Symmetry Question

[CUTS LIKE A KRIS]

How do you professionals get total symmetry in their knives. I am trying to make my fiancee a garter dagger for our wedding and can't quite achieve the perfection I am looking for. I drew it out by hand, cut it out and it wasn't qiute right. I have drawn the outline on a piece of paper, and then flipped the blank over and compared it. It looks almost exact on the drawing but looks off when held at arms length. She wants a double guard as well so I have to get symmetry on that as well.

I thought I would ask for input here before trying to fix too much and ending up with a toothpick.

Thanks in advance.

 

[AcridSaint]

Hi - the way Alan Folts taught me to design anything that will be symmetrical is to draw half of it. You make your pattern with half of the dagger and flip it to scribe the other side. It's the most accurate way I know to do it other than using a computer to design the knife.

 

[mdoyle]

How do you professionals get total symmetry in their knives. I am trying to make my fiancee a garter dagger for our wedding and can't quite achieve the perfection I am looking for. I drew it out by hand, cut it out and it wasn't qiute right. I have drawn the outline on a piece of paper, and then flipped the blank over and compared it. It looks almost exact on the drawing but looks off when held at arms length. She wants a double guard as well so I have to get symmetry on that as well.

I thought I would ask for input here before trying to fix too much and ending up with a toothpick.

Thanks in advance.

While certainly no professional, I have had good luck using a sheet of graph paper for things like you mentioned. Very easy to see any discrepancies that way. My wife prints it right off the computer somehow. She's a good bit more computer savvy than I!
Matt

 

[Jason Magruder]

I fold a piece of paper in half then draw half the knife and cut it out. Unfold and voila a symetrical drawing that can be photo copied then glued to your steel to cut to shape.

 

[butcher_block]

something also to remember is your eye can make lines seem to drift and be uneven depending on how the light hits it

roman pillars are not straight tubes they have a belly in them so the eye "sees" them as straight

 

[CUTS LIKE A KRIS]

Thanks all. I am not getting what I want visually but when I trace it out I can not see much difference right now. I am going to leave it as is and let the fiancee tell me what she thinks. I'll post how things turn out when I get the set done.

Oh yah- my first ouch happened today when cutting out the cake knife!! The hacksaw slipped when I tried to make the first cut and took down a good chunk on the inside of my thumbnail. Bled good, but kind of feels good too!!!