Recommendation? Hunting knife design help

T

Tenebr0s

Joined
Jun 3, 2012
Messages
397
https://imgur.com/a/XiR4LxW

I’m a kitchen knife guy, and I’ve only made a couple hunting knives ever. I would really appreciate any and all feedback on this design. Hopefully the link to my drawing will work.

Currently the blade is 4.5” from guard to tip and about 1.45” at its widest. Too long? Not enough belly?
 
I really like it. Clean simple lines and tried and true shape. No dimensions but I'm guessing it's about a 5" to 6" blade length?

I could see the blade being a touch narrower but very little. My suggestion would be to make it to match the drawing. If you feel it's too wide after profiling you can easily take the edge back a bit.

What steel are you using? That blade would really pop with a nice Hamon.
 
On a blade that length I would probable use 1.25 stock and not go much narrower at finish. Just go with what you looks good to you.
Nice handle. James
 
scott kozub said:
What steel are you using? That blade would really pop with a nice Hamon.
Click to expand...
You know, that’s an interesting idea. I was thinking about making damascus for it, but I do have piece of W2 that would work great for this...
The blade is 4.5” long. I’ve seen people say hunting knives shouldn’t be longer than 4”? Somehow the drawing just didn’t look right until I lengthened the blade to 4.5
 
It is your design, but I will suggest you shorten the handle and the blade for a usable hunter. Longer ones will be more of a camp knife. I'd go 3.5" blade and 4" handle.
 
I'm just a novice blade maker but have used hunting knives all my life. I don't like how how your sharpened blade just stops at 90 degrees. If you use it to cut hide or plastic and the back end of the blade goes past the the hide or cutting material it will hang up. Hope this makes sense.
 
Thank you, Stacy. What would be your ballpark recommendation for stock thickness and blade width at the “heel” for a 3.5” hunter?
 
LCoop said:
I'm just a novice blade maker but have used hunting knives all my life. I don't like how how your sharpened blade just stops at 90 degrees. If you use it to cut hide or plastic and the back end of the blade goes past the the hide or cutting material it will hang up. Hope this makes sense.
Click to expand...
I’m not following exactly. Are you saying you don’t like that the edge extends out from the plunge, or that the heel should be rounded instead of 90 degrees?
 
what size of game is this knife primarily for? that will help you refine some of the details and decide on proper size.. I agree with lcoop. I think you need to spend a little more time on the transition between guard / blade flats/ bevel transition.
 
The drop point design is good.

If it's to be hunter, then the guard only needs to drop down low enough to keep the hand from touching the sharpened blade. I'd suggest reducing the length of the guard slightly. A long guard doesn't allow easy slicing with the rear portion of the blade.
 
I like the look.

The note about the guard length is an observant one.

I have hunters with guards that are well beyond the edge, and those that aren't. I'm not strongly opinionated on either.


I do have a 2xl hand, so a bit more room on a handle is not a bad thing.
 
Tenebr0s said:
Thank you, Stacy. What would be your ballpark recommendation for stock thickness and blade width at the “heel” for a 3.5” hunter?
Click to expand...


Many new makers make hunting knives way too thick. I would make a knife to be used to dress game from .060" stock. Those who want a heavier blade should go no more than .125" .
1.25" height at the heel is plenty . As mentioned, a slight built in guard to keep wet fingers from sliding forward on a razor sharp blade is a good feature. It does not need to be a lot, just enough to index the finger at the front.
 
I’m not a hunter ... but I’ll take a stab at something (which I think lcoop was getting at). That rectangular gap between the guard and heel of the blade might be a problem in terms of hanging up while cutting. I would consider modifying the heel of the blade to have a quarter-round cutout shape to allow any material between the guard and blade to easily slide forward and out of that gap (and I think it would have a better look also)
 
I understand the gap there in the Ricasso area and it’s common on big Bowie blades. But for me it adds a problematic area for cleaning and hanging up on something. When you arm is so far up the chest cavity you neck is touching the rib cage and your trying to cut things free blindly a catch point could be problematic. But if your just wanting to make a hunting knife styled blade then I think it looks good. I do like the gap instead of a notch you see at the end of edges. I can’t stand the little half circle notches. I like my blades edge to end right at the plunge cut. But I guess the question is this. Are you trying to design and build a duty specific knife or just in that style? But I also agree with Stacy that 4x3 is about right for a blade like that. It’s almost just as bad to have to much handle then it is to have not enough. Rarely are you holding a hunting knife with a full hand when dressing something out.
 
I like it after your tweaks except for 1 thing. I would put a little more belly about 1/3 back from the tip. That extra belly will make skinning easier.
Tim
 
I could not look at your photos.

I hunt a fair amount, over 30 years, and have field butchered a decent number of bear and elk deep in the mountains so they could be carried out.

Here are my thoughts.

Blade between 3 and 4 inches, I prefer 3 3/4 inches.

Thin stock as weight makes a big difference when spending hours butchering. I like my knives around 0.080-0.090 inches at the spine as the knife is a multiple use tool and I may rely on it for fire in the mountains so needs a little spine to it for wood processing.

One of the bigger points for me is a relatively straight spine through handle with the tip of blade around 1/8 inch above center of handle. I find when tips are below center of handle they become grabby when processing, skinning, and gutting game.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top