some critisism if you please.

rustyrazor

rustyrazor

Joined
Oct 13, 2011
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My version of a bushcraft style hunter. ivory Paper micarta with burnt orange spacer, brass fittings and a 12c27 blade. Sheath is hand stitched leather (fairly obviously). I was hoping for some constructive criticism, so don't worry about my feelings.

much appreciated

Royce
 
Nice clean working knife. You might want to try some wood on your next one. i like micarta, but wood adds more beauty.
 
I like wood as well, but i've only got stabilized fancier stuff currently and I'm holding onto that for a few others i have in the mix. thanks for the compliment however... on that same note: how do you feel about laminated woods or "diamondwood" handles on working knives? I've been on the fence on this stuff for a while, but have a small stockpile of it laying on my shelf... just always figured people would prefer natural wood or phenolic handles on their knives so it's been gathering dust.
 
I have used a lot of stabilized woods such as Diamond wood and I like it and so have my customers. I use nice tones of natural browns for my main offerings and a few exotic colors for customers who like something different. Stabilized wood works and finishes easily and holds up under heavy use. I would say go for it.
 
Nice... I made one out of walnut diamondwood for Christmas that was actually a pretty big hit, so I might crank a few more out while I have it on the shelves. thanks Bufford.
 
I like it, I feel like maybe the plunge could have started a little bit further back, but I really think it's a nice looking knife and a good user for sure
 
Knife looks awesome, darn near perfect as far as I can tell; clean lines, great fit and finish, design "works" aesthetically (i.e., proportions, curvature, etc. not out of whack and looks very functional). The only thing I notices was maybe you could move the thong hole back a tiny bit, like an 1/8" so, just so that if there's a lanyard in it, it's interference w/ the user's grip is minimized.

Re: sheath. That looks good too. The stitch spacing/uniformity maybe could be improved, but I only say that because it's something I notice with my own sheaths and your stitches are still much better than mine. A leather edge beveler might help with the upcurled edge look, which at least with my sheaths seems to result from how I use the belt sander on the edges. I still haven't figured out how to stop it from happening. Last thing: I noticed your rivet looks like one of those Tandy double cap rivets, and that the post may not have upset properly. I quit using those b/c I could hardly ever get them to upset properly, and even when I did it felt like I could probably pull them apart w/o too much effort. Plus you'd sometimes get that bump where it looks like the post is trying to pop through, which I didn't really like.

Beautiful work, I'd be proud to take it into the woods. Thanks for posting!

-Mike
 
I agree with mostly everything you guys said and I'll give you the "here's why" just so you don't think I am trying to fluff it off. The plunge line is done where it is because this was one of my bushcrafters I made in a run of like 5. if the plunge is left approximately here, it allowed me to put a finger choil on if someone wanted one like that or if I thought I wanted one. I try to do 90% of my sanding prior to HT so it's less work to do with hard steel. The lanyard hole is where it is because the handle is set up as 3 evenly spaced holes so I can use flared tubes to attach them. Some people want the flared tubes in case they ever want to make a spear or have 3 lanyards or whatever, lol. As for the sheaths.... I'm only learning in the last few months how to work with this stuff from videos and books, so I'm not blown away by my leather work yet either. stitching and holes are uneven because I drill 1/32" holes for the stitching on my drill press and sometimes the leather moves... I like to pretend it gives it more of a hand made feel :) I hate those rivets as well. I'm saving up for another arbor press and a proper set of good working "professional" rivets. I use the copper "washer type" rivets for saddle making as well, and I love the look of them, but if you're not 100% straight when hammering you get a bent rivet and a crooked look.

thanks for your input guys. I really appreciate it and I am going to make adjustments because of it to allow for flexibility of lanyard holes at least.
 
Distance from handle to start of blade could be shorter. The longer that distance is the less leverage you have in a heavy cut.

More side to side swell in the handle makes it more comfortable for prolonged use.

Drainage hole in the sheath.

Just personal preference by I prefer to not have an exposed tang on outdoors knife. The metal gets mighty cold.

The workmanship is good. :thumbup:
 
I really like it. The paper micarta looks great. The handle shape looks spot on as well.

The swedge looks a bit off to me though. I think if it swept back further it would look less abrupt and it would flow better.

Great knife though. Someone would be proud to own that one!
 
There's nothing at all wrong with this knife. A winner in my eyes.
 
thanks gents. I have actually made a few adjustments to this design based on reading this thread. We'll see how the next one turns out. hint: swedge on the false edge will be adjusted and the handle will be contoured a little more with the thong hole offset like I usually do. this ones holes had other things in mind when made.

thanks again for the input

Royce
 
I have no criticism for you. I save that for my own work. I will say that it's overall appearance look symmetrical, pleasing, and functional. You obviously care about what you do.
 
The only things I would change would be the lanyard hole - move it back, I'd also like to see a tighter fit for that front pin (I know how hard they are to fit), and the handle material - i'm not crazy about the color of the micarta and I like wood handles - but that's just my preference.

Even so, I wish I could grind a knife like that!
 
scotchleaf said:
The only things I would change would be the lanyard hole - move it back, I'd also like to see a tighter fit for that front pin (I know how hard they are to fit), and the handle material - i'm not crazy about the color of the micarta and I like wood handles - but that's just my preference.

Even so, I wish I could grind a knife like that!
Click to expand...

thanks... i wish i could too, lol. most of my plunge lines and whatnot come from hand sanding after the mess i made grinding them. I agree on the spacing and the pin tolerance, but they were due to being 3 equally spaced holes meant for flared tubes, so i made due with them.
 
That looks awesome! I love how thin the handle is. I'm working on one now, that after seeing this, I'm heading to the garage to thin it down. I'm also about to do another gyuto and am thinking of getting some ivory paper micarta for it. Looks classy bud!


I will add that I prefer the lanyard tube to be in the upper top of the handle. It looks good like you have it but I think it feels better in the top corner.
 
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