One of my latest...

TekSec

TekSec

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Dec 8, 2006
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Okay, it's not finished, still have to seal and finish the olive wood scales and finish sand the steel pieces. I'm kind of proud of the olive wood inlay in the guard! :D This is a customers design, not mine...well, the bolster/guard is mine, buthe profile was a work between me and him. I don't normally do guards, but the customer wanted one. The customer is "on the fence" about the guard now and may back out of the buy. I admit it does look awkward. Any corrective criticism is welcome. Something just looks off...just not sure what.. Let me know what you think. Sorry for the fuzzy pics, that's what I get for not using a tripod.
 
I like that blade a lot. What are the dimensions? Neat idea on the bolster too. I agree that something is just a bit off with the handle/guard but I can't point to something and say "that". Overall I like it but, maybe it's the handle shape?? Looks like it would have worked better without a guard, or the guard would have worked better with a different handle......hey, what do I know. Nice blade either way.

SDS
 
It's about 13 1/2" overall and 2" wide blade. Blade is about 8" cutting edge. Honestly I think it's the "straightness of the handle. I usually give them a "swoopier" :D downward curve as it rolls to the back. Like I said, it's off, but it's too late now. Worst case it becomes a time intensive present for someone.
 
A few things jump out at me when I look at it.
1) I don't like the wood inlay in the guard ( I know, it is your favorite part - sorry), It wouldn't survive much use and abuse. One hit and its toast. A guard should be tough. The lower point of the guard should be tapered down to a rounded tip (It couldn't ,because of the inlay).
2) there is an funny angular thing going on with the handle, especially the spine part. Maybe lift it to line up more with the spine? I don't know, just looks odd.
3) The finger roll is too deep. It should sweep smoothly out into the handle, not sharply. It won't be comfortable to use if the "bump' is rubbing the second finger.
4) the butt should round out, not taper off with a flat taper.
5) The whole handle looks square,or blocky. Round things up more, make smooth transitions, avoid sudden changes of direction.

All that is the constructive criticism part.They are advise for the next knife.As for this one,the knife looks pretty good, overall, and if not used abusively should do fine.
Stacy
 
grease-man said:
Nice work Erik! I like that a lot! I hope your customer honors his commitment! -Matt-
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Thanks, Matt. I live by the fact that the customer is always right and it's his knife. I invest time and material but in the end, I won't force anyone to buy it. If they're not happy with what they wanted, then in a way, I failed as a maker to accomplish it. He seems like a good guy and I think it was more my "vision" with the bolstering guard that threw him. Like I said, worst case, it becomes a good present for someone...or someone else will like it enough to pick it up off the For Sale section if that's where it ends up :)
 
1) I don't like the wood inlay in the guard ( I know, it is your favorite part - sorry), It wouldn't survive much use and abuse. One hit and its toast. A guard should be tough. The lower point of the guard should be tapered down to a rounded tip (It couldn't ,because of the inlay).
I thought of that one too late and had committed to the inlay :(

2) there is an funny angular thing going on with the handle, especially the spine part. Maybe lift it to line up more with the spine? I don't know, just looks odd.
Yea, like I said, customer design...fits nice in the hand, just looks "weird"

3) The finger roll is too deep. It should sweep smoothly out into the handle, not sharply. It won't be comfortable to use if the "bump' is rubbing the second finger.
Customer wanted a deep choil, had "an incident that nearly cost a finger" as he put it.

4) the butt should round out, not taper off with a flat taper

Okay...not sure what you mean by that one.

5) The whole handle looks square,or blocky. Round things up more, make smooth transitions, avoid sudden changes of direction.
Got it.

Thank you, Stacy, as always, great advise and very good points for future designs! :D
 
I'm still pretty new to this knifemaking stuff, but as a photographer and graphic designer I know a thing or two about lines... :D

To me, the awkwardness of the knife's appearance comes from the way the back of the handle drops away from the blade's spine. It kinda gives the handle the effect of a person who's walking around with his head to one side because he slept on it funny...

Picture the back of the handle in line with the blade, and I think the other unusual features would look better.

That said, I can see how the design probably feels really nice and balanced in the hand. The position of the handle puts your hand closer to the center of that wide blade. If the knife feels good in your hand, it's not necessarily a bad design--it's just not one we're used to seeing.

Just my two cents,
Josh
 
To me, it looks like the thumb ramp area at the spine needs to move forward a bit farther on the blade. It would help to balance out the lines, especially with that deep finger cut.
The unusual angled drop on the bolster from the thumb ramp seems to be highlighting the awkward change over in that area. Shortening the guard a bit and making the angle cut along the front of the bolster a little longer might help. Might not.
But that's just my $0.02.
 
The end of the handle looks like it is just tapered off straight to the tang. It should be a rounded surface, creating an arc to the tang at the end.

The choilis the transition of the blade between the ricasso and the edge, usually with a small rounded notch. The finger roll is the indent behind the guard on the handle, where the index finger grips.For best use,it should curve into the guard,too, as yours does .The place I was referring to was where the roll continues on down the handle.It should be a little smoother of a curve. With a guard, I can't see how your customer could loose a finger, but with no guard, the finger roll is very important to avoid the hand sliding up onto the blade.

Thanks for the return comentary. Intercourse is what makes this forum useful (that word in not often used in knifemaking!).
Stacy
 
Thanks, guys. Appreciate the feedback. Gonna disassemble now and make it a hidden tang. It's the first one in awhile that I just hate to look at (and so does the customer) so I'm going to rework it. This one was a chore and just want it done up right.
 
Alright, not that anyone probably cares, but after two hours of grinding and fussing with it, it is now a stick tang. Hell, it took me the longest to get the scales and bolsters off (dang Corby rivets are a b****!). I slotted out to pieces of brass with a reconstitued turquoise piece in the middle. Have a few different blocks of wood, not sure what I'm going to throw on there yet, but I profiled the top of the blade down a little to lengthen it out and think it's going to work out great! I'm much happier and have decided a very important thing. If I don't like a customer's design, I don't do well with the overall knife. I think I made more progress in the two hours tonight as I did working on the whole knife. Thanks again for all the support and especially to Stacy for his candor.
 
I like the over all design very much. I think that the only thing that I could point to right off the bat was the grinds on the guard seem to come too close together. Slightly less deep bevel on the top of the guard would have made the lines more appealing to my eye (so that the grind from the handle side did not appear to meet the rounded grind from the top). I am sorry to hear that you took it down and re did it (of course just post the pics of the new one so we can compare it to the old profile).
 
Barkes Knife Shop said:
Good looking knife. Its something new looking, great job ----:thumbup:
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Something new. Yes. Works together? Not so much. The new rendition is much better! At least from my point of view...although, I'm not a brass guy, it's what I had on hand that went with the turquoise and zebra wood (not pictured). Comments?
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