just wondering

[Jared Stenoien]

how many people here use a cad program to design their knives vs. doing it freehand?

 

[Ilovetoolsteel]

how many people here use a cad program to design their knives vs. doing it freehand?

I use a "card" program. I buy bristol board, (heavyweight paper "Card" stock) and cut out blade shapes, then I use these as guides and alter them when I draw. The same goes for handles, Then I use french curves to alter details. It's a very low tech aproach.

Sometimes I see a pic in a magazine and I photocopy it enlarging it. Then I cut it out and use the details I like about it. I may draw the knife 20 times changing things each time till I find what I like Sometimes I re-draw a blade with 5 or 6 different handle styles and then start altering the one I like best till it looks right. Sometimes it never looks right.

 

[flatgrinder]

I use adobe illustrator -you can experiment with curves and stuff. very cool.

also useful when you start making folders. (and it's more friendly and cheaper than CAD).

 

[Chant]

I'm just starting to play with adobe photoshop, per a tutorial I found on the web: http://www.knivesby.com/phill.html

For the most part I'm still doing it by hand. Photoshop isn't cheap, so when the 30 day trial runs out, I doubt I'll continue with it. If anyone knows of a good "freeware" CAD program that isn't too hard to learn, I'd love to hear about it.

 

[David Wesner]

I am currently learning how to use BobCAD-CAM V20

 

[Stag & Steel]

I too am learning BobCad V20 and I like it a lot. It will work well with my Taig CNC mill when it gets here.
Jim

 

[clw3]

I'm with Flatgrinder. I also like to use Illustrator to render my designs before I produce them. With some simple gradients you can simulate highlights on metal and on simulated handle material. You can tweak and adjust the vectors to make subtle changes to your design until you get the look you desire and then by removing all the fill info and leaving a thin outline, you can make a template with all the drill locations, grind lines and outlines simplified. I print them out and stick them directly to my steel to create my blanks. The crosshairs I have on my drill marks are great for aligning my punches before drilling. It also gives you something kind of finished to look at while you work so that you can keep on track.
Here's a sample to show what I mean. I hope it's helpful:

 

[Chant]

clw3 - wow. I'm going to have to try Illustrator.

 

[Sweany]

I use a hammer and grinder

 

[Jared Stenoien]

i was just wondering b/c i find it so much easier using cad, wow that's a nice drawing though clw3!

 

[clw3]

Thanks for the complements on the sketch! I do find it easier to draw 'em than to grind 'em. I'm making that one for my Dad.

One thing I didn't mention about Illustrator is that you can export your illustrations to just about any graphic format. Two formats that might come in handy for the machinist/knifemaker are AutoCAD Drawing (DWG) and AutoCAD Interchange File (DXF) formats.

 

[Daniel Koster]

I use AutoCAD...mostly because I use it everyday for architecture stuff.

I would love to start modeling in BobCAD and SolidWorks - both of which I have...but have not hardly attempted using.

 

[Don Hanson III]

I use pencil and paper for folders, no drawing for forged/fixed blades, like sweany, just hammer and grinder. It's all good though, I'd probably use it if I had it.

 

[Maybeso]

I use AutoCAD...mostly because I use it everyday for architecture stuff.

I use Autocad every day for engineering stuff! Imagine that!
Unfortunately, 3D in Autocad is not very user friendly, so I've been sticking with 2D line drawings, which seem to work just fine for me.