The World is Your Oyster, knife that is.

Todd Miller

Todd Miller

Joined
Jan 10, 2009
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149
My son and I made this, he did the handle and I did the blade. The handle is from some local Big Leaf maple that I buy as firewood. Much to my wife's puzzlement I am constantly putting aside pieces too nice to burn. Quilcene Washington, where I live, is only known for its oysters. I plan on cornering the local market for damascus oyster knives. Now I need to shuck a bunch and see howit works. Todd
 

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Very cool Todd! I love oysters and should add an oyster knife to my list of stuff to make. Yours turned out really well.

Let's see some pics of how the shucking goes!!
 
Todd Miller said:
My son and I made this, he did the handle and I did the blade. The handle is from some local Big Leaf maple that I buy as firewood. Much to my wife's puzzlement I am constantly putting aside pieces too nice to burn. Quilcene Washington, where I live, is only known for its oysters. I plan on cornering the local market for damascus oyster knives. Now I need to shuck a bunch and see howit works. Todd
Click to expand...

I shuck professionally at this point....I am suspicious of the handle, looks to be too short for me(Boston design handle), not enough ovoid shape to twist time after time, the copper ferrule will massively discolor with use, and there is not enough tip on the point for me to think it would be my cuppa. I LOVE the Dexter Russell shape and design(New Haven design handle).

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
I think you should probably just send me the knife, and a bunch of oysters, to test for you. Next day air. Don't forget the ice packs.
 
STeven, as a Professional Shucker, would you post a pic of a Shucking knife that you find has the best blade & handle lengths & proportions, handle shape, etc. ? I have seen older short handled ones as in the OP but did not know that this design is not optimal.
thanks, roland
 
Thanks for the comments folks. This really is a prototype. I appreciate your critique Steve. I know the copper is a bad choice around salt water, it is just what I had. . I need to get some stainless. Actually I have piece of titanium tubing somewhere, but I need to find it in my hovel. I have always used a Dexter oyster knife which has a longer and pointier blade. I never could figure out why it was so long, unless you were tackling really big oysters. The sharper point I am going to play with. I also may flatten the handle to give a little more leverage like you suggest, we were trying to come up with a way to quickly do it with a single cutterhead on an engine lathe. But I could flatten it after the turning stage. Ironically Quilcene supplies a great deal of the oyster spat ( oyster larva that growers turn into full size oysters) for the west coast if not the Pacific rim. But as far as I know there is not a fresh oyster outfit still in operation in the area. I have thought of picking a shuckers brain about this. Todd
 
Love oysters always wanted a custom oyster knife. Commissioned one but never received it.
Nice in deed but I like Steven would prefer a slightly longer handle and a little more point.

Let us know how it works after a few bushels.
 
LOVE the choice of materials, great job to the both of you. I couldn't tell from the pic, is the copper/handle section round or is it more oval?
 
Wow, fantastic oyster knife. Im in agreement about having a sharp point. Favorite oyster knife is lankier with a sharp point and has a single sharp edge. The wood is unfinished and the grain keeps a nice grip. I've shucked some quilcenes with it, mostly kumamotos and miyagis here in northern cali. The oysters here are always smalls. I noticed when I was travelling in your area last year that you like those oysters huge!!!!! I'm talking 3 biters. maybe a bigger flatter blade is better for the bigger oysters?????
 
Looks great. One of my first jobs about 25-30 years ago was shucking clams and oysters in FL. they were a buck a dozen back in the day and a couple of us would go at it for a few hours straight on specials night. I don't have a pic of what is deemed perfect, but perhaps a little more handle with a nice rounded palm. I kind of liked a thicker tip (not to sharp) for prying, with an 'almost edge' on one or both sides for cutting through the muscle. Perhaps even a single sharp edge for clams as I used my fingers to pressure it in order to crack a clam seam. Then again, I was young and the places I worked were more about volume than fancy presentation, etc. the crappy restaurant supply model is my only exposure.
 
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rprocter said:
STeven, as a Professional Shucker, would you post a pic of a Shucking knife that you find has the best blade & handle lengths & proportions, handle shape, etc. ? I have seen older short handled ones as in the OP but did not know that this design is not optimal.
thanks, roland
Click to expand...

I looked on the Dexter Russell website, Roland, but they did not have the exact model that I prefer shown in a photo, otherwise, I would have nabbed it and posted....I'll shoot a quick pic tomorrow, and post it here.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Steve, I would like a picture too, I could adapt from there. I am actually going to get some oysters this week and try my knife out. Thanks Todd
 
Todd Miller said:
Steve, I would like a picture too, I could adapt from there. I am actually going to get some oysters this week and try my knife out. Thanks Todd
Click to expand...



White polypro handle, 3" stainless steel blade, you can see the taper at the tip, what you cannot see is the shape looking at it, it is flat at the tip, but ground up until about 1/32" from it. 4" blade would work better for very large oysters.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Thanks STeven. I have a number of the white handled Dexter kitchen knives. Quite amazing really, dirt cheap, but sharp blades and the edge hold just as well as knives costing 10x as much and made in U.S.A.
roland
 
I think we should have a Blade Forum "shuck off". Aw shucks, I'd even host it if I didn't live in the desert.

Thoroughly enjoying the education I'm getting in this thread, thank.

Win
 
I don't know anything about the ergos of an oyster knife, other than realizing it makes a difference.

I have had (2) projects which covered these unique tools. Both by Chuck Schuette who hails from the Chesapeake Bay area of MD. He probably had good input.

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Todd, these may inspire you further. Ironically, the second image is his second he'd sent to me a year later. It's called the Mark-2. A distinct change. Different purpose? I don't know.

Coop
 
Coop - I'm a retired chef. The second piece looks to be a clam knife/shucker. The sharpened edge is used to slice/pry into the small gap between the two shell halves. The rounded tip is perfect for cutting the meat loose from the opened shell.

That oyster knife is STUNNING!!

STeven - Those oyster knives are in every pro kitchen on the planet(as you likely know). The Dexter model you show is the best of he bunch. They're not pretty, but they do work.... very well.... forever. If I made one for myself, that's the model.
 
Bigblue17 said:
STeven - Those oyster knives are in every pro kitchen on the planet(as you likely know). The Dexter model you show is the best of he bunch. They're not pretty, but they do work.... very well.... forever. If I made one for myself, that's the model.
Click to expand...

^The same thing I was thinking.
The first Schuette knife above looks like it would suit me pretty well from and ergonomic perspective but don't think I could bring myself to use something of such beauty for such a dirty job!
 
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