seconds per knife, you can explain to the restaurant how the patina forms on the knife and they will age and grow with the restaurant, you could even offer a service to sharpen and polish the knives if they want to keep them from forming a patina or point them towards stainless at that point. As for price you would be surprised how much high end restaurants are willing to pay to have quality tableware that flows with the restaurant and enhances the experience for their patrons.
 
And as a side note, Outback Steakhouse is NOT a high end steakhouse. I once had the idea I’d go in to places like that and offer a sharpening service until I realized when it comes to cutlery and tableware places like that might as well be a fast food joint.
 
Culinary knives, with the exception of cleavers and the like, need to be thin and without serrations, bread knife is the exception. If they are going to be used for eating only a 5"ish blade is perfect. If you want the knife to be also used in working at a BBQ grill to cut or trim pieces then more on the 6"ish length. Since its a woodworking workshop I assume they will sell a wooden plate together, which is the right surface for non serrated edges.

Here is a model I do a lot for BBQs, charcoal grilling is a staple in Argentine culture, edge is 14cm/5.5", this one in particular 14C28N stainless, but I usually do them also in O2 carbon steel.

Pablo

xqpd8ea.jpg
 
PEU said:
Culinary knives, with the exception of cleavers and the like, need to be thin and without serrations, bread knife is the exception. If they are going to be used for eating only a 5"ish blade is perfect. If you want the knife to be also used in working at a BBQ grill to cut or trim pieces then more on the 6"ish length. Since its a woodworking workshop I assume they will sell a wooden plate together, which is the right surface for non serrated edges.

Here is a model I do a lot for BBQs, charcoal grilling is a staple in Argentine culture, edge is 14cm/5.5", this one in particular 14C28N stainless, but I usually do them also in O2 carbon steel.

Pablo

xqpd8ea.jpg
Click to expand...

That’s pretty much the profile I ended up with too. Works great.
 
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PEU said:
Culinary knives, with the exception of cleavers and the like, need to be thin and without serrations, bread knife is the exception. If they are going to be used for eating only a 5"ish blade is perfect. If you want the knife to be also used in working at a BBQ grill to cut or trim pieces then more on the 6"ish length. Since its a woodworking workshop I assume they will sell a wooden plate together, which is the right surface for non serrated edges.

Here is a model I do a lot for BBQs, charcoal grilling is a staple in Argentine culture, edge is 14cm/5.5", this one in particular 14C28N stainless, but I usually do them also in O2 carbon steel.

Pablo

xqpd8ea.jpg
Click to expand...
I had heard that the serrations provide a point that stands the edge off of the plate and allows the knife to stay sharp longer. Then Willie71 Willie71 told me that a properly angled tip does the same thing. Thanks for the info. It really helps guys.
 
Tried long time ago a wharncliffe geometry, only the tip touches the plate, and it didn't work for me... YMMV

Pablo
 
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