How to Make an Alaskan Ulu Knife

The Making of the Ulu Knife

In our house we’ve been using an Alaskan ulu knife for many years. It’s an easy and quick way to cut fruits and vegetables. The curvature of the blade rocks back and forth on the mating cutting board for efficient slicing. The ulu knife and cutting board is based on one we purchased while visiting Alaska many years ago.

Knife Making

The blade is made from a sheet of 16 gauge stainless steel cut with a jigsaw and metal cutting blade. Some final sanding and shaping was done on the disc sander and belt sander. I sharpened the blade using a Work Sharp 3000 sharpening station and finished up by hand with a sharpening stone. The blade is sandwiched and glued using epoxy between to pieces of soft maple and reinforced with 1/4″ brass dowels.

Cutting Board

The mating cutting board is also made up of soft maple with walnut accents. Once squared up I chucked it on the lathe to carve a recessed bowl to allow the blade to rock back and forth. All the wood was then sanded smooth and finished with butcher block conditioner.

Cook With Meat

This video was made in collaboration with Cook With Meat. Check out his YouTube channel and website for some amazing cooking tutorials.

Tools and Supplies Used

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