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.