Friction Folder Design Thoughts

J

jago434

Joined
Jan 1, 2007
Messages
21
Good Evening
I am new to knife making and waiting on all my quipment to get here atm. I have been designing numerous knifes to try to come up with some simple fixed blades I can start with. I know most of you will suggest not to jump into folders but I would really like to give a shot starting with a friction folder and just keep working at it till I get it right. My goal is to be designing and building framelocks/linerlocks one day but that is down the road. My background is woodworking so I hope I can transalate my past 10 years doing that into metal fabrication. It has been a few years since I have touched a mill or grinder, I know I have a lot to learn. I wanted to show you guys a friction folder design and get some thoughts from people who have done this. If there are major issues with this design I rather know before I start. I understand a lot of this will be trial and error, but hopefully any suggestions you guys can give can help ease that path. Again I understand Fixed blades is where to start, but I would really like to focus on grinding a friction folder blade until I get it right nomatter how long that takes me. let me know what you guys think. All coments are appreciated and welcome.
Regards,
Jason

oz3wP65.gif
 
I believe that if you are material and time able to go ahead with a knife you want well why not? I will say that the proposed folder you have drawn up is ugly and not a good user, in my opinion . How do you hang on to a design like that with such a fast taper to the back? Maybe just reduce the width of the blade at the bolster and of course, then that area too. I suggest you make up a hard pattern which I figure you should do with every new design you come up with and see how comfortable in you hand it is as how practical it would be in use. Sooo, I don't see it as being a reasonable tactical or a reasonable every day carry knife. Perhaps if you look around a bit more at other makers work you will see an idea or two you can take off to design yours. Stay with it, but as you now, now is the time to make the big changes that will make it better. Frank
 
Thank you for taking the time to give me your input. I absolutly share the same concern as you. the rectangular shape and straight back looked like it may be uncomforable, I was going for something with sharper clean lines but I am aware this probably may not be so comfortable. I have looked at so many designs my eyes are starting to go blury... I will continue to look and rethink the useability of the design. I guess i was trying something different, but i am sure a mock up of the design would show me the points your are explaining. Back to the drawing board as they say. I will keep at it until I get something that works out well.
 
I'm not a big fan of the blade shape. There is no belly to it at all and the clip point looks like it ends too far forward on the blade. Try redrawing it a few times and you'll start to get a feel for better looking designs.
 
Appreciate the feedback! What I find interesting and maybe this is me being a newbie at designing knives. I started with a blade shape I loved then had to start tweaking things to get everything to work in the folding position. This is where the design started to change. I guess this is the part of knife design I need to learn and practice more. I find it a bit of a challenge at this point to design exactly my ideal knife and make it work in the folded position. I guess with more practice this will get easier to forecast those problems.
 
I don't know about calling it ugly, but I think a few ergonomic and blade tweeks would balance it, and make it more of a user. If it were me, I would bring the clip out a bit, and a bit of belly to the blade......add some material to the bottom of the handle to make the grip shape more grippy, and then make sure the tip is balanced to the centerline of the overall knife flow. Good job starting with sketches though. Also, I think the spike on your design will stab the crap out of your leg if you put it in your pocket. Ever seen the episode of The Office where Andy does the splits? ��
 
Did some quick adjustments with the design. I fully see what you guys are saying I now see how much I dont like the original design. I am not sure I like this one much more but i figured I would change a few things to better the overall feel. Let me know your thoughts.
Thanks

VmhS1UD.gif
 
tinman207 said:
I don't know about calling it ugly, but I think a few ergonomic and blade tweeks would balance it, and make it more of a user. If it were me, I would bring the clip out a bit, and a bit of belly to the blade......add some material to the bottom of the handle to make the grip shape more grippy, and then make sure the tip is balanced to the centerline of the overall knife flow. Good job starting with sketches though. Also, I think the spike on your design will stab the crap out of your leg if you put it in your pocket. Ever seen the episode of The Office where Andy does the splits? ��
Click to expand...

Thanks for your thoughts I will add more to the adjustment to the design. You gave me a good laugh with the spike issue. I would have to agree but then again i have seen soooo many friction folders with a strange little spike or the likes of one pointing out of the top. I am now trying to think of the design as a whole and not just adjust the blade to fit a handle. Everything has to work together to look good balance well and be functional. Its going to take some time, thank you for your words of encouragement
 
new one looks much better. but I would round off the point of the tab that sticks out if you are going to pocket carry, you don't want to get jabbed in the leg all day with that.
 
I like the redesign, I still think the spine tang is too short and too sharp. That's personal preference though....I have two friction folders that have really long ones and I love them. I am kind of partial to the long ones that fill up the spine slot when open, I think that is really classy looking.
 
I also agree with Frank that the handle shouldn't be tapered to the rear like that.

Here are two other possibilities for your blade shape.

01.jpg

02.png
 
New design looks much better. However, I would agree with the other posts mentioning the tab's sharpness. My speculation is that a friction folder works well with a long tab that extends past the meat of your hand in your palm that curves off of your thumb. This should mean that closing force that the blade experiences will not jab you, but will evenly disperse that pressure into that part of the palm. Adding a bit of width to the tab would be beneficial as well as it would increase the necessary pressure to close the blade, making it a bit more secure. Since I had trouble describing the palm part, here is a picture of the part I am attempting to describe:
qpxSPeg.jpg
 
Shane_o_ca has a couple of sketches that to me sure fix up the handle shape both for looks and handling. Perhaps and I'm just saying perhaps you might look at the top one he has given you and consider making the back of the blade more narrow and of course the front of the handle too. Why such a wide blade? They are not much for use other than skinning and don't look all that great either. Frank
 
The feedback is great and very appreciated. Dropping the kids off at school and then I will tweak the design with the new feedback from everyone. Will post shortly.
 
Ok here is some basic changes I still need to work on the ovall flow of the blade and handle. The blade is looking a little large relative to the handle but as with any design once I change the blade size it really changes every other part. This has been a great learning excerisize and all of the feedback thus far is appreciated. I may start over so I am not bound to this design andshape. As for the handle, again I am bound to the shape and sizeof the blade since i need it to fit and I need enough room for a backspacer or atleast enough room for stand offs. Once I try to create more arcs on the bottom area of the handle it make the handle look to small for the blade.
Jason

 
Frank Niro said:
Have you made a hard copy of this one and tried it in your hand? Frank
Click to expand...

Thank you for asking Frank. I am going to start that process this week. I designed another smaller friction folder so I can see which one would work better. I've been busy trying to move around my woodworking shop so the grinder and metal bandsaw can fit.
 
I did a quick print out last night of the two friction folder designs I have been working on. They both seem to fit the hand well. I may need to contour the handle a bit more on the larger folder. I am going to make a quick wood hard template tonight to get a better feel and will report back. Any comments or thoughts on both designs are welcome. I added a spyderco knife for size comparison.
Thank you all!

EEzLOG2.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top