A Report on the Manufacturing

Process of Kitchen Knives and

its Uses

Submitted to:
Pritesh Kumar

Compiled by:
Ashwin Shenoy
(16621316ME224)

June 2017
Ashwin Shenoy
16621316ME224
NITK Surathkal,
Mangalore-01

ABC/XYZ/RE-1

6 June 2017

Pritesh Kumar
NITK Surathkal
Mangalore

Dear Sir,

A REPORT ON THE MANUFACTURE OF KITCHEN KNIVES AND ITS USES.

I
Introduction
As demanded by you, the following report has been prepared which gives a detailed description of
the process, raw materials employed, manufacturing techniques and uses of Kitchen Knives, a
common item used in every household today.

II
Procedure
The information has been collected from various internet sites, the primary sites being Wikipedia.
The images used are from Wikipedia and belong to their respective owners. No claim has been made
on them. The sites have been given below which have been referred during the preparation of this
report.
1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knife_making
2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wi
3) ki/Kitchen_knife#Handlehttp://www.essentialingredient.com.au/featured/what-are-your-
knives-made-of/
4) For the image, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kitchen_Knife_Anatomy.png

III
Discussion

Material used for the process of making knives:

The major part of a knife comprises of its blade and handles. The main material that is used for the
manufacture of kitchen knives is stainless steel having a moderately high percentage of carbon.
Low grade carbon stainless steel is not preferred as the knives produced will be of a low quality that
tends to bend very easily and also be too soft to hold an edge. More the percentage of carbon in
the stainless steel more will be its strength and hardness. The percentage of carbon that is used
depends on a variety of factors such as hardness, toughness, edge retention, sharpness, corrosion
resistance etc. The handles can be made of wood, plastics, a combination of both or stainless
steel. Wood is generally preferred as it gives a good grip but it can easily be damaged by long term
exposure to liquids. Stainless steel handles are most durable of all but provide less grips. Hence
most of the manufacturing process for handles use composites like plastics as they provide good
grip, are durable and have good resistances to liquids and chemicals.

Diagram and nomenclature:

A Point: The very end of the knife, which is used for piercing
B Tip: The first third of the blade (approximately), which is used for small or delicate work.
Also known as belly or curve when curved, as on a chef's knife.
C Edge: The entire cutting surface of the knife, which extends from the point to the heel. The
edge may be bevelled or symmetric.
D Heel: The rear part of the blade, used for cutting activities that require more force
E Spine: The top, thicker portion of the blade, which adds weight and strength
F Bolster: The thick metal portion joining the handle and the blade, which adds weight and
balance
G Finger Guard: The portion of the bolster that keeps the cook's hand from slipping onto the blade
H Choil: The point where the heel meets the bolster
J Tang: The portion of the metal blade that extends into the handle, giving the knife stability
and extra weight
K Scales: The two portions of handle material (wood, plastic, composite, etc.) that are attached
to either side of the tang
L Rivets: The metal pins (usually 3) that hold the scales to the tang
M Handle Guard: The lip below the butt of the handle, which gives the knife a better grip and prevents
slipping
N Butt: The terminal end of the handle

Manufacturing Process:
Initial Forging:
The initial shaping of a knife is done through forging. When forging, the blade material is heated to a
high temperature or forging temperature in a forge and shaped with a hammer on an anvil to achieve
the desired shape, often to near final dimension, where very little stock removal, if any, is required to
finish. Steel can be folded either to form decorative pattern welded steel or to refine raw steel. Grain size
is kept at a minimum as grain growth can happen quite easily if the blade material is overheated. In a
mass production environment, or in a well-equipped private shop, the blanking process is used to make
"blade blanks." This can be achieved by a number of different methods, depending upon the thickness of
the material and the alloy content of steel to be cut. Thinner cross section, lower alloy blanks can be
stamped from sheet material. Materials that are more difficult to work with, or jobs that require higher
production volume, can be accomplished with water jet cutters, lasers or electron beam cutting. These
two lend themselves towards larger custom shops. Some custom knife makers cut their blanks from
steel using a metal-cutting handsaw.
Knife makers will sometimes contract out to a shop with the above capabilities to do blanking. For lower
production makers, or lower budgets, other methods must suffice. Knife makers may use many different
methods to profile a blank. These can include hacksaws, files, belt grinders, wheel grinders, oxy-
acetylene torches, CNC mills, or any number of other methods depending on budget.

Grinding:
If no power equipment is available, this can be done with files if the piece of steel has not yet been
hardened. Grinding wheels or small belt sanders are usually what a beginner uses. Well-equipped
makers usually use a large industrial belt grinder, or a belt grinder made specifically for knife
making. Pre-polish grinding on a heat treated blade can be done if the blade is kept cool, to
preserve the temper of the steel. Some knife makers will use a coolant mist on the grinder to
achieve this.

Final Heat Treatment:

Atmosphere furnace, vacuum furnace, coal (coke) forge, oxy/acetylene torch are commonly
employed to attain the final heat treatment. Quenching after heat treatment differs according to
type of metal and personal preferences. Quenching is a process where the metal after being heated
to a suitable high temperature is plunged into a suitable liquid to increase its strength Quenching
can be done with oil, animal tallow, water, air, or brine.

Final Process: The handles are then riveted or screwed onto the blade to prepare the final crude
Knives, which are then suitably sharpened.

Uses: The major uses of kitchen knives are for cutting, slicing vegetables, raw meat, etc.

Thank You
Yours Faithfully
Ashwin Shenoy
16621316ME224