Does this guard look right to you?

clemsonreeder

clemsonreeder

Joined
Sep 25, 2007
Messages
176
Here is my latest, nothing fancy, just a hunter in 1095, hollow ground, 9" OAL, maple burl, nickel silver fittings. Made for a give away for the men's ministry at my uncle's church. My question is, what is wrong with the guard? There is something that doesn't look right to me, but I can't put my finger on it. Maybe too squared off? Too thick? Any suggestions? ****UPDATE BELOW....I THINK I FIXED IT*****
 

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Sorry, pics won't insert for some reason, although you can right click and open in a new tab and look at them directly on Flickr.
 
It doesnt look to bad to me... wait there it is.. it doesnt taper into a V shape at the lower finger guard. also it's a bit thick along the front as well. Great execution though!

Jason
 
What I see about the guard that is throwing things off is the transition from the front face of the guard into the rest of it. You've got nice curves and lines through the rest of the knife, but the front edge of the guard is very square. Additionally, if you look at the knife "tip on" the profile of the guard is sort of "capsule" shaped. If it were to taper a bit at the bottom (when looking at it tip on), it would probably look less "heavy". Then, round in the front edge and it would soften some of the hard lines there. I used to have both of these same problems on my knives...took me sitting around with some other makers to understand it.

That's my $.02 anyways.

-d
 
I'll agree with the above. Looking at the knife with a fresh eye, I see a solid build that's a bit square-ish in the handle, overall. The grip should be more ovoid in cross-section, though what you have is certainly looking very functional and I wouldn't be ashamed to have it on my belt (hint).

The guard really stands out because it's the transition point between a sleek, fluid blade and the handle. Being big and blocky works, but it hampers the flow.

I'd tape up the blade and take that guard to the grinder to taper it down in the front so that there's less of a wall between the blade and guard. And don't be afraid to take the bevel back into the handle material some. Looking at the top elevation of most knives you see in these magazines will show some serious contouring to better fit the hand. Slab sides work, but they were popularized by mass-produced knives where it was simply the cheapest form of handle they could do. It works and requires the minimum amount of labor.

That's my thinking. Great work, though. One day, I'll get the guts to post some of my work here.....
 
I'm new to knifemaking but I'll try to help.

I think the gaurd might be a bit chunky. Maybe taper the bottom part? Try blocking off parts visually with a piece of paper and see if you can figure out what needs to be removed. (hope that makes sense)

It looks like a great knife, if you wouldn't have pointed it out I might not have noticed.

Nice job.
 
I agree that it looks like it needs to taper a bit more at the bottom. The main thing that catches my eye is that the top of the guard appears to tilt very slightly towards the rear. This is a very common thing with newer makers....even though the guard is installed at 90 degrees to the blade, once the handles are installed, and the knife finished, it often appears to the eye that the guard's top is tilting rearward.

How do you prevent this?
The answer is to always install your guards with a slit forward tilt at the top of the guard. For lack of a better way to explain it, doing so will give a knife a "fast", "sleek" profile.
 
I couldn't let it go the way it was, so I took y'alls advice. Tapered it to half the thickness at the ricasso and took it down to more of a point at the bottom. I like this much better...
 

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The knife looked great from the beginning but I really think your changes made it much more visually attractive. Great job!
Mike
 
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