Somewhere buried in one of the threads there was a little discussion on covering kitchen knife blades to protect the edge, as well as protecting anything the knives might come into contact with while in storage or transport.
I just thought I'd share a quick and cheap method I'm perfecting.
My wife’s trick of wadding aluminum foil over the blade is surprisingly effective, but I had to try to engineer something ‘better.’ What can I say?
Disclaimer: this involves high temperatures and sharp objects. If you try this, and hurt yourself, don’t blame me.
I've made two plastic sheaths so far from used milk jugs. I just cut out the flat area on the side of the milk jug and laid it on a piece of foil in the oven. I had the oven set on 350*, but that's not a critical temperature; I just watched it until the white plastic turned clear.
Then I took it out (foil and all), and laid it on a potholder. Then, holding the knife handle in one hand I use the potholder in the other hand to wrap the plastic around the knife blade. I started by laying the back edge of the blade down the center of the plastic, and then folded the plastic over the blade so that it comes together along the knife's edge. I also kind of pinched it together along the knife edge to help it stick together. After I got it molded, I peeled the foil off.
You can't waste too much time in the molding process, since the plastic cools fairly rapidly. Once it cools I used a pair of tin snips to trim around the edge of the blade, leaving about 1/4" of plastic.
The plastic molds really well around the blade, plus sticks together at the overlap, making a nice blade protector. It doesn't come out real smooth, so it isn't as pretty as a custom thermo-molded plastic cover, but it's functional, which is all I care about.
The second one I did I doubled up the plastic by melting two layers of plastic at the same time. As you would expect, it turned out thicker and better.
However, on the second one I had a really hard time getting the plastic off of the knife after it cooled. I think that was because it was a serrated knife, and the plastic molded into the serrations. Once I did get it off that first time, though, it is easy enough to get on and off. Trying to yank a well-stuck knife out of a slippery bit of plastic is pretty risky, to say the least.
One concern I have is that the inside of the plastic cover is going to be difficult to wash and dry. By ensuring that the blade is clean and dry before covering it, I hope to avoid contamination and rust problems. I am also thinking about cross-drilling the plastic in several places to facilitate washing and drying, but I’ll probably only do that if I find problems.
I just thought I'd share a quick and cheap method I'm perfecting.
My wife’s trick of wadding aluminum foil over the blade is surprisingly effective, but I had to try to engineer something ‘better.’ What can I say?Disclaimer: this involves high temperatures and sharp objects. If you try this, and hurt yourself, don’t blame me.
I've made two plastic sheaths so far from used milk jugs. I just cut out the flat area on the side of the milk jug and laid it on a piece of foil in the oven. I had the oven set on 350*, but that's not a critical temperature; I just watched it until the white plastic turned clear.
Then I took it out (foil and all), and laid it on a potholder. Then, holding the knife handle in one hand I use the potholder in the other hand to wrap the plastic around the knife blade. I started by laying the back edge of the blade down the center of the plastic, and then folded the plastic over the blade so that it comes together along the knife's edge. I also kind of pinched it together along the knife edge to help it stick together. After I got it molded, I peeled the foil off.
You can't waste too much time in the molding process, since the plastic cools fairly rapidly. Once it cools I used a pair of tin snips to trim around the edge of the blade, leaving about 1/4" of plastic.
The plastic molds really well around the blade, plus sticks together at the overlap, making a nice blade protector. It doesn't come out real smooth, so it isn't as pretty as a custom thermo-molded plastic cover, but it's functional, which is all I care about.
The second one I did I doubled up the plastic by melting two layers of plastic at the same time. As you would expect, it turned out thicker and better.
However, on the second one I had a really hard time getting the plastic off of the knife after it cooled. I think that was because it was a serrated knife, and the plastic molded into the serrations. Once I did get it off that first time, though, it is easy enough to get on and off. Trying to yank a well-stuck knife out of a slippery bit of plastic is pretty risky, to say the least.
One concern I have is that the inside of the plastic cover is going to be difficult to wash and dry. By ensuring that the blade is clean and dry before covering it, I hope to avoid contamination and rust problems. I am also thinking about cross-drilling the plastic in several places to facilitate washing and drying, but I’ll probably only do that if I find problems.
