4th Knife Thank you!

J

J. Piontek

Joined
May 10, 2016
Messages
110
This is the 4th knife I have made and the first hidden tang knife attempt. Sorry for the poor photography.

Knife was forged from 1084 steel. Profiled on my 1x30 harbor freight belt sander (hope to upgrade soon). Guard is 416 stainless and handle is a stabilized maple burl.

This was a new challenge for me because I have never made a hidden tang knife before. I definitely want to improve on my fit and finish. It was also my first attempt at a sculpted handle, which i learned I didnt leave myself enough material on the handle when i was shaping it so i got a little smaller than I would have liked.

I just wanted to post this to thank all you guys for helping me learn this craft I really appreciate it.

PJszRsD.jpg
 
That's a solid effort. Nice work!

Where in WI are you?
 
A very nice job. The knife is an exercise. The real take away is the lessons you learned.
 
Nice job. Fit and finish look excellent.

Some design comments:
The blade width at the ricasso should be close to the same as the width at the front of the handle. In profile, the blade should "flow" through the guard as if the handle was part of it. Yours is wider at the ricasso than the handle ... making the handle look smaller than it is ( or the blade looking too large).

The blade size is OK, but I personally think that if the harpoon top was a straight clip it would be more sleek. The blade may be a tad wider than it needs to be, too. Remember that everything above the edge is only there to support the edge. 1.25" will support it just as well as 2". Unless you need the mass for chopping, it is just extra steel and weight that you don't want.

I tell most new makers to ask "What does that feature do?" when putting something on a knife. The harpoon doesn't do anything on this knife. When sketching the knife out, draw all the features in several ways, and pick what to use and what to leave off. The sketch will also allow you to assure the blade and handle match in size.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
Nice job. Fit and finish look excellent.

Some design comments:
The blade width at the ricasso should be close to the same as the width at the front of the handle. In profile, the blade should "flow" through the guard as if the handle was part of it. Yours is wider at the ricasso than the handle ... making the handle look smaller than it is ( or the blade looking too large).

The blade size is OK, but I personally think that if the harpoon top was a straight clip it would be more sleek. The blade may be a tad wider than it needs to be, too. Remember that everything above the edge is only there to support the edge. 1.25" will support it just as well as 2". Unless you need the mass for chopping, it is just extra steel and weight that you don't want.

I tell most new makers to ask "What does that feature do?" when putting something on a knife. The harpoon doesn't do anything on this knife. When sketching the knife out, draw all the features in several ways, and pick what to use and what to leave off. The sketch will also allow you to assure the blade and handle match in size.
Click to expand...

Thank you I appreciate that! I was trying to get the ricasso to be the width as the front of the handle but I messed that up by not leaving myself enough handle material I see where you are coming from with the harpoon tip. I like the idea of doing multiple sketches I will have to try. Here is a better picture of the knife where you can see the handle width clearer I brightened the picture.

qv06gR4.jpg
 
Stacy's comments are great as usual. He put into words what my eyes saw but my brain didn't verbalize. Knife design would seem so simple but it ain't. When it gets really tough for us beginners is when we get past the basics and get into really subtle stuff. Meanwhile some basic design rules from people like Stacy are a great aid as we work through the first knives. Thanks.
 
The better photo helps. As you can see, even a small difference is quickly caught by the eye. The difference at the ricasso is probably 1/16" on the top and bottom.

I always talk about the "flow" when designing a knife. Anything that does not flow smoothly from one area to the next stops the visual line that the eye follows. I use the example the a fashion model has a body that flows from toe to hair ... and a Russian women's weightlifter has one that does no flow. Which is more attractive to most people?

On your knife, if you draw a line following the spine from the tip to the butt, it is interrupted by the harpoon hump and by the mismatch between the ricasso and the bolster. If those two places were more fluid, the knife would look much more sleek.

I didn't mention the handle lines earlier, but they are very good for a early knife. The only place where the flow is slightly interrupted is at the top near the butt. That slight dip ( called a waist) between the hump in the middle and the butt is a tad deeper than it should be. This is accentuated by the somewhat high curve on the handle top. This makes the middle look fat and the back part look a bit "off". This could be resolved by slightly sanding down the handle top to make less of a hump.
Again, to use the female shape as an analogy, a woman with an oversize bust or oversized hipline will look "off". Either measurement would look fine as long as the other was of equal ratio. To almost everyone, a 34-24-34 silhouette looks great. While most men won't complain, generally 44-24-34 looks a bit off ... and unless you are a Beyonce fan, you won't like a 34-24-44 figures. Unless you are a weeble, 24-34-44 just looks so wrong.

All this is just food for future planning. Your knife is excellent and would be a proud part of anyone's field kit.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
The better photo helps. As you can see, even a small difference is quickly caught by the eye. The difference at the ricasso is probably 1/16" on the top and bottom.

I always talk about the "flow" when designing a knife. Anything that does not flow smoothly from one area to the next stops the visual line that the eye follows. I use the example the a fashion model has a body that flows from toe to hair ... and a Russian women's weightlifter has one that does no flow. Which is more attractive to most people?

On your knife, if you draw a line following the spine from the tip to the butt, it is interrupted by the harpoon hump and by the mismatch between the ricasso and the bolster. If those two places were more fluid, the knife would look much more sleek.

I didn't mention the handle lines earlier, but they are very good for a early knife. The only place where the flow is slightly interrupted is at the top near the butt. That slight dip ( called a waist) between the hump in the middle and the butt is a tad deeper than it should be. This is accentuated by the somewhat high curve on the handle top. This makes the middle look fat and the back part look a bit "off". This could be resolved by slightly sanding down the handle top to make less of a hump.
Again, to use the female shape as an analogy, a woman with an oversize bust or oversized hipline will look "off". Either measurement would look fine as long as the other was of equal ratio. To almost everyone, a 34-24-34 silhouette looks great. While most men won't complain, generally 44-24-34 looks a bit off ... and unless you are a Beyonce fan, you won't like a 34-24-44 figures. Unless you are a weeble, 24-34-44 just looks so wrong.

All this is just food for future planning. Your knife is excellent and would be a proud part of anyone's field kit.
Click to expand...

Haha thank you Stacy it makes perfect sense to me I was trying to focus on keeping the handle in line with the spine of the blade and didn't even think about the point on the clip being so high. Thank you for helping me I am always looking to improve on every knife this helps alot.
 
As a fellow newbie i have to say i am impressed! I am still struggling to complete a full tang to a level of finish i am satisfied with.
 
I'm also fresh the the knife making madness. Its nice to read some feedback from an experienced maker. Those are details I would of never thought about.

I'm looking forward to making my first stick tang. I doubt it will come out looking as good as yours.
 
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