Designing a Knife

L

Lima Kilo

Joined
Nov 24, 2005
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60
I'm stuck. I have NO artistic ability and even with a ruler cant draw a straight line. So how in the world am I supposed to design a knife? The two I'm working on someone else drew out for me. Anyone have any good tips on how to do it? I tried grap paper and all it looks like is a pointy line segment. Thanks.

Logan K.

P.S. I already did a search on this so I hope no one gets upset. Even if they do sorry I'm a certified Jackass :D
 
Get yourself a set of French curves from an office supply place, Logan. They've got smooth proportions "built in".

Get some tracing paper and trace some out of books or magazines to give yourself a feel for it.

Download Lloyd Harding's patterns. http://hurleyknives.com/lloyd.html Do some line drawings of those to get more of a feel.

If you draw like I do (for crap), get a copy of "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" and work your way through it. You'll be amazed at what you can learn to draw. Soon you'll be doing what you'd like to achieve.:)

Hope that helps a bit, from a fellow jackass....:D
 
heres what i do, look at the knives u like, production/ custom whatever, put them into a folder and look to them for inspiration. i try to keep what i draw flowing, clean lines and a fluid form. it just takes practice :) another thing, stick with the graph paper, it sure does help me!
 
I am CERTAINLY no expert but as a beginning wannabe knifemaker I can tell you what works for me...
First I do what has already been mentioned to you- look at 3 million knives and try to pick good points you like for an original idea- something that is yours.
Then I draw it out on cardboard, cut it out and hold it, scrutinize it for a couple days, then modify. You don't have to be an artist to know what feels comfortable to you and what you would like different. Hope this helps.
Matt Doyle
 
Good advise Fritzo.

The best way I know to work out a design is a finished product.

I mentioned part of this in a previous post on grinding blades.

When I make a new design it is out of plywood. I first grind the wood blade shapes and all tapers. When I do a full tang I will make the handles and guards out of plywood. I will work out the palm swells etc. This way I can get an advanced feel on how the knife will look and feel before I spend lots of hours just to throw in the bad design barrel.

Once I have a knife that I want, I take it apart and save for future reference.

If you think about it will give you a lot of experience and confidence to try something new by pushing the envelope in a very short period of time without a major expense in time and money. IMO.
 
my best friends are old frozen pizza boxes and tracing paper..............

like one part of the design, simple trace it because I cant redraw to save my life!! GEt a fast feel for it............use sizzors and cut it out of the pizza box :)
 
I use cad for a living! :D

But it's still easier sometimes to turn a pencil doodle into a working design, not to mention all the interesting conversations you get into on the bus! :eek:
 
Here's what works for me,

When you're designing try not to force it, think about what you like in nature, architecture, women :^ ), cars, artwork, whatever helps you visualize a shape keeping the basic knife function in mind, it has a cutting edge. I happen to like curves on women, cars and things so my knives usually have curves in them, I also like nature and texture, some people like twiggy, straight and smooth. Ideas come at any time, when they do it's important to draw them out right away, don't worry how they look right now you can refine it later.

Most every knife that I make starts out as a scribble, usually on a piece of scrap paper in the middle of the night with a bunch of notes around it. Every time I get an idea for a knife I draw it out with notes explaining what I was thinking about at the time because my scribbles usually look like an unintelligible preschool stick drawing. When I'm wanting to make a new knife I look through these sketches until I see something that I want to try. Next it's time to get out the ruler, french curves, pencils, a good non smear eraser and regular no line paper, I've tried graph paper but all the little squares gets me crazy. A copier is helpful but you can use a non erasable pen for your reference lines instead.

Determine how big you want the knife to be, for example a 9" over all length fixed blade with a 4" blade and 2" at the widest point of the knife. Using a t square or measure from the paper edges draw an accurate rectangle, in this case a 9" x 2" rectangle, next draw a line lengthwise down the center so you end up with 2, 1" x 9" rectangles stacked on top of each other. Since this will have a 4" blade draw a vertical line at the 4" mark and that's where your guard/bolster intersects the blade. I usually make a few copies of this grid so I can try different variations of the original sketch, I make copies of this grid so I can erase many times and not erase my reference lines. The grid lines help me keep everything lined up like the blade tip above, below or at the knife center line, on some of the variations I go outside the grid lines, especially the handle butt or guard. Keep pencil drawing variations until you're happy with one of them, make a copy and cut it out. I use spray adhesive and glue the drawing on a piece of kydex, cardboard or something that's stiff enough so I know how the knife feels in my hand. If no more adjustments need to be done I'll use this pattern to transfer on to the actual blade and handle materials.

Dave
 
I usually just get random ideas for knives that pop into my head. sometimes it's whole picture, other times it's one particular feature that i think might be a good basis for a design. other times i see a knife that i like, and think "how would it look if i did this to it?" i start drawing the design roughly to scale on a piece of paper (generally just copier paper). i start with a diagonal line going from one corner to it's opposite so that i can line the whole knife up with itself. from there it's usually just what pleases my eye, and i (think that i) have a pretty good idea of what my hand likes. after that i'll copy the pattern to cardstock and cut it out.

Alex
 
If you don't have the hands to draw maybe you could use illustration softwares. I use Correl Draw, Macromedia Freehand, and Adobe Illustrator :)
 
Take the actual piece of steel you plan to use. (for stockremoval that is) and cover it with paper-masking-tape.
Draw with pencil what you plan to make. That way your drawing will always fit and you can use the steel as maximal as possible.
 
Thanks for posting this thread Lima. This drives me crazy too.
Thanks for all the ideas guys.:thumbup:

Mike
 
I've been thinking seriously for a few months about building a knife, and after looking at countless photos of knives, I think I have an idea of what I want to do. So I just started sketching on the back of an envelope until I came up with the shape my eye likes. I trust my eye for what I like. Then, the fun part: modeling it in SolidWorks (yes at work, but even at work, using Solidworks is like a toy). It "looks" like I want it to look, and I think I know how it's going to feel, but I'm going to make a prototype out of aluminum, just to be sure. Anyways, it is your eye that you have to please on paper. If it doesn't "look" right, resketch until it does. Finalized "plans" can be made from anything.
 
First, use the blue painters tape on your steel...easy to get off...use the french curves to help, this will make life easier.
Drag out all your old Blade magazines, Knives annuals, or any other book on knives you have and look at the designs that you like...take bits and pieces
of two or three designs you like and come up with something you like the looks of. If you want to do a little extra work, make a proto type out of wood
so you can save on steel, this will give you the opportunity to hold it in your hand and see if it's comfortable and will be easy to use. This works for me, good luck.:D
 
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