Question: Reshaping a chef's knife blade to a sandoku?

[andy1000]

Hi,

Apologies if I'm posting in the wrong place but as a complete novice, I was wondering if any of the experts here could answer a question for me.

I've got a set of Taylors Eye Witness kitchen knives which I like the weight & handling of, as well as seeming to cut well, but like an idiot I dropped the largest chef's knife onto the floor and bent the tip of it slightly. I also really like the shape of santoku knives and think that it would suit my cutting style, so I was wondering if the chef's knife could be reshaped/cut to a santoku shape? For reference the blade length by my rough measurement is 7.5-8" (not sure where to measure from & to).

This is only a tentaive question/musing at the moment as I couldn't afford to have the work done even if it's possible, but I'd be interested to here the advice of the experts here!

Thanks for any help,
Andy

[Sparky415]

That sounds doable

Here's something I have been playing with recently, the Sabatier at the top

[andy1000]

That's exactly the sort of shape I'm after Sparky! As I say, it's not something I can afford anytime soon but what sort of price would something like that cost do you estimate?

Cheers for your help!
Andy

[Sparky415]

If you are ever up near Oxford one afternoon it would cost you a plate of cookies
Or you can send it to someone like Longstrider to sort out for a very reasonable cost (as said somewhere else on this forum you would need to buy some of those butchers chain mail gloves to go with it)
Maybe try PMing him

[andy1000]

Funnily enough I lived in Oxford for 11 years so do head up your way every so often (less than I should really) to visit old friends! Maybe next time I make a pilgrimage up I'll drop you a PM and see if you're free

Choc-chip, plain or mixed cookies?

[Sparky415]

You might get some better offers as the day goes by

Feel free to PM me when you are passing

(Which ever kind come on the large plate Mate )

[bobw]

If it bent in the first place you might well be able to bend it straight again. Could snap of course, only one way to know for sure. A dremel type tool with cut off discs would make short work of cutting the new tip shape. Use a wet rag to cool the blade to stop any heat build up ruining the temper. Finish with emery cloth, then wet&dry used with a hard backing to keep everything square.

Whats it made of anyway, got any pics?

hope this helps
bob

[andy1000]

You might get some better offers as the day goes by

Feel free to PM me when you are passing

(Which ever kind come on the large plate Mate )

Thanks mate, I appreciate that!

If it bent in the first place you might well be able to bend it straight again. Could snap of course, only one way to know for sure. A dremel type tool with cut off discs would make short work of cutting the new tip shape. Use a wet rag to cool the blade to stop any heat build up ruining the temper. Finish with emery cloth, then wet&dry used with a hard backing to keep everything square.

Whats it made of anyway, got any pics?

hope this helps
bob

Hi Bob, I did try to hammer it back straight and had a bit of luck but it's still slighlty out of alignment. To be honest like I say I'd quite like to try out a santoku blade anyway and as I can't afford to splash out on a 'decent' new knife I thought I'd look into what could be done with my current blade (that and I like the look of it which would match the other knives in the set I've got! )

Sadly I don't have a dremel or similar nor trust my lack of skills to even attempt such a job!

According to the writing on the blade it's just 'stainless steel' and as I bought them second-hand I have no reference to what type steel they are. They're probably pretty cheap but they seem to cut well for me (in my limited experience of cutting and blades anyway).

Actually, I have just found this link from the manufacturers website to the knives I've got, although it doesn't look like it specifies the blade steel http://taylors-eye-witness.co.uk/pdfs/k9_ss.pdf

Cheers,
Andy

[FGYT]

as said its fairly simple an no more than 10-30mins depending on what tools you have

ATB

Duncan

[andy1000]

as said its fairly simple an no more than 10-30mins depending on what tools you have

ATB

Duncan

I don't think a hacksaw and screwdriver would do it somehow though! (Yeah, I know my toolbox is pitiful!)

[TB_London]

I always wonder why people prefer Santoku to chef's knife shape, but happy to give this a go. PM'd

[FGYT]

I don't think a hacksaw and screwdriver would do it somehow though! (Yeah, I know my toolbox is pitiful!)

yes easiest for home would be a 4" angle grinder and slitting disc then wet and dry on a bit of baton and elbow grease to clean up

I would cheat and use my big linisher tho

[andy1000]

I always wonder why people prefer Santoku to chef's knife shape, but happy to give this a go. PM'd

Different strokes for different folks I guess (excuse the awful pun!)

PM'd back

[TB_London]

Some pics as an update

Knife as it was against 2 santokus for comparison (Moritaka AS and Murray Carter if anyone cares)


Overlaid Moritaka profile


Ready to cut off the perfectly useable and in my mind helpful tip


Against the original profile after cutting the tip off and shaping the front:



After PMing Andy he usually push cuts and so a flatter profile is more useful than all the belly this knife has, so i flattened it out a bit and then thinned behind the edge.



Against the Moritaka profile, tip is still slightly higher, but would have needed to lose too much length, or blade height to get there IMO and it's barely anything.


A quick microbevel and a strop and it's plenty sharp enough.
The eagle eyed will notice i trimmed down the bolster at the back so the edge can now make contact with the chopping board all the way along the edge. I dislike bolsters down the heels of blades so much.....

All ready to packed up and in the post tomorrow, unless there's anything else that needs doing...

[arian]

That looks an excellent job . Agree about the irritation of the bolster stopping the blade hitting the deck.

'Course, you gotta wonder if andy1000 will still like how it handles now the balance is all changed