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  #1  
Old 12-18-2004, 10:47 AM
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Fillet knife

Before I found this place I use to make filet knives for myself and friends from old metal cutting bandsaw blades on a craftsman wet wheel grinder. Slow and painful it was, but the time went by and was fun to stand at the grinder knowing the temper was not being lost on that cool, slow wheel.My uncle Frank who raised me showed me how to do it and we would scrounge old knife handles and even just regrind the blades of old kitchen knives if they were suitable. My uncle was a fisherman and taught me to fish since I was a wee tike. I use to fish everyday of my life. I bought my first auto, a 1960 ford falcon van, in 1974 from money that I made fishing. At that time catfish and white bass were the money fish. I watched the Lake Erie walleye and steelhead fishery grow from hammer handles to 10-12 pounders plus and have caught, ate and sold countless pounds of them. Eatin fish from lake Erie never hurt me a bit, (twitch twitch). Fish sold on the hoof from those that met me at the dock. Caught , cleaned, and delivered to my dayly and weekly customers kept me, as a young man out of trouble and in beer women and cigs. the rest i just wasted. In my spare time I buillt custom fishing rods, tied flies for three shops and did all their rod repair. My uncle died in 1975 at age 75, and left me his fishing boat. A 12' alum Larson with the sweetest kikehafer mercury 15 horse motor with a magic sweet spot trolling kickdown lever. I did not get to use it much as my phone rang at 3am every morn with offers to ride, fish and guide for doctors,lawyers,dentists and retired folk around our sleepy little summer cottage town. 1983 came along and the state outlawed selling fish. I was an outlaw for awhile but eventually gave up my lawless ways.
I tell this long rambling preamble, to let you know I have cleaned some fish in my day. Not just my fish, but the fish of the people I guided for. After fishing so many hours a day the last thing you want to do is clean fish for hours on end, so I learned to do it quickly, efficiently and tried to conserve as much filleted poundage as possible. I developed some very definate ideas on what a fillet knife should do. The very best designed filleting knife in my opinion is the Rappala. The thin flexable blade is needed to skin the fish. It is nesessary that it flex and return to straight. You lay the fillet skin side down, hold the blade parelell to the table and push down to flex the blade so it is flat on the table and slice forward, you skin the fish cleanly, separating all the meat from the skin. a nice sharp tip is also important. You need that when you are separating the meat from the bone. You need to feel the bones with your knife, tickle its ribs and make sure the bones stay on the carcass and not in your fillet. The handle shape is important. Any sort of guard is unnesessary and just gets in the way. All of your cuts are made with a draw stroke, so a handle that is wider at the butt helps you to hold on with a handfull of fish slime. I like Rappalas, they fit the bill perfectly, meeting all the criteria above. My uncle would laugh at me for buying them. He thought they were a waste of money and said I was buying half a knife. He was right. Steeling a blade two or three times a day, they seemed to wear out pretty quick. He made his with a much deeper belly and they would last a good long time. To make a short story long, I came upon an old filet knife I made years ago, It was pretty well sharpened down, so, having a few minutes to spare I knocked the blade out of it and made a new one about the same shape as it was when I first made it. It went a lot faster on the belt sander than on the wet wheel. I just started out to show the unique blade holder thingy. What would it be called? I scavenged it from an old,old bread knife with a wavy blade that I had made into a filet knife and sharpend till it was a nub. My uncle made the second blade for it and the one in the pic was the third. I fill the hole with cooking oil clamp a pair of vice grips on the ball, slide on the ring and tap the handlle on the anvil till it seats. It never moves till you have to knock it apart. I was thinking about fabricating my own (blade clamp?) and handle and maybe edge quenching the blade. Sorry if this was long and boring
filletknife(click4pic)


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Last edited by hammerdownnow; 12-18-2004 at 11:42 AM.
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Old 12-18-2004, 11:28 AM
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Not boring at all, thanks for sharing. Good looking knife also.


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Old 12-18-2004, 11:52 AM
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Thanks for the reply Mongo. I forgot to say, I did not have a container handy, deep enough to patena the blade, so I soaked a paper towel in vinagar and wrapped it up for about ten minutes. I cleaned the buffing compound off with vinagar also. The acetone was way out in the garage and that stuff scares me after I learned what it can do to you. I figured if vinagar can take oak tree sap off the windshield of my car it might work to clean the buff off. It did! The unevenness in the etch is from me sanding and buffing the blade with the handle on and not getting real close. Wish I had a nice ten pound wallye to try it out on.


