Designing a knife handles shape.

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blandies

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Aug 18, 2011
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Just wondering how all of you custom designers decide on a handle shape on the main blade design? I never can seem to get a good shape to fit the hand, and everyone's hand is different too. Is there a standard for handle shaping out there?
Been having a lot of trouble figuring out handle shapes that feel right on different hand sizes.

This is not regarding handle material but rather the knife blanks handle shape.
 
There is no specific design but most peoples hands are around 4 inches wide yet no one has the same grip so best bet is go with a slight recurve that extends all the way to the butt and slightly modify as you see fit but it will still fit everyone's hand. I hope this helps a little
 
I struggled with this a lot on my first set of designs.

The trick for me is... when in doubt, increase the curvature. A curved handle will almost always be more comfortable than a straight one. Don't start with finger notches and fancier stuff, those can come later when you have a nice basic and comfy handle. Make LOADS of cutouts, and add cardboard scales to them and shave them to shape.

Every new design I cutout is comfier than the last... eventually you just get a "feel" for it ;)
 
I have owned in excess of 100 knives over the years. Considering the shape of many of the handles I have come to the conclusion that a lot of knife makers have hands
like Quasimoto. They certainly don't fit my hand. Pick up a quality chef's knife like Henckels or Wusthof and you will see what a handle that feels good is like. (IMHO of course)

Busse had some real abortions over the years, but some of the newer Busse and Swamp Rat knives have very comfortable handles. The Ratmandu is a good example.
 
The responses all help quite a bit. A big consideration also was the fact I was going to use paracord as my handle material...knowing that would bulk up the handle a bit and fill in any curves. I'm not sure where to drill the holes or how to wrap paracord for a handle but it seems like that would be a good way to get a nice user knife with a durable handle material. Still looking around the internet for some tutorials on this....a whole'nother thing all in itself.

I have 10 or so cardboard cutouts to see how different handle shapes feel. When I found one that felt good I asked my wife how it felt and she said no.....BACK TO SQUARE ONE. I'll take the advice here. I do admit I was trying to get a little out of my area and trying to add in some finger grooves.
 
One thing I focus on is to not just make a rounded edge block handle. I like to take my 10" contact wheel and on the sides Ill grind where your thumb and forefinger wrap around and probably grind a good 1/16" deep but keeping it smooth and flowing into the rest of the handle. It also depends on the style knife and the way it held. Is the thumb gonna be on the jimping a lot and not so much on the handle, is it a chopper where you want a nice hand shake grip. Kitchen knives tend to be different in the feel you want. Also look at whos using it. If its for a women I ask for my wife to hold and feel alot, average guy well I constantly hold and feel, And if its a big ol' boy I ask a couple of friends etc. I think.. well I KNOW when I was first making knives for others my handles were less then what they should have been. Usable but not the greatest. Play around a lot and just see. I also spent a day and got some mild steel cut some random patterns for handles and used clay to mold some general 3d handle shapes to get a feel for what works then figured out the best way to get those results on a real knife wether it be grinder, files, hand sanding, carving, throwing at the wall repeatedly while cursing in frustration :D etc etc
 
i am new to knife making, but not new to making things. prototypes are well worth the effort. for knives i am using wood. i have a selection of different thicknesses of basswood. i want a 1-4in blade so i use 1-4in wood. blade and tang. glue on guard, scales, butt plate ect. shape to your desire. if you don't like it try again.
 
moldmaker said:
i am new to knife making, but not new to making things. prototypes are well worth the effort. for knives i am using wood. i have a selection of different thicknesses of basswood. i want a 1-4in blade so i use 1-4in wood. blade and tang. glue on guard, scales, butt plate ect. shape to your desire. if you don't like it try again.
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new or not... this is damn good advice. Cardboard will tell you "ish" how the handle will feel, but you're not making knives out of cardboard so you have to adjust things. 95% of my designs start out as scraps of paper that i have doodled on, then refined depending on the intended use of the knife, then a lot of times I will also carve one out of wood. this will give you the best idea of how your ergonomics are going to feel on the finished product with the benefit of not having to waste good steel or much time... well worth the effort. Since you plan on wrapping them with cord, i'd say just go get some thin wood of the same thickness you plan on using for your steel then cut a few out and wrap them. If it's too thick with the added thickness of the cord... grind a little off and vice versa if it feels too narrow in your hand.
 
