Oil palm is an economically important crop, and the process of harvesting its fruit constitutes a major proportion of the production cost. Using an efficient harvesting knife can reduce the cultivation cost and ensure a high yield. In this study, the effect of the material and curvature of the knife for cutting fronds and fresh fruit bunches (FFB) was investigated. Three different materials, namely, EN-42J, EN-9, and Hardened and Tempered (H&T) steel and five different curvatures namely, Malaysian model, Andhra model, Kerala model, FMD-1 and FMD-3 were examined. A total of 15 harvesting knives were developed and evaluated in the field using a load cell indicator attached between the pole and the harvesting knife. The parameters of maximum cutting force (CFc) , maximum specific cutting force (SCFc), and maximum specific cutting energy (SCE) were calculated. The findings indicated that the material of the knife exhibited a negligible effect, but the curvature had a significant effect. Of the various models tested, the values of the CFc (30.56, 54.50 kgf), SCFc (0.26, 0.95 kg cm^–2), and SCE (5.08, 4.78 kg cm cm^–2) were the least for the Malaysian model followed by FMD-3 model for cutting the frond and FFB.