Proportion, flow, and design

[Jason Fry]

Don Hanson.... so much goodness. On this particular piece, note how everything flows off the ricasso. Handle curves start there. Hamon starts there. Curvy guard is nice too, but the blade to handle flow gets me going.

 

[Don Hanson III]

Thanks John & Jason.

 

[Justin Schmidt]

2 of my favorites are Todd begg:

His folders are things of beauty

And pariah knives. I love the Persian blade style he uses. It's different from the norm

 

[Jason Fry]

Thanks John & Jason.

Don, do you do any math with regard to guard thickness or length, spacer thickness vs. guard thickness, ricasso width vs. height, handle length vs. blade length, etc. or is it all by eye?

 

[KnuckleDownKnives]

I love the organic looks of Sage Blades. A lot of work must go into carving the steel.

 

[erik markman]

Burt Foster does it for me.

 

[i4Marc]

I like a LOT of different makers' work. But a few of names that come quickly to mind are Ben Breda and Aaron Wilburn, and Claude Bouchonville.

 

[Matthew Gregory]

Burt Foster does it for me.

And Jason Knight, too.

 

[Kevin McGovern]

Our own JoshRG. I he is inspiring to me for his handle construction, grinds, and just general execution. I feel like if I tried to copy one of his knives, it would look hideous. A lot of the stuff he does with multi piece handles and swedges just have to be done perfectly, or they would look bad. In my mind they all play together for an awesome effect. I really should buy one.

 

[Don Hanson III]

Don, do you do any math with regard to guard thickness or length, spacer thickness vs. guard thickness, ricasso width vs. height, handle length vs. blade length, etc. or is it all by eye?

Jason, no math and no drawing. All by eye. That one you posted is an old one, but still shows good flow.
I do shorter ricassos now.

 

[Brock Cutlery]

It would be interesting to have a monthly "Makers Choice" awards thread on the forum. It would all have to be worked out, but I'd follow it.

 

[Don Hanson III]

Sam Lurquin

 

[Don Hanson III]

 

[Jason Fry]

Jason, no math and no drawing. All by eye. That one you posted is an old one, but still shows good flow. I do shorter ricassos now.

Yeah, the ricasso on that one is wider than golden mean, for example.

On Sam's knives, I notice that the ricasso is visually equivalent to the guard thickness to the first visual break. It's not a golden mean measurement, but it is proportional to the other elements of the knife.

 

[Jason Fry]

On those Josh RG knives... The design is good, but 14 of them looking that clean, with identical clean and precise grinds, is darn impressive. Well done!

 

[timos-]

for me ...its the work of suchat , so much lovely detail...everywhere my eye stops on a piece there is more details to discover...and the color is fantastic. Holding the knives really give a sense of wonder too.
The works of steinau are the crem de la crem , now these are not curvy pieces but they have a flow all the same and give me the same sense of wonder but with totally different style. His proportion and arrangement of shapes just keep the eye moving just like a great painting does.

 

[120 Acres]

For me I always drool over TK Steinglass' work.

One day I will have to break down and throw some money his way.

 

[120 Acres]

Carl Colson too.

They both seem to be my style I guess.

 

[Jason Fry]

120, part of that liking is that they are classic, time-tested Bob Loveless designs, well executed by the men you've noted.

 

[Salem Straub]

Two of my absolute favorites... both absolute masters of pattern welding, but more than that, very stylish with flow and design choices. Rodrigo's play between handle and blade by pushing the boundaries of joinery is so inspiring...

Rodrigo.

Steve Filicietti.