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Old 12-18-2004, 12:42 PM
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Roc,
Thank you so much for sharing this story and the picture. In a perfect world every knife would tell a story with roots this deep!
Buddy


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Old 12-18-2004, 01:09 PM
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Looks good. Did you invent that little clip part? I've never seen anything like it before. I used to go fishing with my dad alot, but luckily for me he did the cleaning .


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Old 12-18-2004, 10:01 PM
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that was great brother roc!! thanx for tha tale!! that lil filet came out real nice and i agree with andy tha lil clamp is a cool gizmo-fed
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Old 12-19-2004, 06:32 AM
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Long? Maybe. Boring? Not at all!

I walked past a knife store in the mall yesterday. They had a bunch of shiny blades on sale, most of which you couldn't use to butter toast. Shiny piece of metal, attractive handle - must be a knife.

But your knife has a story; It has soul. Created with real purpose (to cut fish!) and put together with love and all that experience you describe. That's the real difference between some shiny junk and and a real custom knife! It's that intangible - the soul of the knife - that makes it special.

So thanks for sharing the story and the knife!

By the way, that is a neat design with the clip and all. I hope it filets many a tasty fish!


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Old 12-23-2004, 01:08 PM
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Roc:
I agree with Jack, the knife has soul and purpouse. A true rarity these days. Thank you for sharing the story with us. Im working on a chefs knife today for the In Laws Christmas present, its forged from a chunk of HC steel that came from my Father In Laws Fathers shop. He was a small engine mechanic for many years. The property was auctioned off recently and I bought all the "JUNK" from the shop. Many folks asked if I was buying it for scrap. Little did they know! Oh the treasures it has yeilded! I found Herb's old 1960 era Zippo, cleaned up and works like a champ. An Old hand forged fish Gig that sits proudly on my shop wall to remind me that folks use to really make things! And a huge pile of steel "Stuff" thats destined to be made into something! I know it sounds a little sappy, but It was like I had a long visit with Herb while I was forging this knife. Sure enjoyed the visit.

God Bless, and Happy Holidays!

Mike


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Old 12-24-2004, 01:42 AM
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Roc:
Here is a pic of the knife I mentioned above, I "think" the steel is 52100, or somthing very similar, it was an oblong roller bearing, was very slow to move under the hammer. Hope they like it. I really enjoy being able to make a knife with a little history behind it.

http://knifenetwork.com/ppost/showphoto.php?photo=434

God Bless, and Happy Holidays!
Mike


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Old 12-24-2004, 02:10 AM
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That is really nice! Sure to become a family treasure.

That piece of steel ,saved for purpose by the man, that could have been scrapped, is now a reminder of a loved family member. Brought out to carve turkey or ham on holidays, grandad will be the guest of honor and still be the great provider for his progeny. Thanks for sharing that.


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Old 12-24-2004, 07:17 AM
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We could probably fill a book with such stories. "Work" (you know, that real world out there) is too often not fulfilling. You make widgets, the boss wants more widgets for less salary, and eventually you either get laid off or retired. So we find ways to put the kind of heart and soul that we have into an outlet - whether full time or part time. Sometimes it's charity, volunteer fire department, crafting things - sometimes all that and more.

One of the first knives I customized was for a friend at work. His son was born with cerebal palsy. When he got to be a young teen, he wanted to go 'hunting' with Dad and he wanted a real knife. His father asked me if there was a knife made that had a round tip, as he was afraid that his son's lack of muscle control would lead to him sticking himself. I found a blade at Tx Knifemakers - a skinner with a very thick spline - and carefully ground and polished the end so that it was too blunt to ever hurt anyone. I ground the handle down and made deep finger grooves to fit the kid's hands, then added a large polished brass guard and a thong hole in the rear (to tie the knife to his wrist). I seem to recall the slabs being desert ironwood. The end result was a knife that looked nothing like the original. I gave him the knife the day before Christmas. (I couldn't take money for that job!) By the end of Christmas day, they didn't have a bar of soap in the house that hadn't been turned to shavings! The kid turned 21 this year, and still treasures the knife.

Can you stand another? Another guy I worked with had lost his father when he was very young. His mother remarried and got rid of pretty much everything of his father's. The only thing my friend inherited was a large pocket knife. He told me that the plastic sides had been cracked years ago and he'd like to replace them so that he could pass the knife on to his son. He said, "It must be a cheap knife for advertising tractors or lawn mowers." I asked him to explain. He said, "Well, the blade says 'Case'." OK, it's NOT a junk knife, bring it in. He did a lot of woodworking, mostly on a lathe, so I helped him make a set of birdeye maple sides for that knife. Turned out beautifully. When we finished, he told me that words couldn't describe what it meant to him to have a knife from his father - that now had his own loving work added to it - to pass on to his son.

Maybe its true that a little piece of your own soul goes into those things that you make with love.


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