How important is balancing?

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grindemup

Joined
Nov 9, 2013
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69
What the title says.

I can drill some holes in the handle (full tang) in order to even it out. The handle is about as long as the blade, obviously the blade quite a bit thinner.
 
I really depends on what you want your knife to do, right? It takes some thought and some skill to make a knife balanced. I think it is important that allows to ease of use.

Balance between the handle and the blade was important "back in the day" when the knives and daggers where used as weapons because it would be an extension of your arm. Even today, if you were to use a knife all day, the balance and the handle geometry is important in fatigue and ease of use.
 
Balance is different for various types of knives. I like a "forward" balance on large Bowies or choppers. I think it aids in performing appropriate tasks. for a smaller knife that will do more delicate or detailed work I think a mid balanced or handle weighted balance makes the blade feel light and quick. For fighting knives middle balance works well. Blade balance is important and a properly balanced blade is one sign of a good knife maker but I suspect "properly balanced" is somewhat subjective.
 
I think it's extremely important. I despise a knife that feels like a brick or a baseball bat in hand. Proper balance for the knife and the tasks for which it's meant separates the pros from the wannabes.
 
Guess i should drill it out then. This knife is already a little too thick, even my grandmother who doesn't like this kind of thing made fun of me for it being so heavy.
 
i4Marc said:
Balance is different for various types of knives. I like a "forward" balance on large Bowies or choppers. I think it aids in performing appropriate tasks. for a smaller knife that will do more delicate or detailed work I think a mid balanced or handle weighted balance makes the blade feel light and quick. For fighting knives middle balance works well. Blade balance is important and a properly balanced blade is one sign of a good knife maker but I suspect "properly balanced" is somewhat subjective.
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I have someone wanting me to make them a knife that is a bowie style. he wants it to be balanced for throwing, how would someone accomplish this when the blade is quite a bit bigger?
 
Balance is the difference between a dead knife and a knife that feels good in the hand like it has life. I first drill holes in the handle and compensate for the weight of the scales and bolsters that will be added later.
 
It's also very personal.
I recently did three bird/trout knives for a very experienced hunter, and he chose the one with the full thickness, solid tang even though the other two were tapered and drilled. He liked the feel of the weight in his hand.
I was all about the lightest one, but I don't make 100+ knives a year for my own use, do I?
 
grindemup said:
I have someone wanting me to make them a knife that is a bowie style. he wants it to be balanced for throwing, how would someone accomplish this when the blade is quite a bit bigger?
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You may someday get a customer who wants a kukri style blade for doing brain surgery. As a maker you sometimes have to educate your customers about what kinds of blades are appropriate for what kinds of tasks. People have thrown Bowies but I don't think they are the best knife for that purpose. Throwing knives are a different animal altogether. They are better when heat treated towards the low to mid 50's RC. I would make the tip on the stout side without an aggressive distal taper. If the blade will be grasped by the blade when thrown I would not make the cutting edge sharp except at the tip or the thrower may be spending more time getting stitches put in his hand than actually throwing knives. These details don't make for a very good cutting knife. That said, the term "Bowie" encompasses a wide variety of blade sizes, profiles and geometries. If you must make this Bowie for throwing I would try to have the balance in the middle of the length of the knife (not the blade). If the blade is weighted too far to one end or the other it will rotate unpredictably or whip as it spins. If you have the weight in the center of the OAL it is likely to flip in a predictable manner. You may want to make a full tang design to have enough weight in the handle to balance a long blade. Adding the handle scales will add more weight on the handle end of course. Start with narrower bevels on the blade. If the blade is still too heavy, grind the bevels higher until the weight distribution is better. If it gets too light on the blade end you have the full tang to taper or drill holes in to reduce weight. If it is close but still too handle heavy you can slim down the handle scales too. You have a few ways to move weight back and forth. Maybe if you need to take a little weight out of the handle you can use micarta pins instead of metal pins, or no pis at all. Just think about all the elements in play and adjust accordingly.
 
i4Marc said:
As a maker you sometimes have to educate your customers about what kinds of blades are appropriate for what kinds of tasks. People have thrown Bowies but I don't think they are the best knife for that purpose. Throwing knives are a different animal altogether.
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Well said! Take a look at all the most successful throwing knife designs - one thing they all share is symmetry. (plus all the things Marc said)
 
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