Design feedback on a general purpose bush-craft. WIP. Done with pics

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peppen108

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Apr 14, 2012
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Design feedback on a general purpose bush-craft knife.

Hi! This is my first attempt on making a larger knife from scratch so i´m probably gonna sped lots of time and some money down the road. Clearly i don´t want any design flaws come bite my behind.

kniv.png


I´m thinking 10 inch overall (edited), spring steel, slightly thinner than 3/16" (edited). Slim rather square crosscut off the handle. About 20 degrees scandigrind (the hight of bevel on the image is not to scale).

I've drawn it from scratch so fell free to point out both the good and the bad.
 
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Sorry. Over all length is 10" and the blade measured from the start of the bevel is just above 4". I´m still looking, so far I´have found a 0,8% C spring steel thats to of pricey.
 
peppen108 said:
... slightly thinner than 3/16mm....
Click to expand...

I'm thinking you meant just under 3/16 of an inch thick? That is very thick for a blade that appears to be less than one inch wide, especially with such a short bevel. Personally I would prefer stock no more than 1/8" with a much higher grind (at least halfway up the blade) for a knife that's meant to cut, whittle and slice. Just my opinion of course.
 
I'm with James on thickness. Don't do anything thicker than 1/8" and if you are doing a scandi grind I would recommend 3/32" thick steel. I'm not a personal fan of scandi's though so I would suggest a higher saber grind. Also maybe consider a lanyard hole at the rear and possibly even the front. They come in handy for bushcraft.
 
Great two out of two measurements wrong. :confused: Guess working the night shift makes me extra clumsy. Thanks for correcting me. :)

If I redraw it it might fit on a 1"x1/8" bar of the steel that Mora uses. That steel i can actually get my hands on at a decent price.
 
Not sure if you are asking for opinions on the two models shown, but if so, I like the top one the best, although I'd make sure to use a rough textured handle material (canvas micarta, perhaps) because your design looks like the hand could slip forward, ending up with an ugly cut. If you do go with the top one, suggest you put that lanyard hole in it.
 
The second one is a adoption to a steel bar I can get my hands on for cheap. The first one will cost 10x more. The last one is just at better fit adoption to the cheap "Mora"-bar to maximize the shape.

kniv3.png
 
peppen108 said:
The second one is a adoption to a steel bar I can get my hands on for cheap. The first one will cost 10x more. The last one is just at better fit adoption to the cheap "Mora"-bar to maximize the shape.

kniv3.png
Click to expand...

It (the 1st one) also looks 10x better. This is purely subjective, of course.
 
Peppen,

You can get a 14" piece of AEB-L from Nordellknives.com for 57 SEK (abot 7$) or a 10" piece of RWL34 for less than 200 SEK (around 30 $) plus shipping. He also has some good carbon steel at decent prices if you prefer that. If you like the top design better (like me and most others it seems) I would not try to change it, just because it does not fit inside the barstock you have. The cost of the steel is not a big part of your total cost.

If you cant get it from Nordell, I have a piece of 1/8 RWL, 2" wide, 10" long that I can part with if nessesary.

Brian
 
Gody said:
If you like the top design better (like me and most others it seems) I would not try to change it, just because it does not fit inside the barstock you have. The cost of the steel is not a big part of your total cost.
Click to expand...

Absolutely! The top design is far better than the other two.
 
I think I got a plate of 3.5 mm AEB-L today. Will try to get it tomorrow. Then I am no longer limited by the dimensions in the same way. So I can go the whole hog. Still about 10" overall.

moby.png
 
Is it still for bushcraft with that design? Seems to be edging into "chopper" classification.
 
peppen108 said:
The second one is a adoption to a steel bar I can get my hands on for cheap. The first one will cost 10x more. The last one is just at better fit adoption to the cheap "Mora"-bar to maximize the shape.

kniv3.png
Click to expand...

If this is for bushcraft, I would pay the extra for the top design, with the lanyard hole. I agree with Jared, I would go with 3/32" for a scandi. I would also go with a rough micarta for the handle, and don't take the grit too fine so there is good slip resistance built in. I do like that your finger choil is centered between blade and handle, although my personal preference is no choil. Only because notching hardwoods demands that the blade edge come as close to the hand as possible for ease of cutting. Just my humble opinions...

DD
 
Personally I like the bottom design. Very simple. I also like a good finger groove (choil) as well.
If you are planning on using Mora steel, have you considered just buying a Mora and putting a new handle on it?
 
I agree with everyone else, the top one's the best. The drop point puts the tip of the blade in line with the center or the handle, which is key for this kind of knife and what it will be used for. To my eye, though, it seems like the overall curve of the spine might be just a tiny bit too severe, and could be dialed back a bit.
I recently spent some time in Sweden, and I can certainly appreciate the scandi grind. Thin steel is a good idea though. Go make that knife!
 
@KaosX You're probably right. But the thickness is only just above 1/8" and the blade length is only 5" so not quite a chopper.

@discdoggin Tanks for the input.

@Chris Pierce's Thanks man, I have some laminated Mora blades but the will have to wait. Right now I just want to file for hours. :)

@andybill Tanks for the input, I will redraw the top one.
 
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