Another Chef Set

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend.  First of all, I wanted to give a shout out to all of our Veterans out there, those who served and who are currently serving.  A heartfelt thank you from a simple man in Southern Utah.  I deeply appreciate your service to our country and to my family.

Since Christmas is approaching, I decided to put the Guardian Knife on hold for a few weeks in order to kick out a gift for my sweet wife.  I have made her a couple mismatched kitchen knives in the past, which honestly make me cringe each time I use them.  I made them several years ago when my skills weren't the best.  They are heavy, clunky, poorly finished, and the edge geometry is pretty poor.  I decided to make her a matching set of knives of the same design that I used for my daughter's set which I made this past summer.  Hopefully I can get these done before the big day.  Here is some of the progress on this new set.

This pic shows the four knives in the set.  They are from top to bottom: paring knife, utility or vegetable knife, boning or carving knife, and the chef's knife.  These are all made from 1/8" thick 440C steel.  At this stage, all knives have been profiled, pin holes have been drilled, and the tang weight reduced by drilling additional holes.  These knives will all get front and rear bolsters made from 416 stainless steel, just like my daughter's set.  I have some maroon Micarta that I will be using for the scales.  Micarta is very stable and works great for knives that around a lot of water like these knives will be.  It's also really easy to work with and doesn't present the same challenges as working with natural materials.  Not to mention, I think this particular Micarta looks great on a finished knife.

The next step was to taper the tangs.  To my eye, a tappered tang speeks volumes about the finished knife.  It shows the makers skills, as it's not an easy thing to accomplish, it helps to balance out the weight of the knife, and asthetically, it looks really sharp (no pun intended).  I taper my tangs freehand on the flat platen on my grinder.  I use a welder's magnet to hold the knife against the platen as I grind.  It works pretty well.  I'll true the tapers up on my disk grinder and granite surface plate during the finish process after they are heat treated.

Here's a group shot after all four knives have gone through the heat treatment process.  Each was hardened, plate quenched, deep-cold treated with dry ice, and double tempered.  The steel is as close to peek performing specifications for this type of knife that I can get it.  Most makers will grind the bevels or hollows before they heat treat their blades.  I'm always worried about warpage, especially with the long, skinny boning knife.  So, I opted to grind these blades post-heat treat.  It costs me a little more for grinding time and belt ware, but it's worth it to me.

I had enough time to get started on the paring knife grind.  I took it up to 220 grit before I had to leave the shop.  I might try taking these knives up to a mirror polish, or maybe my standard 600 grit satin finish, or I just might just leave a belt finish on them.  I haven't quite decided to what level I want to finish them.  I guess I'll have to watch the clock to see how much time I have to work on them before zero hour.

Thanks for following along with me on this new build.  We'll get back to the Guardian as soon as these knives are done.  I'm anxious to see how those LSCF scales look on the finished piece.  See you next week.

-  Brandant Robinson