Should I thin this handle down some?

M

Maelstrom78

Joined
Sep 21, 2013
Messages
1,574
First handle I tried this on.
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To me it looks like I should thin the whole thing a bit. It's canvas micarta and a 1084 blade.

Side view. Can't see the blade well but the handle is what I'm asking about. Still needs to be cleaned up some.
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Thanks!
 
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Who will be the end user? How does it feel in your hand? If it's for you and it feels good the way it is then you have your answer. If it will be for someone else, let them decide. It looks like it could be thinned some or at least smoothed out some. But honestly, it looks pretty comfortable.
 
I'm gonna have to agree with i4Marc on this one. If it's for you and fits you leave it be, if it's for someone else in particular, ask them...but if you're making this one to just sell in general, I think I'd probably lose about 40 or 50 thousandths off of each side...but no more than that. The style looks good though, very nice.
 
Thanks for the kind words guys. I don't really have an end user. It's just for practice. Would it look stupid of I put a more acute angle at the end of the handle? Kind of like a smaller version of the handle up by the ricasso?
 
I don't think it would look stupid but I think if you leave the plan view (top) the same you can make it feel and look a lot more sleek if you change the cross section. If you imagine cutting the handle in half and look at the ends of the cut it would look like a rectangle with rounded corners. If you change that cross section to more of an oval the handle will look and feel very sexy. Also, you might consider making the forward taper of the handle flow into the blade more by reducing the thickness of the scales at the leading edge (maybe half as thick).
 
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The side view shape is fine. The hour glass shape top view would look great on a girl, but is not all that great on a knife. It should be much more subtle. IMHO, the knife could stand thinning down a bit. That would also lessen the degree of flare in the top view.

Look at a dozen knives in The Gallery or The Exchange. See what shape most experienced makers use.
 
I agree with Stacy, the hourglass shape is very nice for a handle, that is just an exaggerated version. Thinning the parts in front and back of the radius will help dramatically.
 
If it were my knife or if it were a knife I was making I would thin it down. Nice knife but a bit to chunky for my stout little hands. I'd guess the end user might be the deciding factor. But either way I'd make it flow a little more. Good job though.

Jay
 
Ok, thinned down "chunky" a bit. It does feel much better in the hand. Sides are symmetrical but I am apparently holding it slightly tilted in the pic.

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You can see where a slip of the hand on the disc gouged the top. Maybe I should file some jimping in to hide my shame. :)

A couple spots where I boogered it up, but it feels good in the hand and should be a good user.
 
Feels 100x better than before. I took the front down about 2/3 instead of just 1/2 and blended things together on a slack belt on my 2x42 then went at it with the sandpaper. I can see a couple spots I'll want to buff a bit more tomorrow but for my first one I think it came out decent.

As always, thanks for the feedback everyone.
 
Hey right-o. I'll do so and then spot refinish. I redid a previous more blocky handle as well as my first tapered tang. Kids were outside playing so I got a few solid hours in the shop.
 
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