ULU - Unique Kitchen Knife, "Magic" Knife Stand

"Derived from the Eskimo-Aleut term “ooloo”, the ulu knife was a device used by indigenous Alaskan tribes for thousands of years. Originally, it was named uuluurag, which meant a woman's knife. It has been traditionally used to clean the skins of different types of meat to make clothing and cut meat for different preparations".  ---https://dalstrong.com/blogs/news/ulu-knife

That is about the best summary I could find about this knife which led me to continue with the latest theme in "woodworking projects for the kitchen".

There are two projects involved here.  As in most of our kitchen knives that were from "blank" blades, I recently ordered an ulu (blade only) so I can fashion the handle (known as scale) and made a "magical" knife stand.   As in most magic tricks the allure is lost once the trick is exposed. Or, as in this case, perhaps you will find it still interesting even if you find out how the magic works.  More importantly, which I will get to later in the blog, this knife has one distinct cutting advantage in "kitchen works".

The knife

 

Knife stand

1. Fashioning the handle (scale):

A drawn to scale sketch 

From the stash of leftover hard woods, I picked marble wood for the scale and maple for the stand. Marble wood is not just known as such because of its grain pattern but that for its hardness (as a rock, metaphorically).

I ripped a section of marble wood close to the required dimension

My shop-made jig saw did quick work of the scales roughly close to dimension

I used a double sided tape to temporarily attach the scales to the blade 

Shaping the edge of the scale flush with the blade handle's edge 

2-part industrial epoxy, rivets and clamps completed the glue-up of the scales to the blade handle.  Took 24 hours to cure.

Oscillating drum sander did the final shaping of the scale's edge

Final sanding and shaping of the scales 

2. Making the knife stand:

Dimensioning the parts from scrap maple

By the way, I actually made the stand before the scales; thus showing the blade in the photo (below) without the scales yet, positioned over the block.

I ripped a very thin veneer of the maple (below) from the block

Drilled two shallow sockets to accept two rare earth magnets

CA glue secured the two magnets

The veneer is glued back to the block 

The test

This knife, predating the medieval look by a few thousand years, has one advantage.  Since the handle is directly above and over the blade, it requires very little amount of pressure to make cutting and slicing with minimum effort over the same traditional blade of comparable sharpness. No wonder the indigenous Inuit and Eskimo women favored the knife.

This knife allows  rolling/rocking motions that are not possible with traditional knives for cutting fish fins and fish center bones easily.  Slicing meat and vegetables go naturally. As in all cutlery tools, sharpening and honing are a must.  Mastering the use of an ulu knife will take a bit of getting used but clearly not difficult to learn; however, once mastered it is a joy to use.

Notes:  

1. The knife can be used bi-directionally; that is, traditionally the wide blade is pointed forward but one may use, reversing it, with the sharp point forward as in getting into the crevices of the meat or even veggies (for example I used that configuration of cutting into the gills of the fish above, or into the narrow corners of a pepper or tomato)

2.  Finished (complete and ready to use) ulu knives are commercially available at prices no more expensive than medium-priced and high end cutlery.  They are worth a look.

No Glue, No Screws, No Nails

When a woodworker takes over the kitchen to help out after my wife was diagnosed with Parkinson's, certain projects do tend towards a few ways the cooking experience is "enhanced" with a little bit of this, a little bit of that. 

I ordered  a set of pepper and rock salt grinders. It came with a wire caddy. Unfortunately one has to use both hands to remove either because the two wire collars act as spring clips to secure the grinders.

There were at least a dozen ways I thought a replacement caddy could be made.  Below is what I came up with, put together without glue, screws or nails; yet, rigid and securely fastened together. How I did it is detailed in the photos to follow.

As often the case I started with a rough sketch but here I drew the lines in actual scale on the workpiece directly on the base.

Cutting to size

Slots were cut on two sides and the center divider and three slots on the base will enable assembling the pieces together like a 3-D jigsaw puzzle.  Using the table saw, I cut two kerfs as shown.

A chisel makes quick work in completing the slot.

I drilled two finger holes on the two outer sides, then on the router table I cut the grooves for the Plexiglass, then using another router bit, I eased the edges of the holes. 

Dry-fitting the Plexiglas (cut to measure earlier on the table saw) with the blue protective film.

Finished with Polyurethane

Below, before assembling the "3-D jigsaw puzzle

A while back I did a project on "Kitchen Tools Stand" shown below in the background.  That is the reason I designed the caddy with all straight lines so the two would sort of aesthetically match.

For those wondering what the pink stuff is, it is Himalayan Pink Salt.  Not expensive at all, bought in a 2-pound bulk.

 {As a side note:  The word salary comes from Latin, 'Salarium' for salt, " A commonly cited theory is that the phrase meant “money consisting of salt”, because Roman soldiers were sometimes paid in salt', or so the theory goes. Whatever the case, salt was apparently an expensive item back then}.

My wife thinks this is not the end of kitchen-themed projects. As always, she is right 😍!