design critique

[hurley0816]

my friend loves a design like this i am making for my dad. the problem is the one i am making for my dad is a tanto style campknife, as in it is made to chop and do some heavy duty work. i came up with this design as a EDC tanto so that he can do alot of general cutting.handle is just over 4" and blade is right at 4". just curious if it looks good and what you guys think? thanks

 

[defaultuser]

Looks good, although 4" is a bit short for a comfortable handle (even for an EDC). I tend to have AT LEAST 4.5" (except on 3 fingers designs, of course). You say you want to chop with it; although a nice design overall, the tanto is definitely not "chopping-friendly" (not even mentionning the small size for chopping). Of course, all of this is JUST my own opinion...feel free to ignore everything I said

 

[hurley0816]

this one isnt for chopping, i am making a chopping style for my dad and my buddy liked it, so i dumbed it down in size for him. i may go a little longer on the handle! thanks

 

[grease-man]

Ed, I agree about adding some more length to the handle, but a good way to tell is to have your friend hold the pattern and see for himself. I personally need 4.5" minimum for the handle to be comfortable due to my long fingers. His handle needs might be different.
The blade looks great, but, if it were me, I might drop the handle slightly to add some contour/comfort and make it more visually appealing. It just looks a little too straight is all. Make a couple of patterns and see what they look like when they are longer, more curved etc...keep tweeking them until you find one that really stands out as "the one"! -Matt-

 

[Phillip Dobson]

The thing that popped out at me as kinda weird was the area near the guard. It's hard to describe in words, so I drew a picture of what I would make it like. Also be sure to draw the handle slabs on your model (assuming there will be handle slabs). They're an important part of the whole.

Phillip

 

[silver_pilate]

It's a personal preference, but I disagree about the handle length being too short. Yes for a camp type knife, I want a larger of a handle to choke back on for chopping and for general grip security.

However, for my EDC's, I prefer a handle that is right at 4". This length fits comfortably in my hand with the butt of the knife coming to rest against the meat on the ulnar side of the palm. This size for an EDC is perfect for me. It's enough handle without getting in the way. It disappears under a shirt, and it doesn't jab you in the ribs. I really don't need a full size handle for a basic every-day utility type of blade, just something that is out-of-the-way and big enough to securely grip. I feel that for the general use of an EDC, most of the gripping and manipulating is done with a delicate/precision grip using the first two fingers and thumb anyway, whereas with a heavier use camp knife, the remainder of the grip becomes much more important.

--nathan