New Grinder Practice - Design Comments

Brock Cutlery

Brock Cutlery

Joined
Jan 10, 2015
Messages
1,673
My grinding has progressed enough that I don't wince at the thought of sending the work for heat treat. So I've decided to attempt a batch of maybe 5 knives of the same design, primarily to refine my grinding a bit through repetition, and also to hopefully produce something that is worth finishing and is useable.

So I wanted to throw up my design which is a sort of Canadian Skinner type, mostly influenced by my old Herters and all the drop points I've been looking at.
Handle length on the under side is not quite 4 inches, blade length is 4.5
Intended to be a Camp/Kitchen/Hunting knife. Basic.

Let me know what you think, if you will.
Thanks!

SkinnerDesign1.jpg
 
I would round that belly more. The one above where your Ricasso will be. And maybe round the edges of your butt a little more as well. Rounding things off makes it more pleasing to the eye and your mitts. Just my .02. Looks good though. I love those old Canadian skinner knives. They hold a dear spot in my heart
 
I agree with viral, swooping the spine will give a much better look, but keep the handle thickness in that area. I would also round the butt to give everything smoother flow, the eyeball likes flow. Unless your going for a radicalized roach belly, flow it out a bit. That's my .02, but then again, I was never accused of being that bright!
 
Do you guys mean where the blade means the handle at the top? That angle there should be rounded a bit?
 
Yea that's what they are talking about. It will look and feel better by making it a continuous curve that flows with the profile of the spine som is more like this ~ That abrupt angle it has interrupts the eyes flow. I also agree that you should round off the top part (spine side) of the butt a bit more as that would cause a hot spot in your palm area when using the knife.. I would just grind the spine down from that top angle of the butt so the angle just below it (the middle of the butt) becomes the top of the butt.... Butt! I do like the overall shape of it, nice job ;)

~Paul
My YT Channel Lsubslimed
 
Last edited:
Looks pretty good to me. I may be misunderstanding, but if you round the spine it wouldn't be a Canadian skinner would it?
 
If you take the hump in the middle of the blade top away it will be much nicer.

Try this:
Place a ruler on the spine so it sits 1" from the tip and 1" from the butt. Draw that line. Now, smooth out the transition at the handle and tip end with some curvature. Curve the entire line a tiny bit if desired.....but no humps or dips.
 
Interesting proportions. I guess it's all about function but just looking at that knife, to me the form is less than pleasing.
 
I appreciate all the input from everyone. I realize that design, although an art, is very subjective.
This knife feels good in my hand and I like the design well enough, although I realize it's not a blue ribbon shape.
I was really interested more in functional advice. Just wanted to see if I made any glaring mistakes in that respect.
I'll play with it a bit on paper and see what I end up with.
 
Last edited:
This is how I think it should roughly finish out. I did cut the heel a little more. That was the only part that bothered me a bit. Thoughts on the pins and grind lines?

roughfinishdesign1.jpg
 
I do like that Bark River Skinner. I've seen that before. I wouldn't design it quite like that, but they look good and appear very well made. I haven't seen many skinners that look this good.
 
Looks great to me man! I see you made the butt the way it originally was in your latest pic. I'll admit, to my eye it looks a bit better that way but just be aware that it might cause a hot spot, maybe not :) Now go make it! ;)

~Paul
My YT Channel Lsubslimed
 
coldsteelburns said:
Looks great to me man! I see you made the butt the way it originally was in your latest pic. I'll admit, to my eye it looks a bit better that way but just be aware that it might cause a hot spot, maybe not :) Now go make it! ;)

~Paul
My YT Channel Lsubslimed
Click to expand...

Thanks Paul. Really, the handle might not be the best. To be honest I am struggling with handles in my own mind. But it's probably because I haven't put one on a blade yet. That is why I just want to make these. I think my grinding skills are good enough to finish these four, if all goes well. I just need to get them finished, mostly for the experience.

I got 4 cut out and hope to get them ground out by end of next week. I'll post pics.

shaped2.jpg
 
You say your struggling with handles in your mind I know the feeling. Try using modeling clay (non-hardening kind, you can get it at craft stores), to mock up handles so you can tell how a design feels. It's soft stuff but it will let you know where your fingers will really sit, sometimes that's hard to do on just a blank.
 
Kitchen knife. Yes! I kind of designed it to cross over a bit. I plan to take the grinds high.

The modeling clay is a pretty cool idea. Thanks for that!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top