Camp knife/Chopper advice please.

[skillgannon]

I just got some 1/4" 1084 and want to build some camp knives. I wanted to try blade length from 10" to 12". I was hoping some of you might have some advice on the finer points of building camp knives.

How are you guys balancing them? Is distill taper wanted/needed? If using fullers what sort of balance is recommended?

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

By definition a camp knife is a chopper. It should be forward weighted, so distal taper is less important. That said, some taper is advisable to reduce weight. The blade should be about 1.5" to 2" wide, normally fairly straight, and the spine should be flat with rounded edges. Handle should be ergonomic to retain the grip, and a lanyard hole at the top rear corner is good. A slightly forward tapering ( in width) and a little drop to the blade looks good. Something like 1.5" at the ricasso and 2" at the fat spot.
Forget fancy handles. Either a full tang and strong scales ( Micarta/G-10) or a hidden tang with a solid hardwood handle. Stabilized persimmon is great. It is best to avoid burl woods on choppers.
Guards should project down to protect the fingers, and not be overly large. Oval guards going out past the handle more than a tad get in the way.

 

[skillgannon]

This has been my evolution of choppers. The last isn't bad but does not handle like the second. It just feels bad to use. Reworking the handle helped but it still isn't great.

I'm trying to get a chopper that feels nice to handle and still works well. I apologize if I am asking g to many questions but this is the first time off from work that I have had in a long time. Also I have to watch my budget since I'm not making money. I'm just trying to make as much progress as possible, once I go back to work in sure this will be be years to learn more. Well thanks all.

 

[Huntsman Knife Co. LLC.]

I make mostly big choppers. Best thing to do is to come up with a design that is aesthetically pleasing in the size range you are looking for. From there, grind it until you feel a good balance between power and snappiness. An excellent chopper will swing itself. Just test the weight distribution and feel as you grind and stop when you've reached a good spot. This may take trial and error to get right.