New knife Design

M

mr.trooper

Joined
Dec 5, 2005
Messages
1,449
This is the schematic for a knife that i am looking to eventualy have made for me. If a more experienced maker could take a look at it, and give me rough estimate of about how long it would take, and how much it would cost, i would me much obliged. I am looking at amending a few of the mesurements, just so you know.

Tontambitsmall.jpg
 
interesting design, i like it. im no expert, but think about increasing the width of the handle near the karambit, it looks like it might have some trouble being comfortable. other than tha, the reverse tanto looks nice! :)
 
Looks good.

Thats a pretty big knife to have the karambit on, but im not tactical expert. Thats a 16" OAL knife with (did i get that right?) 1/3" thick stock??? And by the screws im assuming fulltang for the karambit.....that is a massive, massive knife...

I'm sure someone could make it, but i'd make up a full size model from cardboard with the thicknesses you'd used, and then see....
 
Check this out for a second http://derespinaknives.com/gallery_05.html Notice a couple things. I see that you want to straighten out the blade design traditionally found in the Karambit. That was my attempt with the one in the link as well. Notice however, the entire handle is on angle away from the blade, giving it a sort of hook and also making it useful in pistol/forward grip.

You have a nice blade profile, the handle appears to have one too many finger notches. Unless that was your intention? I could see how that would work well also. I have done something similar with non karambit before. However, keep in mind most people including yourself would want ease of carry, a longer handle will make it more difficult and obvious to carry.

Also the heel of the handle, you might wanna put a little swell into it to fill up the hand some more. You have a straight back handle which might not fill up the palm.

You must put the finger ring a little more forward in the handle. So that the rear of the inside diameter meets with the inside line of the finger notches. That will make the most comfortable grip. Plus to adds to the punching ability of the finger ring.

Maybe reduce the pin size to 3/16" pins and made of steel. Brass will wear too easily and eventually come apart if used often. Reducing the pin size will also lighten it every so slightly.

It looks over alllike it's gonna be a sweet karambit! Good luck...Rich
 
If you use 1/3" stock, you have to think about the height of the grinds necessary to get to the edge. It looks like you have flat grinds at 10 degrees each side. They have to cover 1/6" each (half the thickness) minus what is left as a secondary bevel. If we allow 20 thou thickness at the secondary bevel then...

1/6" -10 thou =0.156"
0.156" / tan(10 degrees) = 0.88"

Thats the height of the main bevel.

In your figure, the entire height of the knife (dimension F) is 2". Unless you use thinner stock, then your main bevel will not look anything like you have it.

I know that you are amending some measurements, and this might be one of them.
I just wanted to tell you that when I first designed a knife on paper it was 5/16 thick. When I actually started working with 1/8", 3/16" and 1/4" steel, I realized that 5/16" is a lot thicker than it sounded before. You either need thinner stock or small radius hollow grinds.
 
I agree....a 10" fulltang out of 1/4" steel is a pretty hefty knife. By the design, Its more of a fighter and I'm not sure you need that thick stock for a knife like this. The karambit tells me it wont really be used for chopping and some of the other heavy activities that might demand such a thick stock.
 
Go with 3/16" thick stock... I use it in 90% of my knives and it is sufficient for every need. Hollow grinds will lighten the blade a little more as well. Flats will be fine and create more durability but might be an ounce or two heavier. I chisel might be sweet! and with the tip will give it the penetration power of a Tanto. EVen a Zero ground chisel would be cool. Although zero edges are more delicate they are sharp as all heck.
 
I'm not an expert maker (yet :) ) but I do agree with a couple concerns that other have voiced. First is the blade-to-handle angle. With the handle dropping towards the pinky as sharply as it does, you could very well find that it's hard to get a good grip on the knife with the blade still positioned to cut well with. Second is the steel thickness - 1/3" is pretty huge! Does this knife have any specific activity or purpose that you're designing it for? That can affect the steel thickness, the grinds, and even the chosen steel type.

As TikTock suggested, make a full-size model out of cardboard and you'll get a really good idea of what you do and don't like about the design's in-hand feel.

I really, really like the blade design on this knife. Keep with it and you're gonna have one awesome custom knife! :)
 
I like the design, I made one like that a while ago (one of the first ones I made):



I would recommend 3/16" thick steel. The knife above was about the same size, but instead of a karambit handle, it had a skull crusher at the end. It was chisel ground and sharpened to a zero bevel. It was a pretty decent tactical knife as it didn't cut straight, made some pretty nasty curved cuts when slashing at cardboard.

For a large bladed knife (10+" long), I wouldn't recommend a karambit style handle. Blades that are 10+ inches are usually choppers (what else are long blades for?), otherwise the blade length should be limited to under 7".

If you like the karambit style handle, I would recommend a blade length of under 7" (at the maximum) and try to incorporate a hook or recurve in there for slicing ability.

Otherwise, if you like the fact that karambits are harder to knock out of your hand, go with your blade design and combine it with a Loveless "subhilt fighter" style handle.

http://www.classicgunsandknives.com/knifeinfo.asp?ItemID=100973

It's the one at the top.

-Just my .02. Trying to be helpful...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top