Help on a filleting knifes

[Fishin_Dan]

Shouldn't that post be in the "How you got your handle" thread Choppa???

I'm a big knife fan myself... As a kid, no one would let me go into the King of Knives

[Gbanger]

used to work at sherrys disposals, i couldnt keep myself out of the knife cabinet, it was great fun... once a guy came into the store, asked the clerk to look at a knife and then stabbed him with it... i wasnt working there yet but it was a good story

[GiddyUp]

Just stay up late and buy a few things of Danoz Direct on the telly, they will always throw in a set of knives, you could start a collection

[Big_Ren]

I bought a Dexter Russell (8") filleting knife for about $30 and same brand boning knife (6") for about $50 about 12 months ago along with a steel and only ever use them for fish. They hold a dangerously great edge and are the best knives I have ever used. They're from the USA.

Cheers
Paul

[Strike]

Wiltshire used to make a staysharp fishing knife many years ago, had one for years. By the time it was shagged I had learnt to sharpen a knife properly myself, I now go for a nice soft steel knife, easy to keep sharp with a few slicks of the steel between fish.

I still have mine from the early 90's. Lost the self sharpening case but the knife is still going strong. They don't make them anymore??

[charleville]

Very interesting topic. The secret to good filleting is undoubtedly having a very sharp knife.

My filleting knife collection has been more modest than others but I have spent good money on them along the way.

However, I decided last year to really get on top of the skill of sharpening knives so I searched out the best book that I could find and bought it from Amazon.com http://www.razoredgesystems.com/ If you look at that website, you will see that they will sell you a whole system with tools, videos, etc. The website also has some short clips showinmg the techniques.

That was pretty informative and yes, I did hone my sharpening skills if you will excuse the pun.

But then I discovered just how sharp some of those $1.50 paring knives from Crazy Clarks can be. Bloody great knives actually.

So of late, I have not bothered playing around with sharpening the knives that I used for filleting. I just buy another el cheapo Chinese made paring knife from Crazy Clarks for $1.50.

They are small knives which give me lots of manoeverability and they are very sharp. ...and oh yes, when I drop them over the side of the boat as I have done a couple of times, I don't lose sleep over it.

I am sure that they would not do for professional butchers or people who fillet fish for a living but for someone who just catches a few each week, they are fine.

[charleville]

I've often wondered why us fishermen (and women) don't buy wiltshire staysharp knives that come in its own sharpening sheath......surely its the best way to keep a knife sharp???

The Wilshire knives with their sharpening block are sort of ok but you will not get a super sharp knife with them. I think that we stopped using ours at home 20 years ago because they don't gradually got blunter.

Refer the book that I mentioned in my previous post and you will learn of primary and secondary edge faces on the blade and the proper use of a steel to maintain the sharpness of the blade.

The author did research with butchers in writing the book employing testing of various sharpening techniques on effectiveness.

BTW, he absolutely dismisses serated knives as being useless because they cut by ripping rather than slicing.

He then says that they best knife is the one that you feel comfortable with, stainless or otherwise and that all knives may be made very sharp.

[dan099]

hi guys i fillet full time at mooloolaba and i and most the other fish cutters i know use 5 & 6 inch vitronox curved boners as thay are by far the most controlable size and shape for most types of fish and soft enough to get a edge back on them with not much trouble as for skinning most use ham slicers of the same brand both can be bought for around $20 in most good knife stores

[Cruiser]

I too use a 6" Victorinox boning knife but wanted something more flexible for skinning. So I recently bought a 7" flex filleting knife from King of Knives for $46. It's called F.DICK - yeah funny name - it's actually Friedrick Dick from Germany. Very nice to use and takes (and holds) a superb edge.

King of Knives also sell Victorinox but I didn't like the shape of their filleting knife (too deep).

Just need to catch something now to carve up!

Chris.

[longtail]

holy crap choppa

my missus thought i had a heap of knives in the kitchen

my preferred blades are victorinox or fdick , once sharp they stay that way

it helps if you take the time to learn how to sharpen knives properly

i found during my boning days that any knife made in germany is always of excellent quality.



cheers
jason

[CHRIS_aka_GWH]

as you may may have guessed by now I use Alvey reels & have a 9 inch Dick ...

Dick knife for larger fish - mackerals, jew etc & my greenback tailor and skinning

The finer pointed Normark for smaller & fiddlier fish - whiting, bream and The Lone Wolf's tailor

without a doubt the best knives I have ever owned for cleaning fish & I've owned a lot. I have Wusthof in the kitchen but the angles of these knives are far superior for fish.

The Normarks are about $20 from Kmart or a local tackle shop, the Dick is about $50 from King of Knives or cheaper by a quarter if you know a butcher who has a rep who visits.

chris

[choppa]

as you may may have guessed by now I use Alvey reels & have a 9 inch Dick ...

chris

chris,,,,, i read the openly line and spilt me scotch,,,,,,,,,,,

i'm going out to the shed now and dig out me alveys,,, and swap all the shimano reels over,,,

mans gotta have status amongst the newbies

[grave41]

Any knife can be made sharp,so long as it is comfortable to use.Best advise is to learn how to grind ,stone and steel them.
meatworkers preferred knives
Boning; Victrinox, Swibo ,F.Dick,Victory.
Slaughtermen; Dexter Russel Green River
Steels;The older the better;Williams pipe ,Wilson,Spear and Jackson,F.Dick. These steels are rubbed back to a smooth finish with different grades of sandpaper and then repitted using various methods.
Stones ; aluminium oxide,arkansas water

Williams Pipe steel on ebay 2 days ago was up to $304 last time i looked. Graham ex boner