This project started with a simple problem: cutting homemade sourdough cleanly without crushing the loaf. I designed and built a bow-style bread knife to solve that. The goal was to make something sharp, rigid, and ergonomic. It was also a dual project; a labor of love for both my mom and my fiancée, who both love baking sourdough. I started with sketches, then moved to SolidWorks CAD to lock in blade tension and handle geometry. I chose a stainless steel serrated blade and tensioned it using hardware embedded in machined walnut side arms. The handle was shaped to feel natural in the hand and allow for long, smooth strokes without flex. The final knife works exactly how I hoped, and it means a lot more because I made it for people I care about.
Once the design was set, it was time to build. I rough-cut the blanks using a table saw and jigsaw to get the overall profile. I used red oak for the arms and started shaping with a spindle sander to get clean inner curves and smooth radii around the blade cutout. From there, it was all hand work, lots of sanding to smooth out the faces, break the edges, and dial in the grip. I wanted it to feel natural in the hand, not too blocky. After everything was fitted and cleaned up, I finished it with several coats of urethane to protect the wood and bring out the grain.
Below: The finished product.
