Winter woodworking projects – Fillet knife.

Finally got enough time to finish the first knife of the winter.

Fillet knife. Handle made from Wisconsin birdseye maple pinned to the through-handle blank with solid brass pins and finished with Danish oil and beeswax.

The blade was not made by me, but by a small batch blade maker. It is a custom-made steel alloy fillet blade that was then gun blued to produce the blue-black finish. The gun-bluing idea was mine, this is the blade makers first attempt at that process and I thought it was a very good one, it makes a pretty blade.

All the fillet knives I have made before have been a more conventional narrow stainless steel blade. This shape is an experiment with a blade that is wider through the body. I will be interested to hear how it works.

Grouse

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thats a sweet looking knife!!!!!!! but i have a knife fetish………..so!!!!!

I have a boning knife from our kitchen set that is shaped like yours. It works well on fish. The thin, curved point lets me shave off the ribs. And the wide part is heavy enough for cutting through ribs.

Love the wood. Nice job!

Beautiful! Really like that birdseye maple handle.

Let us know what you think of the blade shape after using it a bit.

That looks sweet! let us know how it performs.

Rod Bent wrote:

I have a boning knife from our kitchen set that is shaped like yours.

Yes, it’s very much the shape of a boning knife, but with fillet knife flex. Probably not an ideal knife for panfish, but for cleaning up a mess of big Canadian walleye it should be the ticket.

I put the edge on it last night with the water stones and yikes does this baby take an edge.

I have been looking into making my own knife sheaths as well. A nice brown saddle stitched sheath with contrasting stitch color would be great.

Grouse

Nice. I’d be interesting in tinkering with something like that. What does a blade blank run?

Neat!

What kind of steel did you use? I get my best edge with a carbon steel vs stainless.

Rod Bent wrote:

What kind of steel did you use?

His original post said:

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

It is a custom-made steel alloy fillet blade that was then gun blued to produce the blue-black finish.

Ralph Wiggum wrote:

Nice. I’d be interesting in tinkering with something like that. What does a blade blank run?

Anywhere from about $10 to hundreds depending on the pattern and steel quality.

The easiest way to get started is to visit a Rocker or Woodcraft store where you can pick up kit that includes the blade blank (pre-sharpened), pins, and some even have a sheath, and then select wood for the handle (called “scales” in the lingo). BTW, the folding fillet knife kits are difficult to build, but they are really neat when done. Probably not the best for your first project.

For your first project, make a knife that has all wood handles with no brass or steel bolster. Fitting the wood to the bolster is more difficult and you need the ability to plane your scales to the correct thickness with a planer, plane, or by other means.

I use rasps to hand shape the scales and then sanding sponges for the fine detail work. I use a patternmaker’s rasp and then several grades of finer rasps. A rat-tail rasp is also necessary for shaping the inside sweep under the handle. There are many other ways to shape including small stationary belt sander, Dremal tool, etc. Sand to 220 grit. Finish however you’d like. I think one of the simplest and best looking combos is just a regular stain and then a water-based exterior poly.

Rod Bent wrote:

What kind of steel did you use? I get my best edge with a carbon steel vs stainless.

Approximately 1095 carbon, or that was the goal. It comes from a small maker, so there is a +/- factor. This knife took a very keen edge.

Grouse

Awesome! Now I want to do one.