If you have a real brick and mortar knife shop nearby, go there and grab some knives. Find your favorite and try to reproduce it. I can tell you that you will become able to feel where you need to some more fine sanding/shaping by just grabbing the handle in pretty short order.
 
As JDM said, handle some knives. Find a handle you like and try to replicate it. Hell, you could even take a tape measure with you and take some measurements. A set of calipers is great for taking width measurements.

In terms of shaping the handle, you might keep the sides flat at first and draw the rear to front profile first. Then you can just round the edges after that. That way the process can be repeatable and it really helps to prevent taking off too much.









 
I really like to just hand them to random people and listen to what they say.
You get a lot of good observations- some women will find every sharp or annoying feature, my rough hands don't always pick that up.
 
http://versteegblades.com/knife-handle-design/

This guy (Kyle VerSteeg) has a pretty good write up on handle design, that I tend to agree with. I think there's also a video linked on his page for the same topic.
Personally, I think simple is usually better than lots of curves and complicated lines, multiple finger grooves, thumb ramps, etc...

Locking your hand into a specific position is all well and good for a knife that you only want to use for one or two things, but generally, a simple elliptical handle is a lot more versatile and comfortable. Not that ramps, grooves, pommels and guards, etc... don't have their place, but for "general" knife use? Use sparingly.
 
Handle shape is something I still struggle with. Especially when using antler, takes a little while to dig through the pile of antler to find what I'm looking for to match the knife and make a good handle.

One of the best I've seen for full tang knives is Bob Loveless's designs, though i do prefer more of a guard on most of mine. For fixed blades, look at Ed Fowler's handles, there curved and fit in different positions, and line the hand up with the blade. There are too many that I've looked to for inspiration to name them all, but those are two that come readily to mind. One thing I've done is to use clay and mould and play with it to get a feel for handle shapes, also handled a lot of antler and various sticks and limbs for shapes. What I like in a handle is a palm swell, curves, and no sharp edges anywhere but the cutting edge.

I think it was Ed Fowler who stated something like "cut a telephone pole in half with a knife and you'll know all you need to about a knife handle" Not sure I'd go that far, but the more you use one, the more you'll know what it needs. Blisters and raw spots on your hands are great teachers.
 
The shaping advice above is all good info.

I will add that the number one problem with new makers knives is that they are afraid to remove material from the handle. They try and preserve the block of wood like it was made from gold. Even when the "pre-shape" the block, they seem to fear reducing it more. We call this BHS - Blocky Handle Syndrome.

One tip I give new makers ( almost exactly like J G Custom does) is to shape the profile first. When it looks pretty good from the side, shape the top profile. When that looks pretty good, grind the corners off at 45°. Start rounding the top and bottom into the sides. I generally make the bottom side a bit narrower than the top so the cross section is sort of egg shaped.
 
A big sambar stag carver, is the one material where I tell people that I "make the knife to fit the handle." ;)
Will52100 said:
Handle shape is something I still struggle with. Especially when using antler, takes a little while to dig through the pile of antler to find what I'm looking for to match the knife and make a good handle.

One of the best I've seen for full tang knives is Bob Loveless's designs, though i do prefer more of a guard on most of mine. For fixed blades, look at Ed Fowler's handles, there curved and fit in different positions, and line the hand up with the blade. There are too many that I've looked to for inspiration to name them all, but those are two that come readily to mind. One thing I've done is to use clay and mould and play with it to get a feel for handle shapes, also handled a lot of antler and various sticks and limbs for shapes. What I like in a handle is a palm swell, curves, and no sharp edges anywhere but the cutting edge.

I think it was Ed Fowler who stated something like "cut a telephone pole in half with a knife and you'll know all you need to about a knife handle" Not sure I'd go that far, but the more you use one, the more you'll know what it needs. Blisters and raw spots on your hands are great teachers.
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