Makers, What is your design process?

W

WillSwift

Joined
Jul 1, 2012
Messages
28
Hey Everybody,

I find myself sitting at home surrounded by hundreds of sketches, yet somehow the amount of designs that I come up with that I believe are worth making always comes up so few. I've been thinking long and hard about my process of late and I have come to the conclusion that trying to plan out every facet of a knife before ever holding it or seeing it in the flesh is incredibly difficult. Recently I've decided that I should just start throwing some designs on steel and try feeling them out for the final shaping rather than copying my design line for line, so far this has been working great! It's amazing what the hand sees that the eye doesn't, especially in regards to the ergos of a blade.

My question for all of the custom makers out there is: Does the paper aspect of design get easier as my experience with knifemaking grows? Or does it remain a case of guess and check for the majority of makers out there? What is your design process when making a new knife? Any design tips for us greenhorns?

Cheers,

-Will Swift
 
Personally, I don't over think it. I stare at a piece of steel and ask it what sort of knife it wants to be. Something about it will suggest a line or a curve... something just makes it speak to me, and I draw what it tells me to draw. I tweak it here and there, then take it to the band saw before I get too carried away trying to change what I saw. I refine the shape some as I'm grinding it. I post pictures here and take feedback. If the feedback helps me see something better, I make changes on the fly. If I screw up while grinding, I make changes and keep going.

Once I have the metal shaped, then (and only then) do I bother to think about the handle. I don't really need a handle until I know what the knife will be. Usually the process involves looking at blocks of woods, studying the grain and burl patterns. Then looking at synthetics and studying the patterns. At some point I'll see two or three things that seem to go with the design of the blade. I'll put them up against the blade and see what speaks to me.

That's when I send the blade off to HT. While it is in transit, I start cutting and drilling the handle material.

It's a stupid organic process that wouldn't work for most people, but it works for me. If I sat around sketching things out, I'd be as confused and inert as you. So, if you're looking for advice, here it is... don't over think the design. If you're going to over invest in anything, over invest in the workmanship.
 
tryppyr said:
Personally, I don't over think it. I stare at a piece of steel and ask it what sort of knife it wants to be. Something about it will suggest a line or a curve... something just makes it speak to me, and I draw what it tells me to.
Click to expand...

I like it when the steel speaks in English best. Sometimes it is a foreign language and a lot gets lost in translation. I am worried about the white paper steel I have coming, as I'm pretty sure it communicates in Japanese.
 
I love drawing knives but as good as I thought my first drawings were they really ended up sucking when I made them. In my opinion you just have to try a few to learn what does and doesn't work. I suggest you try some mock ups. First on paper then spray glue it to some cardboard (frozen food boxes work great). Cut it out and if you still like it trace it onto wood, aluminum or acrylic. It's amazing how easy it is to repurpose some scrap for this and those things are relatively cheap, if you have to but them, compared to steel and much easier to work. If wood, try 1/4" sheets and profile the whole design onto that. Profile out two more pieces for the handle and, depending on you equipment, you can have something to judge in 20 minutes.
 
On a slipjoint you can make a knife as close to a copy of one "in hand" as you can,
or you can sketch one and go from there. On a straight blade usually its as difficult
as a sharpie directly on the steel.
Ken.
 
I find I must draw out a pattern and then take it too a hard model for the liner locks I make. Originally this was a safe way to make sure the blade had the correct stops and resting place, After a few years of doing this I found that this hard outline model very much helped me to decide if I liked it enough to go with it or not. Yes, on occasion I have gone to a very quickly made wood full sized model.Perhaps a full size but not well finished straight knife done in wood, might help to do the same thing? Frank
 
WillSwift said:
Hey Everybody,

I find myself sitting at home surrounded by hundreds of sketches, yet somehow the amount of designs that I come up with that I believe are worth making always comes up so few. I've been thinking long and hard about my process of late and I have come to the conclusion that trying to plan out every facet of a knife before ever holding it or seeing it in the flesh is incredibly difficult. Recently I've decided that I should just start throwing some designs on steel and try feeling them out for the final shaping rather than copying my design line for line, so far this has been working great! It's amazing what the hand sees that the eye doesn't, especially in regards to the ergos of a blade.

