Boning knife

[spurly]

Looking at the meat cutting thread, got me interested in what everyone is using for a boning knife. I have a Victorinox, that’s over 20 years old, but the handle is starting to crack, so might be time for something new. It’s a knife that we use pretty much every day, not just for cutting meat.
Any suggestions?

[Jerry D]

Can check out ron post knives. May have something suitable. Nice simple knives!

Sent from my SM-A530W using Tapatalk

[amosfella]

Check Faber Sharpening in Lethbridge.

[surhuntsalot]

Victorinox.... there’s a reason they’re most common in butcher shops...

https://www.amazon.ca/Victorinox-Cur.../dp/B0000CF94L

[Stinky Coyote]

https://www.amazon.ca/Zwilling-J-Hen...%2C209&sr=1-16

https://www.zwilling.com/ca/zwilling...knives#start=1

this is the bad boy several of us prefer, keep a couple in the garage for when help arrives on a busy night, like this knife enough that i bought the clamp style sheath to have one as my truck knife with a saw for the field dressing as well, it really should have a regular sheath imo, you can do a lot with these knives

i take a havalon up the mountains or for any backpack work

[owlhoot]

I used a 6" Henckels Boning knife for years, Good steel and has a bit of flex, Also good for splitting perch and walleye down the back when filleting

[Map Maker]

Swibo knives are my favorite. If I ever see them on sale I buy them and still have and use all the swibo I bought.
I looked for a link and it looks like victorinox bought out swibo in 2005.
So there ya go , got the best of both
https://www.couteaux-services.com/bu...inox-swibo.htm

[spurly]

Some pretty good suggestions so far
Thank you.

[buckbrush]

A few years ago I retired my collection of boning butchering knives and went with about 10 assorted F. Dick knives. My favorite is the flexible boning knife.

I also picked up a hand hook and a knife scabbard. Those were game changers.

[Au revoir, Gopher]

I use an F.Dick semi-flex curved boning knife. I got my wife a Victorinox semi-flex straight boning knife... was the easiest way to keep mine from disappearing on me I would say they are similar price and similar quality, I prefer a curved blade.

ARG

[Bushleague]

After a couple decades of butchering deer I use exactly 3 knives to do it...

-A Mora knife for boning. Works as good as anything else, go get one.

-A 10" Victorinox butcher knife for almost everything else. Worth every penny, and while I thought it a bit large when I first got it, I wouldnt get a shorter one.

-My fillet knife for a couple delicate tasks.

[Andrzej]

I have multiple boning, skinning knives.

I don't like stiff blades but I think that Hencle's 5.5" stiff knife feels different than a 6" stiff knife. (Personal preference)

I would buy this
https://www.cabelas.ca/product/4261/...processing-kit
on special now.

I have this kit and I like it. Nothing special but not bad.

[CNP]

X3

[spurly]

Some nice knives, thanks for the info, will help a lot.

[Buckhead]

I use SWIBO for boning.
Then J. Russell and Co., Green River Works for skinning, cutting and everything else.
Henckels would work ok, too, if you can find an older set.

[freeride]

I use a fish filleting knife. Lots of flex, sharp. I take off silver skin like you would fish skin with the meat side up silver skin along the cutting board. Very little wasted that way.

It's not as fancy... but it works great.
Bigger butcher knives for cutting steaks and such after.

[7600shooter]

Hopefully this question can be thrown in here what angle do you fellas sharpen your boning knives?Buy the way i have victoriaknox 6 flex and semi stiff,have not had the chance to use them much on animals,I can say the flexible one works remarkably well for filleting fish.

[graybeard]

Swibo knives are my favorite as well......

[calgarychef]

Victorinox curved blade ones for me, I keep one at work and one at home.

It was always stressed by my butchering instructors not to use flexible filleting knives for boning. They said the tip can slide around the bone and bite the user.

I have a 12” “breaking” knife that I use a little bit too but the boning knife basically does it all.

[sns2]

Originally Posted by calgarychef

Victorinox curved blade ones for me, I keep one at work and one at home.

It was always stressed by my butchering instructors not to use flexible filleting knives for boning. They said the tip can slide around the bone and bite the user.

I have a 12” “breaking” knife that I use a little bit too but the boning knife basically does it all.

So do you use stiff or semi-stiff?

[Buckhead]

You want a small amount of flex in the blade only so it doesn't break under pressure or if the tip gets caught.

[midgetwaiter]

Originally Posted by calgarychef

Victorinox curved blade ones for me, I keep one at work and one at home.

It was always stressed by my butchering instructors not to use flexible filleting knives for boning. They said the tip can slide around the bone and bite the user.

I use the Victorinox trailing point as well but I was intrigued by the Benchmade Meatcrafter until I saw the price.

https://www.themeateater.com/pages/meatcrafter

The other thing that surprised me was how hard the steel is, 60-62 seems like a chip waiting to happen. Although Shun and others make VG-10 boning knives of similar hardness so maybe that's not a concern.

Do you think the hard steel is a concern?

[buckmaster]

I was taught to cut meat with a hook-eye boning knife. A few years ago I bought a Dick flexible boning knife and is a nice boning knife as well. The henckels knives are also ok but find the handle not so grippy at times.

[calgarychef]

Originally Posted by sns2

So do you use stiff or semi-stiff?

Semi stiff...

[irgendoeppis]

F.Dick curved 6" semi flex is my favorite, but I use Victorinox ans swibo too. A Victorinox semi flex is way stiffer then a F.Dick

[spurly]

Looks like lots of choices.

[CptnBlues63]

Originally Posted by surhuntsalot

Victorinox.... there’s a reason they’re most common in butcher shops...

https://www.amazon.ca/Victorinox-Cur.../dp/B0000CF94L

Bought two of those from the local abattoir a couple weeks back before butchering our 4 deer and bull moose. My younger brother took them home to make sheaths for them. Two of my brothers used the Vicotorinox knives.

I've been using a 6" Normark filetting knife for years (found it a couple decades back at a boat lauch) that I like because it's just a bit more flexible than the boning knives we bought this year.

[jeprli]

Flex curved for neck boning, straight stiff for round bones.
I find henckel and swibo boning knives a lot easier to sharpen than victorinox. But i do prefer fibrox handles.

In the end its all up to your personal skill and interest, practice is everything. Most guys don't know how to hold a knife properly or how to even start a cut. Any boning knife will do in right hands.

[Coiloil37]

Originally Posted by midgetwaiter

The other thing that surprised me was how hard the steel is, 60-62 seems like a chip waiting to happen. Although Shun and others make VG-10 boning knives of similar hardness so maybe that's not a concern.

Do you think the hard steel is a concern?

Depends on the bevel, type of steel, heat treat and if it had a cryo treatment. Hardness is only one small part of the equation to your question. Really comes down to type of steel and who heat treated it.

I’ve got a CPM-154 blade at RC62 that’s .006 behind the edge, finished at 10 degrees per side that hasn’t chipped on anything yet.

[Battle Rat]

Reasonably priced boning knives will not hold an edge for very long.
But that's not a deal breaker, an expensive blade will be better but not by much.
Expect a softer edge to roll a bit when running across bone but know that frequent steeling will straighten that up and greatly extend the time required for sharpening.
For that reason a couple of $20-$30 dollar knives is a far better investment than a single $100 blade of better quality steel.
A good, smooth as glass (steel with no silly lines on it) will keep you going when boning out a new animal.