Taking the time to design...

R

RobertHankins

Joined
Jun 10, 2001
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When I started doing this about 18mths ago I was drawing out a blade pattern one night and cutting it out the next day. I made many blades that were not coming out the way I wanted them to.
I now find I am drawing out a design, setting it aside and glancing at it once a day or so to see how it looks. I find my self doing minor adjustments every few days to the drawing untill it looks right.
I may try doing test patterns in wood before I cut any more steel.

Advice to the newer guys (like myself) is slow down really put some thought into each and every design you make. It may seem to take longer but will actually speed up the process in the long run:p ;) :D
 
At one point I stopped making knives all together to go back to basics and relearn how to make knives again. I had found that I was trying to go in too many directions at once and was going nowhere so I needed to start over with a simple little knife and do it exactly right before I started to add new elements,one at a time.

Even now I limit myself to one new design element at a time until it is perfected and only them I will go on to another. It makes learning a little easier.
 
Wood's not a bad idea, but cutting the profile out in cardboard can give you a good idea immediately if you've got the handle large enough or if the blade is at an awkward angle from the handle and so forth, as you make imaginary cutting motions with it. I haven't tried wood but I have found that I almost always make modifications as I'm profiling the blade/handle. I often will draw a knife profile freehand and then clean up the design with French curves and then fiddle with the design and dimensions, like you, said several days before I'm happy with the design. Being thoughtful never hurts in this business!

Guy Thomas
 
Robert,
Excellent advice. It will get easier the more you design. It will also get harder. As more and more people become knifemakers it will become more difficult to come up with something that has not been done before IMHO.


My college educayshun:rolleyes: was in Drafting and Mechanical Design. I put that education to great use when I sit down to design a new knife. Whether it is a fixed blade or a folder, the best advice I can give is to:

1)Get a basic idea of what type and style of knife you want to design.

2)Concentrate on that particular idea and no other.

3)Study other designs that are in the same category as the knife you want to design and see if your idea infringes on someone elses work. The studying can also help you develop your own ideas.

4)Sketch your ideas onto paper. They don't have to be full size. A small sketch can put you on the right path to your final destination.

5)If you come to a standstill with the design. Leave it alone and work on something else. It will eventually "POP" into your head. You may not be thinking about it in the forefront of your brain but you will be working it out in your subconscious.

6)When you arrive at what you think is the "right" design, cut out a pattern. You can always go back to the drawing board (or screen if you are like me).

Of course, All of this goes out the door when you want to do a totally "Artistic" piece. Then you should just goe with the flow.



Damn! I aught to write a book on this. ;)
 
One more thing.

It is easier to make changes in your design while it is on the paper (or screen) rather than on the steel.
 
Excellent advice. I try to set 'em aside for a week...as an aside, I cleaned out my cad program last night and junked 56 working drawings...I'm thankful I didn't make most of them, and those I did make aren't going to be made again...perha[s that translates as "set 'em aside for 6 months" :D:rolleyes:
Barry , yer edjewkashun shows in yer drawings :)
 
Thanks Ferret. From what I have seen of your drawings, they are well done too. 56 drawings? You've been putting in some overtime.

More on designing:

I feel that as much effort should be put into the designing of the knife as you put into the making of the knife. The design is the foundation that the end product stands on and if the foundation is not solid then the end product will not stand. It is like my good buddy "Torch" once said, "Destroy the foundation and the rest comes tumbling down". (if you know where that came from then you are OK in my book)


Robert,
You will find, after doing this for years, that you will come to a point where you will "know" that the design is "right" before you try any patterns. It will be automatic.
 
One of my graphic design mentors taught me to crumble up my first attempt, and toss it in the trash and then begin an new totally different design.
It helps you to think in new directions, instead of muddling with your one idea.
The funny thing is that, most often, clients pick the first design anyway! (Yes you are allowed to get it out of the'trash' after you have a couple of ideas on paper :))
Just another twist on 'putting it away for a while'

I had a professor tell me not to be intimidated by the blank page...He took my pad, put it on the floor and stepped on it! One big shoe print.
"Now work with that!"
:D
 
I like to take a slightly different approach. I hear all your arguments against this way of doing things but for me, I do best sketching my idea directly onto steel. I have a rough idea of the direction I'm going in, but then I just draw it on the steel and start grinding. I might make a quick template out of a paint stick just to get the pivot point eyeballed, but then I just go for it. As the folder goes together I spend much of my time eyeballing the profile and making minute adjustments until I have something that flows. Once I've achieved a final design then I can make more of that same pattern and it's a lot easier, but I have to feel my way towards that point and just keep taking away that which is not the knife.

A CAD program would be helpful though if I could figure out how to use it.:) DO you guys get my meaning here? I can't think of a design in my head and then draw it on paper then make it. It just doesn't work that way for me.
 
Peter,

Everyone has their own little way of designing. I certainly don't think that my way is the only way. It is just the only way for me.

Making a folder the way that you mentioned sounds like a real challenge. There is the possibility that something might not work properly after you have done quite a bit of sawing and grinding (like the detent riding off of the tang during open/close). It is less wasteful of both time and materials to draw out the design prior to cutting or grinding. That way you know that everything is going to function properly.

BTW, not all CAD programs are difficult to operate. They may take some time to learn (even for CAD trained draftsmen like me) but once you get the hang of it you can draw just about anything in little time. The best part about the CAD is that you can make any variation of changes without having to start a whole new drawing.

Have you found that QuickCAD yet?
 
George,
I now see the wisdom in what you did by "starting over"
It takes quite awhile just to get the basic techniques of each knifemaking step learned.
Now after learning those, then is the time to go thru each step one at a time and make yourself master each one "Before" Moving onto the next step.
For newer guys like me there are so many different things I want to try, it makes it difficult to focus on just one style or type of knife.

For now I will concentrate on my designs then take my time and work thru all of the other steps:D
 
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