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Posted

Here are a couple of BK inspired knives. They are 5160, hollow ground, and differentially hardened. Not being a bladesmith, I pretty much relied on Ed Fowler heat treat info. I really enjoyed making them and am still amazed at the amount of time involved in just the handles. I have a new respect for the professional bladesmiths.
John

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Posted

Is there any reason you chose to hollow grind for a kitchen knife?

Don't get me wrong, they are beautiful, I'm just curious. In all my years as a chef I have never seen a hollow grind. Flat grind, which over time becomes convex seems to be the norm.

I'm particularly liking the bottom one, and the flow of the line from the spine into the handle.

Posted

Hollow or flat grind is almost akin to Ford Or Chevy. I have used both and my preference is a hollow grind. Which may be influenced by my almost entire knife making consisting of holow grinds. One big factor to consider is that a large blade such as a chefs knife requires a larger diameter contact wheel for a hollow grind. For a maker that does mostly small knives that means a purchase of a pricey wheel for wot may be alimited number of blades. I use an 8" wheel for almost all of my blades and they usually are about six inch or less. The size of wheel is mostly dependant on the width of the blade spine to edge. For instance my blades stay under one and a quarter inch int width. If I make one wider and use the same wheel I cannot grind the hollow up any higher towards the spine or the belly of the grind will make the blade really thin in the middle of the hollow. I can somewhat change that a bit by using a thicker blade steel. However if I make a really thick hollow ground Chefs knife I can plan on using it myself as i doubt any chef will want to use a knife that heavy. I do indeed do some blades flat ground as some folks prefer that style of blade. The big knife I use in the kitchen is an old carbon steel butcher knife i bought new over 40 years ago, and it is flat ground , With a little convex shape. It is a rather thin blade and I just would not replace it with a hollow ground one done on my 6" wheel. That heavy of a blade would not be comfortable to use. If I lost this knfe for any reason I would likely make another just like it. Make and use wot you like!

Posted

Very well done! Your finish work shows a lot of skill and attention to detail.

I don't want to highjack your thread, but your knives remind me very much of more refined version of a pair I finished last month

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Kinda funny when ya look at them eh? Same blade steel, minor differences in regard to craftsmanship< (yours are nicer ) materials used, but still rather similar in appearance...all of them made around the same time about 100 miles apart.

Posted

Rich,

Thanks for the input. I just made a couple of flat ground knives using the same pattern. To me, they're not nearly as visually appealing as the hollow ground ones. Being the worst cook in Gearhart, I'm at a loss as to the usage of the hollow vs flat. Some local chefs are interested in them, so feedback will be good. I've also gone to 52100 as I have a fair # of large cylindrical bearings that have been sitting in a bucket for the past 15 yrs. That is some hard steel! I think the bearings even laughed at my big hammer. As you mentioned, a larger wheel would be an improvement for grinding larger blades. Thanks again.

John

Posted

The reason I asked (I didn't mean to have this thread wander) is that kitchen knives, unlike other knives, are subject to frequent deburring on a steel and sharpening on a stone. Ideally the grind profile should be one that is easily maintained. In the 11 years I was cooking professionally, my morning ritual was: coffee, left over pastry and 5 minutes on a water or diamond stone. (the flip side being my Mother, who has never sharpened her kitchen knives...ever)

I'll be the first to admit that I'm learning to make knives, and I'm open to new ideas. Using them though, I'm pretty good at that, lol.

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