My knife blank seems bland... thoughts? * Completed You were right*

M

Maelstrom78

Joined
Sep 21, 2013
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1,574
Nothing horrible IMO. Just doesn't pop.
120mmoi.jpg


It had a finger notch which was uncomfortable but I ground that off.

Any thoughts how I could change it? Do something to the butt of it?
 
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Looks ok to me. back pin hole is out of alignment a bit, but there is room for another. And I would round the area where the ring and pinky finger would sit just a touch more
 
I'd raise the belly of the handle area a bit. Give it more curve. And I agree, more space for the pinky and move the pins.
 
I'd think about making the back more interesting, instead of just round. I love the blade shape a lot. If it were me I'd make the back more straigt with the bottom angled towards the tip, and add a small finger guard or whatever it's called.


I used to be cheaper and not want to use up a wider piece of steel so I could fit an entire knife on a 1" wide bar.

Now I don't worry about that at all. Good design is much more important.
 
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Honestly, I just finished a knife with a very very similar profile, and its one of the most comfortable ones I've made. Stick a nice set of scales on there and she wont be bland....
 
I think it looks fine the way it is apart from the position of the rear pin.

Changing the arse end of your handle as in your last pic will dramatically shorten it's usable length. If you continue the gentle ark you have from behind the integral guard right through to the end of the handle, you will create a small corner that would add a bit of character. Not quite a birds beak, more like a Loveless stiff lamb. Also you might not have to change the position of the rear pin.
 
A lot of folks don't want to hear this, but... bland is good.

We're making tools, not modern art sculptures. Edge geometry should always come first. Ease of use and comfort come a very close second. Alloy selection, HT, handle materials, embellishments etc are really just icing on the cake. There's a very good reason why knifemakers all over the planet have been making basically the same 8-9" overall, drop-point knife for thousands of years... it just works.

What you have there is a very handy, useful blade shape with enough curve along the spine, and the right profile of narrow by the ricasso/wider at the butt to rest happily in a person's hand and instinctively "point" towards whatever you're cutting. Quite honestly, it's a dang near perfect profile for a hunter/EDC/necker etc. . :thumbup:

Far too many designers and makers concentrate on making stuff that "pops" and "looks cool". I got some unexciting news for ya... those knives very rarely perform well and they're almost never comfortable to use.

On the other hand, Spyderco makes, in my opinion, some of the plainest, downright-butt-ugliest damn folders to ever cast a shadow... but my goodness, they sure do cut and they sure feel good in hand.

Once you figure out how to get a blade to cut the way you want, design the rest of the knife by judging with your hands, not your eyes. If you learn to make comfortable knives, and use them a lot, it won't be long at all before you can very quickly see all the things that are wrong or right about a knife without even picking it up.

colu41 said:
Honestly, I just finished a knife with a very very similar profile, and its one of the most comfortable ones I've made. Stick a nice set of scales on there and she wont be bland....
Click to expand...

Right on :thumbup: You can always pretty-up a basic design, but there's no sense putting lipstick on a pig... ;)
 
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james terrio said:
A lot of folks don't want to hear this, but... bland is good.

We're making tools, not modern art sculptures. Edge geometry should always come first. Ease of use and comfort come a very close second. Alloy selection, HT, handle materials, embellishments etc are really just icing on the cake. There's a very good reason why knifemakers all over the planet have been making basically the same 8-9" overall, drop-point knife for thousands of years... it just works.

What you have there is a very handy, useful blade shape with enough curve along the spine, and the right profile of narrow by the ricasso/wider at the butt to rest happily in a person's hand and instinctively "point" towards whatever you're cutting. Quite honestly, it's a dang near perfect profile for a hunter/EDC/necker etc. . :thumbup:

Far too many designers and makers concentrate on making stuff that "pops" and "looks cool". I got some unexciting news for ya... those knives very rarely perform well and they're almost never comfortable to use.

On the other hand, Spyderco makes, in my opinion, some of the plainest, downright-butt-ugliest damn folders to ever cast a shadow... but my goodness, they sure do cut and they sure feel good in hand.

Once you figure out how to get a blade to cut the way you want, design the rest of the knife by judging with your hands, not your eyes. If you learn to make comfortable knives, and use them a lot, it won't be long at all before you can very quickly see all the things that are wrong or right about a knife without even picking it up.



Right on :thumbup: You can always pretty-up a basic design, but there's no sense putting lipstick on a pig... ;)
Click to expand...



:thumbup: I like the way you think!
 
I like keeping it simple. Maybe my hand is odd but the other one just didn't feel right. This feels better without going crazy I think.

1oo9zb.jpg

Might bring it back a little more but it seems to fit my hand nicely.

KISS comments I heartily agree with although had I read the comment about wider at the butt helping the knife point before I went outside to the shop I might have left it as is!

I have an aluminum template for it so maybe I'll cut out another "original" tomorrow and finish both!

I had to chuckle at the spyderco comment as I think it's spot on too.
 
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iwouldhurtafly said:
:thumbup: I like the way you think!
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Thanks! I'm a simple man at heart, and I try to keep things simple. Less is more, etc.

This is not rocket surgery. The very worst thing a designer can do is lock himself inside his own head and let the wheels spin till he comes up with something really "groovy and new".

The very best thing a designer can do is use the heck out of existing examples of whatever he's trying to design (knife, hammer, frying pan, shifter lever, pen, whatever). The concept/study of ergonomics is really quite straightforward... if it hurts you to use it, that's a bad design. If it doesn't hurt, you're on the right track.
 
james terrio said:
bland is good.
Click to expand...

I don't agree. Bland “can” be good but you make it sound like a goal. :(

james terrio said:
We're making tools, not modern art sculptures...
Click to expand...

Why can't we make both? Why does a tool have to be 100% business? That's what tools are nowadays but mostly because of profit margins of big corporations. Don't you miss all these great looking machines they used to build that, as well as working great, also looked good? Of course if you are a single man making knives to support your family, profit margin is not a luxury, it's a necessity. But many of us are either doing this as a hobby/side job and may have a little more time to inject a little beauty in our work. Is a knife that performs at 100% efficiency good, of course. Would I prefer a tool that performs let's say 95% but also looks good doing it? In some cases yes. I believe that sometimes the actual loss of performance might actually be compensated and even surpassed by what that beauty makes you feel while using the knife. Sorry, no idea of that makes sense the way I said it. :o

Anyway, sorry for the thread hijack, I just didn't want a newcomer to see “Bland is good” and take it as a blanket statement. Strive for a good working knife but don't completely disregard the “beauty” or “art” part of it. (Or whatever you want to call it) I may be a hopeless romantic but I think James will still agree with me. :D

Sorry for the thread Hijack.
 
No I agree! I browse over at BB to see some other styles of blades from makers outside of the US as come up with some interesting and often times beautiful aesthetics that are different from what we would typically see here.

Of course we all agree that you can go over the edge into the ridiculous.

Your website is very pleasant and helpful Patrice BTW.
 
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I agree wifh both james and patrice... plain and simple designs done beautifully is what I'm shooting for. Function over fourm... with an appealing flow. Make sense?

Oh and I lile the adjustments in your later pic. Looks better to my eye as well
 
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I think it looks great but the rest are right about the pin. I personally think that the over all handle shape will show off a nice set of scales great and the shape would probably be quite comfortable.

Jay
 
Yep I might get to adding the scales and bolsters this weekend. I am thinking of using a ivory micarta for the bolsters and I have some of the deep red linen micarta for the scales with stainless pins.

I read somewhere a quote to the effect of the handle sells the knife!
 
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