Feedback on my first knife design

B

beanmachine314

Joined
Jul 28, 2015
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10
Just finished the design for my very first knife. Just wanted to get the opinion of some professionals before I do the dirty work... I'm looking for a basic no frills every day work knife. Something someone who actually uses a knife ever day would carry. Looking at a thickness of 5/32-3/16 (the local steel guy is getting me prices on 1 1/2 bar stock in both sizes in O1). I'm really looking for opinions on what parts of my design are terrible (I'm sure there's at least one). I'm starting my first grind on some plain mild steel just to get a feel for how the knife is in hand. I've got enough to do 9 knives. Just so I get the hang before I ruin a 50 dollar piece of steel

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The little nub poking out behind the choil will be an impediment to cutting. Make it flush with the edge.
 
Personally, I would loose the glass breaker butt. It will just cause you issues in doing the handle shaping, and really isn't a feature that has a use.

The little "mini-bottle-opener" at the choil should be just ground off as if the edge continued back to it. The choil will then be a simple semi-circle.

The whole knife looks a bit "stiff". Adding just a tiny bit of curve to the spine line will make a big change in the optics. Drop the butt and point about 1/16" to 1/8" and make the entire spine line a continuous curve.

The pointed finger rest on the handle should be made rounded. It would be uncomfortable as it is with the point.
 
36" of O-1 is about $50 so you're looking at more of a $10 piece of steel. If you end up making a perfect knife out of mild steel you're going to kick yourself for not using knife steel.

You have some potentially fragile areas on the butt of the knife for your scales. The little notch around the lanyard hole will bust right off if you're using wood and the drop might not last long either.

For my eyes, the handle seems short. I'll second Stacy's notion of putting some curve in the spine to give it some flow.
 
Yes, I forgot to mention that for that size knife, .090" to .125" is more than sufficient.
 
So something more along the lines of this...

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I'm supposed to be getting a call back from the steel guy this week so I'll go ahead and order a piece of O1. Unless there is a reason I should use a different steel. I've read O1 is pretty simple as far as heat treating. I'll do at least my first run in 1/8 and see how that works.
 
The pin placement looks a bit low to my eye. You might consider dropping the point a bit more? You might also consider thinning the height of the handle toward the ricasso end. That will help reduce the blockyness of the overall look.
For me the handle is the most difficult, designing both form and function together into something that works and looks nice. I study lots of handles all the time.
That said, your first knife is going to look so different from your 5th, at least if you study seriously. :)

I used real steel for all of my attempts, from 1 to about 20. I now have a pile of good steel junk knives I never finished. If I can give you one piece of advice on learning to grind it would be this:
Take the first knife you are fairly happy with the grind on and hand sand it from 220 down to 400 or 600. Once you begin to see what it takes to make a finished blade with a flat even surface by hand it will instruct your grinding and you will learn to grind quicker.
 
beanmachine314 said:
So something more along the lines of this...

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I'm supposed to be getting a call back from the steel guy this week so I'll go ahead and order a piece of O1. Unless there is a reason I should use a different steel. I've read O1 is pretty simple as far as heat treating. I'll do at least my first run in 1/8 and see how that works.
Click to expand...

Other than the pin placement, I really like that.
 
Greatly improved. The biggest thing I see that looks off is using three pins and a thong tube on a small handle. Two pins would be sufficient. I would use two 3/16" or 1/4" Corby bolts and a 1/4" thong tube.

I also feel the handle front is crowding the plunge line. Make the ricasso a tad wider by moving the plunge forward. This will only shorten the cutting edge about 1/8".
 
Ok so I took everyone's input and changed everything slightly. It ends up looking a lot like i4Marcs design (thanks btw!).

I'm really liking this design. I never imagined a few tiny little changes would make such a difference!


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I tried not to suggest anything too far from your original intent. I think maybe move the lanyard hole a little farther in so you don't end up with a fragile piece of handle material between the hole and the edge. Then I think you're good to go!
 
I had the same thought. Move the thong hole diagonally inward one to 1.5 grid spaces. you want about 1/4" free space between it and the edge of the scales.

After that, try drawing it with the rear rivet one line grid farther back. It may...or may not...look better there.
 
I noticed that after I posted. I tweaked that area of the handle and forgot to move the thong hole away from the edge of the handle scales.
 
I would loose the lanyard hole all together, personally. I don't know anyone that actually uses them. I could be wrong, but that is just my opinion. The most recent draft looks great, otherwise. I agree with the others. If you plan on keeping the lanyard hole, move it to a spot where it would be more secure.
 
I agree on anything but a big chopper there aren't a ton of uses but I do like to use it to strap on a pack on occasion. Especially if I already have another knife on my belt. Not something I would miss terribly if it were gone but something that I feel doesn't detract from the usefulness of a knife to keep.
 
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