Stainless Kitchen Knives

Make two custom stainless steel full-tang kitchen knives and learn the basics of knife maintenance.

This is a course for anyone who wants to make their own stainless steel knives, regardless of whether they've never touched a tool in their life or they're a seasoned maker looking to learn more about working with stainless steel.

We will explain the techniques, equipment and little tricks (especially for heat treating stainless steel) that will get you started making your own knives from stainless steel. In addition, you'll receive a free professional-grade ceramic honing rod along with the knowledge and skills required to keep your kitchen knives in top condition.

Even if you never make a knife again, you'll have two beautiful high-performance kitchen knives that will provide decades of service. French style, German style, Japanese style, mix-and-match or go your own way.

Participants will receive help from their instructor to create two knife designs:

• one large general purpose knife
  • blade max envelope of 210mm x 50mm
  • max overall length 335mm
• one utility knife
  • blade max envelope of 105mm x 35mm
  • max overall length 230mm

This course goes for two and a half days and is over 20 hours long.

The course begins on an evening with an overview of the process of making a full-tang kitchen knife in stainless steel. This includes time to design your two knives and choose handle materials. It also covers blade theory and design, heat-treating stainless steel, and workshop safety.

The first full-day starts early and is all about getting steel in the right shape and metallurgical condition. You’ll use bandsaws, grinders, and hand tools to transform two blank pieces of stainless steel into two almost-knives. At the end of the day it’ll be time to heat treat your blades in preparation for the second day.

The second full-day will see you finish your knives and add any final personal touches. You’ll complete your handle scales, assemble your blades and learn the theory and practice of kitchen knife maintenance.

At the end of the course, you’ll walk away with two razor-sharp handmade kitchen knives.

You do all the work yourself, no prior experience using tools necessary. Our job is to guide, instruct and help you recover from any mistakes.

Cost includes tuition, insurance, materials, use of tools, workshop consumables, safety gear, morning and afternoon tea.

You’ll need to bring lunches, appropriate clothing and enclosed footwear, and make sure long hair is tied back.