"Home Brew" Bush Knives - Part Two
by Keith A. Williams
Many
butcher knives manufactured today have wooden handles and blades that are springy and thin. While the untrained eye may at first see this as a sign of poor quality, the frequent user will soon realize that it has been purposely engineered this way. The wooden handle will provide years of quality service with little maintenance, and contrary to what some would have you believe; the wooden handle (just like a wooden chopping block) does not readily grow bacteria like many synthetic materials. Furthermore, the flexible nature of the blade is actually beneficial in boning and filleting meat, and the thin cross section offers less resistance in slicing and dicing fruits and vegetables.
Although
carbon steel butcher knives are common, they still might be a little hard to find at first. Department and superstores generally are stocked with cheap stainless kitchen cutlery. I have had better luck finding these tools at hardware stores - especially those in small towns. Also, second-hand stores, antique shops, and garage sales often have old carbon knives available very inexpensively.
If I were to have a complaint - it is that most of today’s butcher knives tend to range in length from six to seven inches of blade length, and my preference is for a slightly shorter model. Fortunately, this is easily remedied with the application of a little skill and patience. For my latest project, I have found that
Cold Steel had in the past produced a very high quality model of butcher knife they called the Hudson Bay pattern. I felt it would serve as a perfect example. My sample started out with an overall length of 11.5", and a high carbon steel 7" blade of approximately 3 mm thick. This is a bit thicker than many butcher patterns, but it is still a thin knife. This knife would serve as the basis for producing an "ideal" bush knife.
Do you have your own tip to share?
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