Critique my newest kitchen knife design please.

L

Laredian

Joined
May 27, 2013
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Kitchen knives are some of the most difficult designs to get right as a knifemaker in my opinion. I've worked on a new design for some time now and I'd like to get some opinions on whether I need to improve upon it when I do my next batch.

Meet the Paragon: 8 inch blade, hidden tang construction with a paper micarta spacer. Steel used is 14C28N (61hrc) which I have come to like quite a bit. I think it offers a good balance of properties, it's stainless, tough even when ground thin and holds a decent edge. It's not a flavor of the month knife steel, but I don't care much about that. Blade stock is about 0,15 inch at the ricasso with a radical distal taper towards the tip. Blade thickness right behind the edge is about 0,013 inch and was convexed down to almost zero.
The goal was to create a general purpose kitchen knife.

Stabilized Koa Burl:
Zj6KoY.jpg


Stabilized Amboina Burl:
OIYmAw.jpg


Stabilized Ashen-Leaved Maple Burl:
ZLggcA.jpg


Thank you very much in advance.
 
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Just my opinion, but I like the tip to be lower. This allows the tip to be used without raising the handle too high.

Also the same for the cutting edge in general; the higher the tip the higher the elbow has to be to use the full length of the blade.

JMHO from using a knife all day, every day 🤔
 
I think it's lovely. I love the materials choices and they look to be extremely clean in execution. A slight pet peeve of mine, however, is a strongly linear grain like in the first picture where the lines meet a guard at an angle. It throws the whole visual when they come in at an angle. Also, why the long clip? Is it just for aesthetics? If not, what was the intended function? Seems weird to me. I realize this is being picky, and at least the second critique is entirely a matter of opinion, but you did ask. I really love the handle shape, rounded spine, micarta spacer, tall heel, and the grind elements like a zero edge and aggressive distal taper.
 
Chefget said:
Just my opinion, but I like the tip to be lower. This allows the tip to be used without raising the handle too high.

Also the same for the cutting edge in general; the higher the tip the higher the elbow has to be to use the full length of the blade.

JMHO from using a knife all day, every day 🤔
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Thank you very much for the honest input. I'll take that into account when maybe reworking the design. Based on this preference is it fair to say that you don't prefer the classic french style kitchen knives?
Travis Fry said:
I think it's lovely. I love the materials choices and they look to be extremely clean in execution. A slight pet peeve of mine, however, is a strongly linear grain like in the first picture where the lines meet a guard at an angle. It throws the whole visual when they come in at an angle. Also, why the long clip? Is it just for aesthetics? If not, what was the intended function? Seems weird to me. I realize this is being picky, and at least the second critique is entirely a matter of opinion, but you did ask. I really love the handle shape, rounded spine, micarta spacer, tall heel, and the grind elements like a zero edge and aggressive distal taper.
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Thank you for the feedback. The sublte clippoint shape is a style choice because I like the look. The usefulness behind this besides the visual is the same as every clippoint or droppoint shape: to drop the tip lower.
I do not understand your point about the "strong linear grain ... where the lines meet a guard at an angle". Can you elaborate?

While I'm at it, what do you guys think about this fishing knife? It's a more experimental design, but so far I really like it. Also 14C28N, but even thinner stock, very thinly ground and flexible. Handle is karelian birch burl.

U5Lnmv.jpg
 
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Having trouble getting a picture to illustrate, but the direction of curl in the Koa hits the back of the spacer at a 10-20 degree angle, rather than being parallel to the spacer. Or, to put it another way, the angle of the curl is not perpendicular to the spine. Again, not a big deal, but it is a pet peeve of mine because it's visually jarring. Perhaps a better visual--if the blade were ladder pattern damascus, you'd want the direction of the curl in the koa to be parallel to the "rungs" of the ladder pattern to avoid a visual clash. This is similar, but less drastic.

I hope that makes sense. And I really do love the design, which is what you were really asking about. That fishing knife is, as the kids around here say these days, "totally dope."
 
I think they look really nice. Clean design, well executed.
 
Travis Fry said:
Having trouble getting a picture to illustrate, but the direction of curl in the Koa hits the back of the spacer at a 10-20 degree angle, rather than being parallel to the spacer. Or, to put it another way, the angle of the curl is not perpendicular to the spine. Again, not a big deal, but it is a pet peeve of mine because it's visually jarring. Perhaps a better visual--if the blade were ladder pattern damascus, you'd want the direction of the curl in the koa to be parallel to the "rungs" of the ladder pattern to avoid a visual clash. This is similar, but less drastic.

I hope that makes sense. And I really do love the design, which is what you were really asking about. That fishing knife is, as the kids around here say these days, "totally dope."
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You don't always get a choice with the angle or direction of the grain. Sometimes the block isn't big enough to get the grain orientation exactly the way you want.

You could make your case, as you have, while another could contend that as it is, the curl in the block follows nicely with the drop in the handle.

What if the curl starts parallel with the guard/spacer but then deviates or isn't a consistent angle or spacing?

Maker's choice I say. Wood is what it is and I can't say it's wrong, or even that it bothers me in the slightest, personally.
 
J. Doyle said:
You don't always get a choice with the angle or direction of the grain. Sometimes the block isn't big enough to get the grain orientation exactly the way you want.

You could make your case, as you have, while another could contend that as it is, the curl in the block follows nicely with the drop in the handle.

What if the curl starts parallel with the guard/spacer but then deviates or isn't a consistent angle or spacing?

Maker's choice I say. Wood is what it is and I can't say it's wrong, or even that it bothers me in the slightest, personally.
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I agree with almost everything you said--my critique is admittedly subjective, even though rational. However, if it were the first case you mention, I'd would argue that you DO always get a choice with the angle or direction of the grain. You always have the option to simply use a different block that allows you to get the grain orientation "right," or to choose one (like all the rest of the knives pictured) where that doesn't matter. If the curl started parallel and changed, I think that would look great, or could anyway. That might even be better--parallel to the guard would prevent the jarring discontinuity, and subsequent variation would likely accentuate the design AND the natural beauty of the wood. Again, none of this is a huge deal, but it's something that might make me buy a different knife; I didn't really say it was wrong, just that it bothers me. And I think it's something worth paying attention to; whatever the choice, it should be done on purpose.

A recent example: the last knife I finished was a dagger that had a fluted handle with silver wire wrap and a twist damascus blade. The first blade I made had a counter-clockwise twist, and the handle twist was clockwise. As soon as I noticed (thankfully fairly early on), I set the original blade aside and made another, being careful to twist the billet clockwise to match the handle. My feedback above is based on the same rationale I had for making a new blade--most folks might not notice or care, but it would always have bothered me if I'd missed it or not fixed it.

My intent with my comments was and is intended to be constructive rather than critical, and I hope it comes across that way.
 
Travis Fry said:
Having trouble getting a picture to illustrate, but the direction of curl in the Koa hits the back of the spacer at a 10-20 degree angle, rather than being parallel to the spacer. Or, to put it another way, the angle of the curl is not perpendicular to the spine. Again, not a big deal, but it is a pet peeve of mine because it's visually jarring. Perhaps a better visual--if the blade were ladder pattern damascus, you'd want the direction of the curl in the koa to be parallel to the "rungs" of the ladder pattern to avoid a visual clash. This is similar, but less drastic.

I hope that makes sense. And I really do love the design, which is what you were really asking about. That fishing knife is, as the kids around here say these days, "totally dope."
Click to expand...
Thank you for elaborating and for the feedback, I understand what you mean now. I will take that into consideration on future projects. On this particular piece I personally like it, but I do get why it is visually despleasing for you.
 
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