knife drawings

enix

enix

Joined
Mar 21, 2007
Messages
455
I have posted here before about using brake steel(that i have since found out is D2, yay!!). The replys were very helpful and im looking for that again.

here are some drawings that i have done over the past couple days in my spare time. im sure you can tell but im no artist.

im curious as to what drawing you think is the best (in regards to the design, not the drawing skill). im obviously looking for critisim and tips on what to think about on my next drawing. my stock is 6''x3''x3/8'' so all these drawings are actual size (why the ruler is there).

Thanks for the help.
Ev



 
In MY OPINION, the stock you have is to short and thick to be proportionately correct (that is unless you are forging a blade or plan to do alot of grinding to thin the stock. I think a knife 6" overall should probably be made from 1/8" stock ... maybe 3/16ths at most. When I look at your design, the blade section looks too short.... disproportionate with the length of the handle. As far as the general concept of your designs- all 3 look fine to me.. just add a bit more length to the blade and I think all 3 would be winners.
3/8" steel would be used for a "hacker"... and a 6" overall hacker would be pretty useless in my opinion. Now if you could stretch that bar to 14" or so, 3/8 would become more appropriate.

Tek
 
3/8" does seem a bit thick. I'm working on an 8" OAL knife in 1/4" 5160, and it feels really thick.

I like the second handle design the best myself. Maybe a clip point up front would help it achieve better visual balance.
 
Note thats its just about personal taste and not cos Im any expert: I like the handle on the first and second ones and the blade shape on the last one. The handle looks a bit long on the last one in proprtion to the blade but I think if you integrated the top handles with the bottom blade it will look damn fine.... in my opinion

Lang
 
I like the top design best EV!
Nice belly for slicing and point for sticking.
I agree with Tek though about the steel being too thick. The thickest blade I ever made was 1/4" and it was 18" long. :) Maybe you should look for a better chunk of steel, especially if this is your first knife, and save this for later.
 
thanks all for ur input, i really apreciate it. it is too thick for a 6'' OAL knife, i wonder if there is a way to chop it in thirds or fourths or if that would be trouble than its worth. forging it out would be ok, but i barelly have enough equipment for stock removal so i think that it out if the question.

a second question, i know this is alot about personal taste but what would be a good ballpark thickness? i saw 3/16'', but i cant picture how thick 3/16'' is. maybe i will go to the scrap yard w/ a tape measure and try to determine what thickness i want.

again thanks all who have replied, and hopefully more will.
 
If I had to choose one of these knives, I would pick the top one. Would suggest a sample made from something other than steel and see how it fits the the hand and make changes as needed before using the steel. paper patterns and wood patterns are a good choice. Good luck on your knife project.
 
3/16" is half the thickness of the 3/8" stock you have now, you could probably go a bit thinner than that even. Take a look at some knives that are close to what you are trying to make and see how thick they are. Department stores that sell hunting gear are a good place to go and have a look.

Barkes said to make your knife out of something other than steel to get a feel for it. That is great advice. Get some thin peices of pressboard (looks like compressed paper, usually light brown, and comes in various sizes. You can make the knife very quick and easy out of pressboard to see how you like it. Make the wooden knife and play with it for a while, see how comfortable it is and modify as necessary. Once you have the wooden knife the way you want it, use it as a pattern to mark on the steel.

Good luck and happy grinding :D
 
Just another bit of advice to try in conjunction with Barkes' advice: estimate the volume of the knife and then mutiply by the density (which is roughly 7800kg/m^3) for steel) to give you a weight estimate.. get a chunk of metal that weighs about the same and see how the weight feels in the hand. Then weigh a few of you other knives or even kitchen knives and see what their weights are in relation. This will give you an idea as to how much thinner you want to go with your knife. I am busy with a knife which is 5mm (3/16") and I feel it is still a bit on the thick side, especially for a small knife. I dont think I would ever go thicker.

Good luck
 
thanks all for the help and tips and words of encougement. I will try and update as i go along.
thanks again.
Ev
 
I was thinking mix and match. I like the top handle and the bottom blade. Ditto on making a template out of pressboard to handle and get a feel for what works, what needs to be tweaked. I have no idea how you are gonna thin out that stock you have unless you are going to forge. For a knife that small most folks would use 1/8 or thinner stock. If you have any production knives laying around, like a Buck, whatever, you could get a feel for how thick you want the blade based on the overall size of the knife. Another aspect is what purpose the knife will have. you might even be able to go thinner.
 
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