A few cut out and ready to keep me occupied over the next few weeks untill I can ship off shore again.

Got everything prepped with all the stainless blades foil wrapped and ready for HT when I pick up some more liquid nitrogen at the end of the week.. Did a pre grind on these ones, hardened them and have them in the tempering for first cycle to have the second one in the morning. Had to think through how to do the grind on the ulu but with a bit of an adjustment to one of the jigs I can repeat the angles for the finish grind and now have the tooling if there are more orders for these handy little kitchen knives. I leave enough spine on them all so that after the oil quench (12 seconds) I can bang them in between the alloy plates in the vise (to ensure straightness) for a minute or two as I am setting the next blade in the heat. Still have a couple of minutes to dunk the plates in the water bucket to cool before the next blade is ready to come from the forge to quench.

The vegetable cleaver would look kinda cool with a beard like the Japanese noodle knife but only half way down the handle

That is an interesting knife style and one I hadnt seen before. Is the blade edge as straight as it looks?. The one I am making is a special order for an old school friend from the mid 60's. It is the so called "serbian" chefs knife but that is a made up tearm as I saw a post on the knifemakers forum that was about the Serbs using standard cleaver style rather than this rounded spine model but these fad knives catch on and I will make them if the orders come in or any other style that is requested. I started out almost exclusively on hunting knives but that is only about 1/2 of my order book now.

Yes, flat to cut noodles all at once.

https://youtu.be/RdHzNM0zFXc

https://youtu.be/EPn3DOyhUms

I guess home made noodles are not a big thing in the circles I move in as I have only ever seen them being made on a cooking show and they had a roller and a cutter that cut a sheet of them all at once.

A hybrid Serbian chef knife and noodle knife seems interesting.

I wonder what it would have most use doing that other knives cannot work equally well or better.

The beauty is having the cutting edge right by or underneath your hand to be easier on your hand or give you better control. It is just mechanics. The farther away the pressure is from the fulcrum, the harder you work. It would excel as a vegetable prep knife. Could be made in a flat and a curved blade design.

That idea has a lot of the ulu characteristics but with a straigher blade and the cutting edge under the hande but with a portion of the blade forward as well. It has a lot of merrit. Large vegetables like cabbage for coleslaw etc would need the forward full height (and clear of the handle) part of the blade where the smaller and somethims harder vegetable like carrtos etc would benefit the hand (as you say) with the portion of the blade under the hand

Call it the billy goat Gruff knife. It had a beard like a billy goat. Great all purpose prep knife.

You could also add a trigger hole for the index finger if you want to get fancy just forward of the bearded section.

May just habve to have a serious look into this but it will have to wait till I get the order book down to a managable level. My thinking is the chinese vegetable knife blade size at 4 1/2 inches deep by 6 1/2 inches long and bring the beard back along the handle for about 3 to 3 1/2 inches with about an 1/8 inch curve from the toe back about 2 1/2 inches to facilitate the light rocking for center blade cutting and a 1/4 inch curve up to the heel of the beard but I will have to cut a pattern out and see how it will work for both the forward and the rear of the blade. It could also have the nut crusher pommel that I put on the chinese knife for crushing garlic etc

Yay!
Excited to see how it comes out. The trigger hole could assist in draw cuts and lightening the blade and aiding a more rear center of gravity.

quote:

Originally posted by Von Gruff:
May just habve to have a serious look into this but it will have to wait till I get the order book down to a managable level. My thinking is the chinese vegetable knife blade size at 4 1/2 inches deep by 6 1/2 inches long and bring the beard back along the handle for about 3 to 3 1/2 inches with about an 1/8 inch curve from the toe back about 2 1/2 inches to facilitate the light rocking for center blade cutting and a 1/4 inch curve up to the heel of the beard but I will have to cut a pattern out and see how it will work for both the forward and the rear of the blade. It could also have the nut crusher pommel that I put on the chinese knife for crushing garlic etc

The chinese vegetable knife hold is a pinch grip over the front of the handle so not sure the trigger hole would assist much in that regard.
On another front I got a few nitroV stainless blades hardened and into the cryo quench today so there is plenty ahead of me for a while with those shown in this video and what is already on the bench
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...&ab_channel=VonGruff

Yes, exactly the right hold for that knife. I hope I am explaining this right but for me, long draw cuts on veggies a modified hold is handy for more control. If you take a yellow neck squash for example, you have a curved vegetable that requires a lot more lateral forces that a hole in the blade forward of the bearded section. It is a bit unorthodox but can be useful. Something to play around with if you have the time. I made a few prototypes with a hole and it was quite a natural hold, like gripping a gun.

Are you familiar with Larrin’s work?

I am learning a lot from him.

https://knifesteelnerds.com/20...ow-to-heat-treat-it/

https://www.amazon.com/Knife-E...ometry/dp/B08D4P9D95

Yes I got a lot of information for the HT of the NitroV from the knife steel nerds
One of the guys on one of the FB knifemakers mpages has done a couple of short cleavers with a triger finger hole so I am not unfamiliar with the concept.
I will have to investigate the best way to do the hole. I think an end mill in the drill poress may be the best solution with the limited gear I have.

