4th knife design - need input for newbie

K

kg4miq

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Oct 30, 2009
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After my first two knives (HERE), and an attempt to make a forged blade(HERE), I'm working on the 4th and 5th designs for Father's Day, and would like some input from those of you with more experience.

Here are the specs for these:
Material: O-1 or D-2 (preferable)
Thickness: 3/16"
Length: 6 to 6.5" overall
Width: 1"
G10 or linen micarta (I have both in this color)
Copper pins

I think I like the clip point design a little better, but haven't decided yet. I prefer the leading edge of the scale design of the second knife (lower), realizing it's a bit more work.

What do you think?

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I think the front of the scale on the bottom one is going to snag on stuff and feel weird if you lay your thumb on the spine, which I seem to do a lot. Other than that they both look nice.
 
I am also new to making and design is hard! You will get many suggestions so just take them all in and decide what style you like. In that size knife I would go with a thinner stock. It will be used as and EDC so everyday cutting chores will be in order. A thick knife won't be able to get in those tight spots like zip ties for example. I also think you need a little more thickness to the handle, but that is just what I like. It your blade is 1" wide your handle looks like it would be 1/2" or so. Either way, they are both nice designs and would make a great knife!
 
Hmmm I missed the stock thickness. Unless you do a deep hollow grind that's not going to be a very good cutter at 3/16" x 1". 1/8" would be plenty strong for a small knife like those, unless maybe you need to pry things open with it. When laying out a new design, remember to draw up your cross-section too.
 
I agree on the blade thickness. Also, on the bottom knife, that sharp tip on the top of the scale is probably going to break off sooner or later.
 
Have you cut full size templates of them out of cardboard to make sure they feel ok in your hand? The handles looked long to me until I take into account that the overall length is 6" which would make the handles about 3.5"-3.75" in length, not real big but good enough for the zillion little things that just need to be cut during the day. Jack knife handles can be a lot shorter.

So I started out to say the handles were too long and the blade too wide but now I have no problem with your plans as long as you've done the cardboard template thing.

Good luck.

- Paul Meske
 
Gonna have to agree on blade stock thickness needing to be reduced. My ~6" necker I made for my sister was 1/8th, and even that was probably a tad thick for my liking (would've been better as 3/32nd). Great designs though, I like your stuff a lot :thumbup:
 
Paul, I didn't do the cardboard thing, since I've seen and handled some very similar to these in size and shape, recently, so I have a pretty good idea how these should feel. But the suggestion is valuable, and I may do that before finishing, just to make sure. Truth be told, actual thickness is .140", not 3/16". I was rounding, sorry. Final thickness will be somewhere between .140" and .125" I may end up doing a drop point design, rather than the clip point, for the sake of simplicity.

Storm came through yesterday and knocked out power for a while, so, with nothing better to do, I rough cut the blanks.

Here are the profile templates cut out, ready to glue to the metal.
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Templates applied, ready to be cut.
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First cut to separate the piece I need.
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Good the the Dremel is cordless. Scoring the pieces to allow for cutting with the hacksaw, since I do not have a bandsaw yet.
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Two pieces now rough cut. Will continue later.
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Ten or twenty thousandths does make a difference :) .125-.140" should be good especially if you taper the blades a bit. Nice efficient use of your steel in cutting those out, no waste is cool :thumbup:
 
Finished the knife in time for my father's birthday. Here's a glimpse of the latest pics...

Comparison with Izula II for size.
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Red liner in G10 scales.
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Paul, I almost did that this time, but it didn't work out. Next time, I plan on it. Thanks for the input everyone!
 
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