KNIFE MAKING CONTEST - Toast Cutter

[Gabe Newell]

This is supposed to be a fun contest, so please take it in that spirit. My wife has been bugging me to get one of my "knife friends" to make a toast cutter. After showing her my recent purchase of an engraved Fisk bowie, I was asked "... and you'll never cut anything with it, right?"

To which I replied, "probably."

"Why don't you ever get one of your knife friends to make you something useful?"

"Like what?"

"Like a toast cutter!"

A toast cutter is an imaginary device that will ostensibly reduce the labor required to cut off the crusts of a piece of toast, a task which my wife and I perform several thousand times a day, so that we may drop un-crusted toast into the gaping maws of our offspring.

I will be happy if a toast cutter was less "labor saving" and more "charming", "amusing", "damascus" or "made by Jerry Fisk."

Anyhow here are the rules of the Toast Cutter contest as made up more or less on the spot by me.

#1) If you are interested, post a note in this thread with a rough concept of what you will build.

#2) The top five entries picked by me one week from now (with help from the peanut gallery) will be given $500 to build their toast cutter. Hopefully these toast cutters will be producible within a month.

#3) The five resulting toast cutters will be sent to be photographed by an appropriate pro (I'll probably pester Coop to get him to do this). The pictures will be posted in this thread, and a winner selected by the entrants themselves. The winner will get an additional $500 and the glory of knowing that they are the king of toast cutting cutlery - gigantic production deals with Boker or Buck are sure to follow.

[SharpByCoop]

It would be a supreme honor to be the official 'Toast Cutter' photographer. I have had knives worth many thousands of dollars come to my studio--but NONE which will have quite the importance of this prestigious set. :evil

Count me in.

Coop

[tom mayo]

Got the message...........now I have to think............thats the hard part!!! :cool: :cool:

[AUBE]

lol i just might have to get into this action sounds like a fun project..lemme think for a bit about some designs.

i just took a peek at your website...wow i had no idea you were behind half-life....thats amazing. i havent had the chance to play it yet (because of crappy old 233 system) but ive seen some of it and it looks like a wicked game. in process of upgrading, got a amd 2000+...now i need some memory(128...eeesh) and maybe a video card. the game looks right up my alley ( being a wolfenstein, doom, duke nuke-em, etc fan)

im in awe (bows down before Gabe)

-Jason Aube

[Chris Daigle]

Please accept this as my entry into the "Crust Cutter" competition. I thought this was too funny to pass up, and with the help of my wife, I've come up with my concept.

My knife would feature 1/8" 440C for stain resistance. Overall design would be 8 1/4" with the blade being 3 3/4". The bolsters would be Japanese mokume and dovetailed. Handle material TBD but more than likely pinned with copper to match the bolsters. The handle would feature a carved rear and fileworwork to be on the spine.

Here is my concept sketch:


I would like to call mine "PB&J" to stand for "Pretty Bad Attempt at Jocularity".

Thanks for the competition!
Chris

[tmickley]

Half-life! Look pal, you owe me a lotta personal time wasted ducking head crabs and then theres the windows thing to boot.

I gotta get me some of that toast cutting stuff. Off to the drawing board.

[Mark Williams]

I would make a toast shear. A miniature version of a sheet metal shear with some kind of fancy wood for the table and maybe a damascus shear blade. It would be a heavy and substantial piece of kitchen equipment The fun factor would involve the decorative design of the shear. I have a gargoyle in mind, maybe a clown, or a baby grand. limitless ideas.

Another idea would be of the French revolution influence. You can guess what that would be

A couple of miniature busy woodsman could be toast cutters. That would take a little thought.

Thanks for this Gabe. Youve given me something to take my mind off the humdrum of the day job. Cant wait to see how this turns out.

[VSMBlades]

I think a good idea would be a small modified arbor press, like a coin press, to cut off all four crusts at once. you would have a square box of steel with the edges mildly sharpened and install them in the press then you would insert the entire sandwich into the press and pull on the handlel. Not saying I could build one but anyone is free to take the idea and run with it.

The Samich Shear tm

There would be plenty of room for it to be as fancy or as plain as you wanted and it could also take care of cutting up pesky frozen things too since it would exert a lot of force on the cutting edges.

[SVanderkolff]

I just couln't resist.

Stabilized olive wood block base (olive is supposed to be healthy)
Raised toast platform
Parrallel Dual damascus or 440C modified ulu blade cutters
Hollow ground 8" blade length per blade
Scrimmed ivory handle (ivory micarta if you prefer)

If I could draw I would post a scketch.
Steve

[nwknight]

I will have a design posted probably tommorrow. Pictures are better then words.

[B. Buxton]

I have drawn up my version of a toast crust cutter but I am having trouble posting a picture, so I contacted my good friend Mike Fitzgerald (fitzo) and asked if he would post the drawing for me, so when Fitz gets it posted you will see what I'm talking about. It will be all mosaic damascus, with a hippo tooth handle. The wheel 1 1/4 - 1 1/2"diameter will set between 2 forks, with a solid bolster and butt cap.

Thanks Fitz,

Bill

[fitzo]

You're welcome, amigo! Here tis, posted for Bill Buxton:

[markd]

Are we talking toast toast or the raw pre-toast state (namely bread)? Texture and edge holding ability will need to be a factor. Also...the setting of said toaster may throw people off, will be interested to see outcomes. I am much too green to delve into such an undertaking.

How you going to use that brass thingy on this project, Tracy??

[TexasJack]

Fitzo, that's a pizza cutter!

Now, if we add some gears and a small motor........ then we'd have the makings for a Texas Toast Saw Massacre!

....or maybe not!

[fitzo]

Not my design, Jack....just posting that for my bud Bill, as stated in his post. Me, I'm working on a four-bladed, laser guided auto-size-sensing, solenoid controlled trigger-actuated device that will have blades that morph to the proper shape of the bread and minimize losses of the good stuff as it removes the crust. Should take about 20 years to develop and only $15M upfront research funding. However, it's a great design, honest!!

Unfortunately, I realized Gabe's kid will be able to remove his own crusts by the time I finish.

Alas, I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to get in on this fine offer. Am I goofy? You have no idea.....