Glad you are familiar with his stuff. He is an inspiration in steel nerdiness. The hole would be cool to try with and without to see what works best. I’ll be impatiently waiting to see how the Billy Goat Gruff knife comes along when you have the time.

I will play with a bit of thinboard patternstock and see how it looks over the next few days.

A lot of work and looking good!

Hmm. Up here in the US on Washington State's Olympic Peninsula (Yep, a lost place, I can see Victoria B.C. from my driveway) keeping busy is something we strive to do during the cold, wet winter when it is just too miserable for outside activities like fishing and hiking the mountains.

So I put in a lot of time in the heated shop. Waiting for summer!

But it is now summer down your way, correct?

Excellent work Von Gruff, keep the photos coming!

quote:

Originally posted by WoodHunter:
A lot of work and looking good!

Hmm. Up here in the US on Washington State's Olympic Peninsula (Yep, a lost place, I can see Victoria B.C. from my driveway) keeping busy is something we strive to do during the cold, wet winter when it is just too miserable for outside activities like fishing and hiking the mountains.

So I put in a lot of time in the heated shop. Waiting for summer!

But it is now summer down your way, correct?

Excellent work Von Gruff, keep the photos coming!

Yes it is summer here and it can get a bit warm in the shed with the ambient temp helped along by the larger of my forges running up arround 1950F pumping a bit more heat into my "play area".

I sent you some images of my imagined knife. what do you think?

I think between us there will be a very usefull and varried usage knife that will come from this collaboration.

Caught up on the handsanding and sorting the variuous handle components for this lot today;

What is that wood on the left one and the long one? they look beautiful

On the left is black lacewwood and the cimeter has tasmanian blackwood

This pair done
A left handed "D" handle on the chinese vegetable knife with black lacewood over brass on the L6 HC blade and a Serbian chef knife with stabilised willow on the 1084 blade.
I learned a lesson with the serb knife in that a wide blade like this is a real chalenge to sand after hardening so in future I will do a pre HT hand sand and do an antio scale coating to make things less difficult and time consuming

You do some amazing work. I would be proud to have either of those.

This one is ready to go but I will wait till mid jan at earliest to keep from having it handled by any tempory staff in the postal servivce. It is off to northern Australia to a collector I have done a number of knives for before.
13th century styled Knights Templar dagger. Blade forged from leaf spring and eleven inches from tip to guard and 17 1/4 inches overall. Spiral twist buffalo horn handle with brass guard and pommel having a deep engraved cross. Medievel styled sheath without the hanger as it is for display purposes in his man cave

The 12 1/2 inch cimeter has Tasmanian Blackwood over brass on the 1084 blade

A pair of plain handled pro boning knives from members of the local meat industry

A "Serbian Chef" for a school days friend and the willow handle is a reminder of the trees that were in the paddock between our houses where we spent time. Has a 1084 blade.

A 4x4 Hunter with spalted Buckeye over brass on the 1084 blade

A eucalyptus handled PH EDC with 1095 blade for a local hunter


A ULU for a repeat customer with walnut on the 1084 blade. Was fub setting the tangs into the handle rather than splitting the wood and doing it that way with a much nicer finish.


A Light Hunter with canvas micarta having a 180 grit finish (for grip) on the scandi ground 1095 blade



and a Bushcraft Hunter with the same canvase micarta handle on the scandi ground 1095 blade.


And a new design that I am really pleased with. A Bird and Trout with Tasmanian Blackwood over brass on the 4 inch NitroV blade.

Another two ready to go. A J T Ranger with walnut over buffalo horn on the 1095 blade in cross draw sheath and a light dagger with tasmanian blackwood over a red liner and brass guard on the 1084 blade.

Kitchen slicer (Western styled Nakiri) with dyed buckeye burl, brass and micarta spacers on the NitroV stainless blade and a pair of His 'n' Hers steak knives with Yellow Cedar Burl on the NitroV stainless blades.

A Fairbairn - Sykes third pattern dagger.

quote:

Originally posted by Von Gruff:

A ULU for a repeat customer with walnut on the 1084 blade. Was fub setting the tangs into the handle rather than splitting the wood and doing it that way with a much nicer finish.

That ULU is fantastic!!
I have sat & watched a 90+ yr. old native Lady cut fish up like no tomorrow with an ULU made from a old saw blade. very nice work Sir!!

quote:

Originally posted by tsturm:



That ULU is fantastic!!
I have sat & watched a 90+ yr. old native Lady cut fish up like no tomorrow with an ULU made from a old saw blade. very nice work Sir!!

thank you. I use mine for a lot of herb chopping and the cutting of the likes of hard vegetables and the likes of rhubard than is much harder to cut cleanly with a standard knife.. This is a short video of its use as a herb knife https://www.youtube.com/watch?...&ab_channel=VonGruff

These are ready for leather now. A pair of NitroV steak knives with red lacewood, a chef with natural lacewood on the 7 1//2 inch nitroV blade. Buffalo Skinner with blister maple over brass on the 1075 blade,. I still have to do the leather and get an edge on the blade with a final clean-up before they can go.

A light hunter with spalted buckeye over brass on the SS damascus (raindrop) blade and a bullnose skinner and a boning knife for a farmer (so hard work and little care)
with swamp kauri on the 1084 blades.

Gorgeous work!