My cutting edge solution

[dcarch]

Dedicating this post to a generous lady member here who sent me a whole lot of seeds on her own. Thanks.

We put a lot of dedications into growing tomatoes. I just don’t like at the end these beautiful maters get all messed up into a mushy pile with bad knifes.
(not my video)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Tm-LWceeTkE

I have not been able to find a knife that’s really designed for cutting tomatoes.

So I designed and made my own. From the video, you'll see that there are a few types of cutting operation this design can get done easily.

I started out with a high quality high carbon stainless steel slicing knife and reshaped it.

I actually ended up with extra steel to make another paring knife for general use so that I don’t have to dull my tomato knife. The high carbon steel can keep a razor edge to give me clean paper-thin slices for a long long time.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=gIWRklZHlNo

Tools needed: Dremel rotary tool with abrasive cutter wheel. Grinding stone, and sharpening stone to give a final razor edge.

Let me know what you think.
dcarch

[Zana]

looks like quite the handy dandy knife.....now all we have to hear is the sales pitch spiel. Looks like its very easy to use. And what I like was one tool did it all.

Off topic - watched your removable greehouse video. Obviously an easy teardown there. To paraphrase an old saying: "Laziness is the mother of invention."....it isn't always just necessity. My grandfather who was a tool and die maker and could design the tools to make the dies, said it was laziness rather than necessity that was more paramount to him. Looking for an easier more efficient way to make it, and do the job with it. Which I think applies to both your new knife and removable greenhouse. Great work, Dcarch!

[Rena]

Very nice! I have a tomato knife it has a sharp tip and is serrated it is a little bigger then a steak knife.

[dice]

So those were the fiberglass-reinforced Dremel cutting
wheels?

I was wondering about cutting a profile in a retired
high speed steel planer blade or similar with a
diamond-coated chainsaw sharpening cutter for
a Dremel (faster than a diamond-coated rod saw
in a hacksaw frame, and high speed steels can
get a lot hotter than cutlery steels before the
material loses its hardness). High speed steel
is not as corrosion resistant as stainless, but quite
a bit more than regular high-carbon steel.

Handy-looking knife, anyway (and unlike
a knife made from scratch, it comes with
a handle:-).

I find that I may not have time right then to stop and
hone a knife that I find a little too dull when I start
to slice tomatoes, so I keep a thin, serrated, Ginzu
slicing knife handy for a backup. It is not as fast
as a really sharp knife, but it doesn't mush the
tomatoes.

[Worth1]

I hate serrated knives.
There’s no better knife than a, “razor sharp knife” to cut tomatoes.

Nice job Dcarch!!!!

If you like knives I use these folks for a lot of stuff I buy.
http://www.jantzsupply.com/cartease/
Gunsmith tools and other wise.

Worth

[Rena]

Mine is serrated on one side of blade... I told my DH one day it is the best one to use on tomatoes. I checked a catalog and it indeed is called a tomato knife.

[Worth1]

Just remember to always be safe whatever knife you use.
Really!!

Attachment 3035

[dcarch]

Originally Posted by Zana

"Laziness is the mother of invention-----!

OK, I get the message: I am a no good lazy SOB bum

Originally Posted by dice

So those were the fiberglass-reinforced Dremel cutting wheels? -------.

That’s exactly what I used. I had to have a pot of water to cool the blade often so that I don’t de-temper the steel.

Originally Posted by Worth1

I hate serrated knives.

Originally Posted by Worth1

There’s no better knife than a, “razor sharp knife” to cut tomatoes.

Nice job Dcarch!!!!

If you like knives I use these folks for a lot of stuff I buy.
http://www.jantzsupply.com/cartease/
Gunsmith tools and other wise.

Worth

Me too. I don’t like serrated knives. You can’t really sharpen them.
That’s a great link! Thanks.

Originally Posted by Rena

Mine is serrated on one side of blade... I told my DH one day it is the best one to use on tomatoes. I checked a catalog and it indeed is called a tomato knife.

I know they call that a tomato knife. But it can't do the cuts I need.

Originally Posted by Worth1

Just remember to always be safe whatever knife you use. Really!!

