Steel choice for making fillet knife. 3V?

L

Loren Jones

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Jun 26, 2019
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I'm looking to make a fillet knife for my dad. He fishes a lot and catches fish in the 1-8 pound range, generally cleans them cutting the ribs off the spine then takes the skin off the filet and removes the ribs. So he cuts through quite a bit of bone in the process although the bone is small.

No saltwater exposure.

He has a variety of sporting goods store junk fillet knives.

I am weighing edge retention capability and toughness very highly. I certainly don't want something chippy. Corosion resistance certainly matters but due to the compromised edge retention to toughness balance of stainless steels I'm thinking of using somewhat corrosion resistant but not truly stainless steels.

The top of my list right now is CPM3V. Thoughts? It's extreme toughness, very good edge retention and moderate corrosion resistance seem appealing. Am I crazy for considering a non-stainless material?

In the stainless world I'm drawn to things that favor toughness over extreme edge retention...I don't want this thing to be chippy. In the stainless realm I'm considering AEB-L, Z-Finit or 14C28N (if I could source it).

Any suggestions much appreciated.
 
I would think the AEB steel for ease of maintenance :) But I’m no knife maker so it’s just my .02 worth ;):D But as a buyer id buy a fillet knife in AEB before 3v and I really like 3v
 
Duramax and Richard338, thanks for the AEB-L endorsements.

Duramax, what do you like about 3V in your experience and why would you avoid it for a fillet knife? Corrosion?

Thanks
 
Loren Jones said:
I'm looking to make a fillet knife for my dad. He fishes a lot and catches fish in the 1-8 pound range, generally cleans them cutting the ribs off the spine then takes the skin off the filet and removes the ribs. So he cuts through quite a bit of bone in the process although the bone is small.

No saltwater exposure.

He has a variety of sporting goods store junk fillet knives.

I am weighing edge retention capability and toughness very highly. I certainly don't want something chippy. Corosion resistance certainly matters but due to the compromised edge retention to toughness balance of stainless steels I'm thinking of using somewhat corrosion resistant but not truly stainless steels.

The top of my list right now is CPM3V. Thoughts? It's extreme toughness, very good edge retention and moderate corrosion resistance seem appealing. Am I crazy for considering a non-stainless material?

In the stainless world I'm drawn to things that favor toughness over extreme edge retention...I don't want this thing to be chippy. In the stainless realm I'm considering AEB-L, Z-Finit or 14C28N (if I could source it).

Any suggestions much appreciated.
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I'd ask your Dad about his feelings for stainless vs. non-stainless for a fillet knife.
The vast majority of folks prefer stainless steel for such usage, an opinion I share.

My secondary opinion is that either AEB-L or 14C28N would work. 14C28N is said to be more corrosion resistant, and if pushed, I'd vote for that.
 
I don’t know if I understood correctly how your dad fillets fish. I also don’t know what kind of fish he catches (other than 1 to 8lbs). However, a flexible knife is convenient when you remove the meat passing the knife between the meat and the ribs. The skin you remove before or after depending upon the fish or how you’re used to doing it.

in any case, if you must cut the ribs off the spine to then remove the ribs from the meat (?) then flexibility is not that important, and what you need is a blade that holds an edge after cutting bone. Or maybe shears. Again, I’m a bit confused about that way to fillet fish. An 8lbs fish usually has some pretty tough ribs, especially as they attach to the spine.

By the way, I have a couple of fillet knives (5” and 8” or so) made of 440V steel and those knives rock the world. But I fillet fish different than your dad does.
 
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Dad catches walleye, northern, lake trout. He generally goes straight along the spine through ribs. Then he leaves it attached at the tail end by the skin. He next takes the meat off the skin and then slices the bones off the fillet. If it’s a bigger fish he may just carve the meat off the ribs.

let me ask this way...would a high end stainless like m390 etc do well at avoiding chipping on small bones? If so I’ll just go with a high end stainless. I just don’t want him to deal with chipping. I’d prefer rolling or abrasion and wear over chipping. For example I’ve had S30v and wouldn’t use it for this application due to chipping tendency.
 
Loren Jones said:
Dad catches walleye, northern, lake trout. He generally goes straight along the spine through ribs. Then he leaves it attached at the tail end by the skin. He next takes the meat off the skin and then slices the bones off the fillet. If it’s a bigger fish he may just carve the meat off the ribs.

let me ask this way...would a high end stainless like m390 etc do well at avoiding chipping on small bones? If so I’ll just go with a high end stainless. I just don’t want him to deal with chipping. I’d prefer rolling or abrasion and wear over chipping. For example I’ve had S30v and wouldn’t use it for this application due to chipping tendency.
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If you don’t want S30V then M390 wouldn’t be any better. To avoid chipping you would want to stick to AEB-L or 14C28N.
 
I’ve got a 7” and 9” fillet knives in S30V made by Big Chris. Haven’t had any issues with chipping. To date, they have served me well and am very pleased with them. The only other steel I’d opt for would be S35VN. I hear good things about S45VN also.
 
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