Advice, Knife Makers and Designers?

Miasma

Miasma

Joined
Dec 15, 2007
Messages
557
Hey there guys,

I've just whipped something up over the last couple of days, and I wanted to get your opinion on how it looked. It's my first decent try, be nice! :p

knife1.jpg



I designed this as a fighter/bush/utility knife. my concern is that I don't know what steel I want to have it as, maybe a tool steel? however, I live near the sea, and so there'd be a chance that it'd see some action there, so maybe something with a little corrosion resistance? I plan on having a full tang, but I'm not sure about whether I'd have it skeletonised or not.

my second concern is that the sub-hilt will present issues when changing grips, from hammer to a fencers to a ice pick.

finally, what do you think? oh, and what should I do about the handle material?

I'm hoping to keep the design for a while and then hopefully, if i am ever rolling in cash, get it made up. Preferably here, but second choice is definitely one of the US bladesmiths here ;)

I know this sounds paranoid, and I know you're a good mob of people, but please respect my ownership of the designs.

thanks in advance!

-Miasma.
 
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D2 for a steel? Best steel that I could think of off hand. I'm not too sure about the super stainless steels.

No offense but I've seen at least dozens of similar designs so I wouldn't worry about theft. I'd drop the handle somewhat to make it more comfortable if swung or used in a chopping motion. I'd pull the tip down somewhat to give the user more control.

I really think if you lengthened the blade and gave it recurve and some curves in the handle it'd be dead sexy.

Course I'm just a good ole boy so take it with a grain of salt.

Edited to add:

Get rid of the multiple small pins, go with big corbys or flared tubing.
 
all points taken. by drop you mean shorten, right? I have biig hands, man. :p
 
I'm no knifemaker, nor a desiner but will give you my thoughts anyhow.

If you want to go with a tool steel then D2 would be good for its relative corrosion resistance if your worried about it rusting. Cpm 3v would also be well suited, though i have no experience with it.

I agree with Will completely on dropping the point a bit, putting some curving in the handle and rotating it down a bit. However i would also drop the blade a bit in relation to the handle a smidge and then give the blade more belly myself, as you'll use this more for utility than fighting. i hope anyways. But this is just what i like, and everyone has thier own opinions on how to make a good knife. If your making this yourself you should draw a 2, or 1.5 inch wide box and draw it inside. (assuming your doing stock removal) To make sure everything fits and is easy enough to cutout.

If your keeping the same dimensions, i would think it would balance better with micarta for handles.

what program did you use to draw this? it looks nice, and i like the detail of the layered handles.
 
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Munky,

thanks for clarifying. I used a program Called Macromedia Flash 8. it's usually used for flash animations, but I use it for designing, and whipping up tattoo designs :D
 
I like your design. I think that it is well balanced and eye catching.

Good article on steel- http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=368828

S30V is a pretty hot steel right now, but 154cm and others would be fine, too.

As far as non-stainless, 10xx steels are a good choice as well as D2, 3V, M2, M4, 52100, 5160, L6, 01, F8, A2, O2, W2 etc... They are mostly all good. the maker will probably know a certain steel well.

I think that the sub hilt is small enough to not be a problem.
 
alright,

took some more things into account.

BFMOD.jpg


Changed the pins to flared tubing, and made the handle slightly more curved and ergonomic. gave the blade a liiittle more belly on both sides, and brought the sharpened back, back a little bit.

I'm not as keen to alter the blade shape. not because it's a bad idea, but because i find it more asthetically pleasing the way it is. keep the advise coming, though!

Munky, I'm all for micarta handles.

Keith, I hear great things about both 154CM and S30V, but apparently S30V chips? and 154CM needs sharpening quite often.

thanks and please point out more!
 
I don't know first hand, but I think that they have resolved the chipping problems with s30v. I have a 154cm blade on my leatherman wave and it holds an edge quite well.
 
Ah, I actually hate the drawing tools in flash and always use photoshop for doing drawings when animating. So nevermind that. The changes you made weren't exactly what i meant, my fault on describing. Although the changes you made were still an improvement. I'll just draw over yours in transparent red to show you what i meant. you do what you want with it. What exactly are you planning on using this knife for though? Is it just to be pretty? or are you planning on using it? because fighting knives and utility knifes don't mix like clockwork, you need to make some exceptions if you want to make it more useful for utility.

I made a larger knife out of s30v, its not done yet but i'll let you know how it turns out. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=594483&page=2 can be seen bottom of the page there. Not many people use it yet so there isn't a ton of wisdom around it. However from what I've read it gets micro chips along the cutting edge instead of dulling like a normal knife, this gives it micro serrations. In short, good for cutting and slicing, not great for push cutting. Im not sure what you would be push cutting with a knife like that anyways. The chipping mostly occurs on knives that have a harder tempering too, which wont be yours.


And cpm154 Holds an edge better than D2, so don't worry about that. But how are you making this?

Edit: Here we go. Not to take the fun out of designing your own, so this is roughly done just to show you what i meant

82956809du6.jpg


I'm just trying to give you an idea of what i meant, that blade isn't done perfectly either. Play with belly; Belly is the amount of a beer gut a knifes curve has. By rotating the handle like that (maybe no so much, play with this too) you protect your knuckles, and better geo for chopping. For the handle I suggest you play with clay for awhile using what you have so far and figure out whats comfy for you.
 
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At the moment? I'm not. I don't have the resources, tools, or the cash. however, i was thinking if i get the specifications right, I can talk to a maker and collaborate? I'm not sure how to go about everything at the moment. I'm relatively new to the idea of customisation as well. It's all just in the design stage at the moment.
 
Do it yourself sally, its fun, and cheapish... (not really).
Given that your in Australia D2 is probibly your best tool steel choice. should be easy enough to find, can be heat treated by more people given its more commonly used for industrial things, and it fits your needs more than adequately.
 
I like what you have drawn in post 13.
droppping the heel of the grip is nice, i would round it a bit too.

Now make one, play with it and see what you like or don't like.
Try it in wood first.

I would lean to 3/16 material thickness on this.

There is nothing wrong with D2. You will likely be able to find heat treaters locally to you as it's very popular in machine shops and tooling.

See the link. It doesn't have to be as complicated as we sometimes make it out to be...
 
once again, tweaked the design, just a bit more detail now:

BFMOD-1.jpg


also, a few more Questions. is there a way that I could make the scales removable for a full cleaning of the blade and steel? what would you say is the best diameter for the lanyard hole, assuming I use paracord?

I'll probably have plenty more to ask you as I delve more into it.

thanks again!
 
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