Creating a design for my first knife

Bob Ohlemann

Bob Ohlemann

Joined
Dec 5, 2013
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1,180
With my grinder almost finished and most of my first shipment of knife making supplies on hand, I am trying to decide on a design for my first attempt. This is about 7-1/2" OAL and will be made from .125" 440c. I would like to hollow grind the bevels and flat grind the swedge and expect I will screw it up. Does this look like a workable design? Any changes you guys would suggest?

Bob


SMALL-FIGHTER-01 by Ranger_Bob, on Flickr
 
Why don't you just make it dirt simple for your first knife, or even first few. Your design is a bit much for a beginner, and even for some with experience. In my opinion.
 
I like your design. I guess one could argue against the added complexity of a swedge on your first knife. Even the handle shape could be less contoured just to give yourself practice with grinding. But yeah, the design looks good.
 
RangerBobTX,

I really like the design. I would echo the advice of the others, start simple. However I did take a look at your profile. You are not a 15 yr old kid getting started but a man of some age, experience and a creative person who is practiced at working with his hands. So I say if you feel like you can meet the challenge go for it. When you are young often you don't have the patience, or problem solving experience it takes to do it right. Go slow and don't cut corners. Ask questions along the way if you need help. You got this. BTW, thank you for your service.
 
Your design looks great and it looks like it would be a good working knife.

One thing I see that might be a problem is that the handle material around the lanyard hole on the toe of the handle is rather thin. If the scales are wood the toe of the handle material is almost certain to break off due to short grain. Even Micarta or G10 would be to thin for my comfort and peace of mind. Could you move the lanyard hole up into the "meatier" part of the handle? Perhaps use a tube in place of the third pin?

It looks to me like you have a lot of experience in other areas than knife making, go for it!
 
Does the steel need to be stainless? If this will be your first knife I would suggest going with a simple carbon steel like 1084. It will make a great knife and you will be able to heat treat it yourself with equipment you may have or could make. Otherwise you will probably have to send the blade to a pro heat treatment service.
 
My suggestions are to drop the point a bit, and maintain the arch along the spine that the handle sets up. The index finger will then be along the line drawn from the center of the but to the tip, giving you great natural geometry.
 
Personally I don't like the dip in the spine of the knife and I don't like the belly after the finger groove. I'd have the spine curve from tip to butt and have the handle either taper down a bit after the finger groove or keep a consistent thickness.
 
So, this is actually the simplest design I've come up with. I've got several others that will certainly be more challenging. I'll be using the 440 because my 1084 was lost in the mail. Hopefully that will get sorted out soon but,I have no intentions of doing my own heat treating at this time anyway. I am thinking that I would not use the lanyard hole on wood scales. If the tearout is still too thin for G10, I might have to make some adjustments.

I am pretty experienced in cold-working metals. Here's a bike I had featured in a mag a couple months ago. It is all steel (no fiberglass or plastic) and all hand built. I think you can click on the picture if you want to see more of it in my Flickr.

Bob


IMG_2316 by Ranger_Bob, on Flickr
 
Wow... I'm not much for choppers, I likes my sport bikes, but that is gorgeous. Especially the paint scheme and body work. Very interesting to look at. :thumbup:
 
Well... you definitely don't lean toward simplicity. You seem to have the patience and the skill! I'd say go for it. I'll echo woodwrkr221, the lanyard hole looks like a very delicate placement, maybe you can enlarge the area slightly. The handle looks cool; I've learned to make a test handle out of scrap wood to test the feel before I commit the real thing to the blade.

Good luck. Look forward to seeing the finished product.
 
woodwrkr221 said:
One thing I see that might be a problem is that the handle material around the lanyard hole on the toe of the handle is rather thin. If the scales are wood the toe of the handle material is almost certain to break off due to short grain. Even Micarta or G10 would be to thin for my comfort and peace of mind. Could you move the lanyard hole up into the "meatier" part of the handle? Perhaps use a tube in place of the third pin?
Click to expand...

What you also can do is that you leave that place 'blank'. I mean that you not cover it with the scale so the scale end just above the 'drop', something like following the line of the botum part of the handle all the way to the butt end of the handle.

Something like this:

9a7rt1.jpg
 
When you design your knife try to keep this question in mind...."Why?"

If the answer is "because I like the way it looks" that is good enough....but not necessarily make a good knife.

When talking with Bob Loveless he was quick to ask "why?" you did a certain feature on a knife. His drop point hunter is one of the most well known styles for a reason.
 
Thanks for the feedback guys! I made a pattern today out of 16ga and I am pretty happy with the size and feel. I did make the area around the lanyard hole a little thicker just so I can feel confident in G10 being able to resist tearout. I will likely explore the use of bolsters as well.

Bob


Untitled by Ranger_Bob, on Flickr
 
Willie71 said:
My suggestions are to drop the point a bit, and maintain the arch along the spine that the handle sets up. The index finger will then be along the line drawn from the center of the but to the tip, giving you great natural geometry.
Click to expand...

After playing with my pattern a little and re-reading your comment, I agree. Bringing the tip down a tad would improve the feel.

Bob
 
Off topic, but your bike is sick... Not as impressive but here is a real 61 bubbletop we just finished for a friend. Big block of course... You can see my 64 in the background. It is a WIP but is a nice driver right now.

3f25c48e3433edcadc6a167d835b066d.jpg
 
Very cool! I've always been partial to the 59's. The bike is not mine, it was a customers bike. I did all the fab and the paint was done by my buddy Tex McDorman. My tastes run toward a more stripped down, mechanical style.

Bob
 
I love 59's. That wing shape and body lines are some of the sexiest to ever come out of Detroit. They seem to be like hens teeth that aren't complete wrecks.
I love stripped down as well. I am searching for a decent foundation for a bobber now. Want exposed belt drive, sprung front, etc.. that same mechanical look you are talking about.
I am paired up with a couple of guys and we do everything from bolt ons to full restorations. That impala above was a customer's as well, but luckily he is in our car club so I get to see the old girl frequently... lol.

You should have no problem spreading your creativeness into knives. Given how that bike turned out, I'm anxious to see your knives...

-Eric
 
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