Originally Posted by Worth1

ATTACH]3035[/ATTACH]

For sure I will be very careful. That's the finger I often need in traffic whenever someone cuts me off.

dcarch

[Zana]

What can I say?....I'm all for something that allows me to do something easier and more efficiently....guess that makes me a lazy DOB bum too...lol

[TomatoDon]

Love the knife and video. Does any one here peel them? That's the old way that I love most.

Don

[dice]

"I don’t like serrated knives. You can’t really sharpen them.'

Actually you can sharpen one like Rena's, you just need
the right tool: a diamond-coated rod with a diameter
small enough so that the curve of the rod is at least
as small as the curve of the teeth. For something like
the Ginzu, the teeth are extremely fine, and it's so cheap
that one can just grind the teeth off and throw it in a junk
drawer when it gets dull, and buy another.

Here is a pretty good knife (not stainless, will rust, so it
needs to be cleaned and dried after each use, but one
can get it very sharp):

http://www.japanwoodworker.com/produ...&dept_id=13198

It may seem a little thick at first glance for tomato slicing,
but if it is sharp enough, one finds that is not an issue.

[dcarch]

Originally Posted by dice

"I don’t like serrated knives. You can’t really sharpen them.'
Actually you can sharpen one like Rena's, you just need
the right tool: a diamond-coated rod with a diameter
small enough ----------------Here is a pretty good knife (not stainless, will rust, so it needs to be cleaned and dried after each use, but one
can get it very sharp):

Serrated blades are not generally made with good steel. Yes, you can make them less dull, but I don't think they can be really be sharpened like high carbon steel blades.

I keep a high-carbon steel knife separately for slicing only. It has been a few years since I last sharpened it. I can still shave with it. Yes, you need to wipe it dry afterwards so it would rust.

dcarch

[dice]

"Serrated blades are not generally made with good steel."

True more often than not. My thin Ginzu slicer seems
decently corrosion resistant, but the ability to hold an
edge is not a selling point.

"I keep a high-carbon steel knife separately for slicing only.
It has been a few years since I last sharpened it. I can still
shave with it. Yes, you need to wipe it dry afterwards so it
would not rust."

High carbon, non-stainless blades will even start to pit while
you are slicing with them, though the pits are too small to
see at first. If the knife is professionally sharp when
you start, this does not interfere with tomato slicing
(more or less "micro-serrated").

One can keep a fine stone handy and run that sort of blade
over it a few times after drying it to minimize the micro-pits.

The advantage of high-carbon steel ("will rust") blades
over stainless blades is that they sharpen up faster
and usually can get sharper. The disadvantage is that
they do not take abuse very well ("edge will chip", so
do not spend much money on one unless you are very
careful with it as a matter of habit).

People who take their knives seriously may find these reviews
informative:

http://www.cutleryscience.com/reviews/reviews.html

(Only a few kitchen knives are reviewed; section is
down near the bottom of the page. But it does take
a thorough look at the performance of many different
knives of various types, and the explanations of why
something performs the way it does is generally
useful in understanding knife materials and edge
design.)

One place to get quality knife sharpening if you
do not have the time or knowledge to do it yourself
and do not have a professional sharpening shop
handy:

http://drsharpening.com/

(They do mail order sharpening.)

[Tomstrees]

Hands down - and if you want the BEST - def. a knife you can pass on to the little ones ...
I suggest the "Wusthof Tomato Knife" ...
Its by far, the BEST knife I've ever used ...

http://www.wusthof.com/

~ Tom

[Worth1]

For those that want a serrated edge on any good carbon steel knife this is the cats meow I have one that is 40 lines per inch I use for checkering steel and serrating.

Checkering Wide Pillar Files- As wide as a hand file but, as with all pillar files, cut on bottom and top, but not on sides. Useful for putting serrations on knife edges and to obtain a checkered design similar to a gun handgrip. Overcut is parallel to the file edges and upcut is 90° to overcut. The lines per inch will vary depending upon the length. See chart below for specifics.

Just imagine 40 little teeth an inch on a knife edge that can be sharpened with a stone, 'as you will use the file on both sides.


Worth