design critique

M

mushroomgrey

Joined
Apr 4, 2008
Messages
40
Hi guys .
i would really appreciate it if you guys could critique this design im starting sometime this week. im pretty happy with the handle , but the blade and the riccasso is still nagging at me for some reason... any ideas would be appreciated .
thanks
mike





bigbowie.jpg
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Im no expert, but I think a handle with that much angle and curves and swells look best with blades that curve as well..I think its a little too "pistol" like, angle wise if that makes sense? I would try less extreme of a angle and see what it looks like.
 
I see three things right off the bat:
One is that the blade needs a swedge/clip of some sort
Second is that the tang is too wide. You could easily sand too much wood away and grind into the tang
Third, IMHO the handle curves too much at the heel. Like was mentioned above, it will be like holding a pistol or a camp saw. It would be great if all you are doing is a back and forth stabbing motion, but too curved for general knife use.
 
jawilder said:
I see three things right off the bat:
One is that the blade needs a swedge/clip of some sort
Second is that the tang is too wide. You could easily sand too much wood away and grind into the tang
Third, IMHO the handle curves too much at the heel. Like was mentioned above, it will be like holding a pistol or a camp saw. It would be great if all you are doing is a back and forth stabbing motion, but too curved for general knife use.
Click to expand...
I agree with the above.
 
I like the blade shape as is. But the tang is too large and the handle drops too much. How big is this knife?


-Xander
 
The first thing that caught my eye was the curve of the handle. It doesn't look good. Too much drop, but this is accentuated by the various bumps along the handle. I think it the handle had a smooth line from front to back it would look less curved. I like the fawn-foot handles, in general, but this one seems just too much.

I'm not a fan of blades that have the edge parallel to the spine for that much length. Looks like you have some recurve in the edge which will make a heck of a difference depending on how much you end up cutting in, but I would like to see some curve to the spine as well. It doesn't take a lot, but I think I bit of false edge or a clip would do wonders.
 
As others have said, you should rethink the tang. It needs to be thinner and, I think, longer. Curving it will just increase the difficulty of cutting the slot in the handle (unless you're going for an assembled handle instead of a traditional hidden tang). I'd suggest making it straight and centering it on the blade, something less than half an inch wide would be more than adequate. That will also make fitting the guard simpler.

Others have commented on the handle... all I'll add is that those bumps look like hot spots to me... it might make the handle prone to causing blisters.
 
I don't think that's the tang, I think it's some carving/sculpting.

And even if it was the tang, don't listen to Greg, he makes wimpy little tangs with sharp corners at the shoulders. :confused: Greg, don't give advice on making tangs smaller, when you make wimpy little tangs with sharp shoulders. :)

I love the handle shape, but do think the drop is a little extreme. Just kicking it up a little bit would make everything flow together IMHO.

IMHO, it isn't the ricasso that's catching your eye, it's the overall transition. If the radius where the handle comes into the guard was made a little tighter, it would pull that all together.

I think you're off to a great start with a flowing, organic shape that a lot of folks could learn a lot from. :)
 
....Like Nick said, and I saw it on a thread with advice from mastersmiths, that the curve in the guard/handle transition should be more in the guard and less in the handle. Also, like Nick, I would bring the handle drop up a little to keep in theme with the straightness of the blade and you've got a nice design.

I like the design, just a little tweak of the lines to bring it all together.

edit... I see that it's not the tang drawn now but facetting on the handle.
 
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NickWheeler said:
I love the handle shape...
Click to expand...

Well DUH! it's clearly Nick Wheeler'esque. :p;)

Kidding aside, I agree that this is not the tang that's drawn here and that Nick is right about you having a good eye for the flowing organic shape. Keep up the good work. :thumbup:
 
Hey thanks for the critque guys. a fresh set of eyes always helps.
So yes , that bit behind the hilt is going to be a slightly raised panel from shaping and not the tang , haha..!
so after hearing the helpfull comments (thanks Nick , Patrice , i totally lifted the handle from Nicks biblical WIP. lol)
So without further ado , here is the tweaked design, Feel free to rip it a new one:D
Editedbowie.jpg
 
I might suggest maybe having the raised panel a little more in line with the blade and maybe move the transition on top of the handle back a tad and center the pin a bit more. Think of a line that goes from the palm swell on the bottom through the pin to the top swell transition and think about making that line at the same angle as the butt if you drew a lions from corner to corner as opposed to following the curve of the butt. Check out some of Bill Moran's ST24's and you will see what I am talking about. Another way of thinking about it is imagine that you made a straight handle out of clay and then bent it down in the middle until you had the amount of drop that you wanted. Now imagine what the the center would look like from that bending and stretching.
 
Thanks jdm61. Will take those suggestions to heart. Goig to be starting the blade today...

Anyone else care to comment?
 
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