My question for all of the custom makers out there is: Does the paper aspect of design get easier as my experience with knifemaking grows? Or does it remain a case of guess and check for the majority of makers out there? What is your design process when making a new knife? Any design tips for us greenhorns?

Cheers,

-Will Swift
Click to expand...

It gets easier and easier to draw a knife once you've hashed out a style and know what you don't like and what hasn't worked. Your knife pet peaves will drive the design. I am going to list a few of mine to show. These are just things I avoid due to my own opinions.

1. I avoid choils and ricassos. I think choils are a design flaw and a safety hazard. I want my edge as close to the fist as possible, so I also try to minimize ricassos.
2. I don't like when the handle sweeps forward at the leading edge. I want the web of my hand supported near the edge.
3. I find that small tendrils of wood in the guard area tend to warp away from the tang, so I grind that off at an angle and call it my 'style'.
4. The handle should terminate in some pleasing shape, and generally those have all been hashed out and even named. Pick one and fit it to your design, and be sure your knife passes the 'poop test'.
5. I try to draw knives that have various and intersecting curves and almost no straight lines. This is because I think of knives as fenimine, and that drives my designs.
6. I do start by drawing out the bar of steel. This keeps things economical.


Sometimes I skip the 'design' process entirely. Be prepared to turn mistakes into new designs. I generally lay an infuriating and not salvagable knife by the grinder as I work, and let it fester in my head. I imagine a new shape, and try to work out whether the mistake can be fixed with a total shape change. Then I take the knife to the 36 grit wheel and re-shape it. At this point before finishing the knife I trace it. Stop and trace the knife! Your customers will almost certainly love this new pattern. I have had a few 'one offs' get out of the shop without tracing, and suddenly become all customers ask about.

One time a few months back I had a pattern that was new and we were all excited about it here in the shop. It was selling kind of slow though. I didn't communicate this to the team, and A BUNCH of them got profiled by mistake. The pile sat around for a month or so. Then I moved the point, took a few minutes to change them all, and gave it a new name. That one sells better. No change to the handle happened at all. I did stop to trace it.
 
WillSwift said:
My question for all of the custom makers out there is: Does the paper aspect of design get easier as my experience with knifemaking grows?
Click to expand...

Yes.

Personally as my repertoire has grown, I can pick and choose aspects of individual knives I like and "mix and match" when working up new creations.
Save photos of all knives - including knives from others.
Learn some photo editing skills and create digital images of knives that are in your head.
I find it more convenient to get these images out of my head and onto paper.
Then I have a direction. A goal.

Here's one for the Blade Show, but I had to have a direction - first:







 
And here is another idea.
I always draw out my knife and save the handle profile for use later.



Every knife gets a drawing:




And the handle profiles get saved in categories of Bowies, Fighters, Hunters, etc.
Draw a blade profile and find a handle profile that compliments it.
Draw in different guards, etc., until there is an image in your mind that you can move toward.

 
Willie71 said:
My wife says it's not in the budget :grumpy:. Thanks anyway!
Click to expand...

Isnt that just like a woman!

Well there is always google translate, If the steel can talk maybe it can type too, lay it on the keyboard and see what happens ;0)

Anyway back on topic, My first ten knives were built by the seat of my pants, grab a piece of steel and start grinding, and for a bunch of beginner knives they were ok, with each knife the fit and finish improved and I seem to have a knack for hollow grinds, I even put a decent hollow grind on a blade using a bench grinder,(I'll never try that again)

However with my current knife I decided to take the advice of the pros, I put a great deal of thought into the knife, I drew it out on paper and redrew it numerous times and I believe all that work is paying dividends, so far there has been no backing up and regrinding or changes made because of something unforeseen.
 
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