Thoughts on a Camp/Large Hunter Design

A

AlaskanHunter

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Nov 23, 2013
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I'm starting to design a camp/large hunter hybrid knife and I'd like your thoughts on it. What can I do to improve the design? My friend has relatively large hands, hence the slightly larger handle than I usually make. I'm planning on using either 1084 or 15N20 in roughly .130" thick.
KusAmj4.jpg
 
I think it is fine the way it is. Design changes from here would be personal preference. You will get many opinions on what they would change, same as I would have things I would modify, but there doesn't look like there is anything critically wrong with the design. Regarding what we don't see, since the handle is rather shallow there might be a risk of ending up with a fairly shallow tang as a result. Make sure you make the tang as tall and long as you can fit in the handle.
 
i4Marc said:
I think it is fine the way it is. Design changes from here would be personal preference. You will get many opinions on what they would change, same as I would have things I would modify, but there doesn't look like there is anything critically wrong with the design. Regarding what we don't see, since the handle is rather shallow there might be a risk of ending up with a fairly shallow tang as a result. Make sure you make the tang as tall and long as you can fit in the handle.
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I'm kinda torn between doing a hidden tang and a frame tang. I like the aesthetics of a hidden tang much better, but for such a thin blade, I'd keep a bit more steel in the tang if I do a frame. It's probably such a minimal difference that I shouldn't fret over it.
 
I guess I thought you were going with a hidden tang because of the guard and spacer in your drawing. You will have significantly more steel in the tang if you went with a full tang design. A frame handle uses a hidden tang. So no, there wouldn't be much difference between a hidden tang design or a frame handle design.
 
Willie71 said:
My vote is for 15n20.
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I think 15N20 will be my edge steel, but it will need to be stacked and welded to make it thick enough. I'm kinda wondering about doing a 15N20/1084 san-mai (purely for aesthetics) since I've got to forge weld anyway.
 
just watch that the handle is not too small in width. I would design a bit wider, you can always take material off to fit your hand, but of course can't add more back
 
knoxknives said:
just watch that the handle is not too small in width. I would design a bit wider, you can always take material off to fit your hand, but of course can't add more back
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This would be my only advice too. Handle seems a bit narrow to control a blade that width. Using your ruler and a post it, it appears about .750 tall. I tend to be around an inch tall on knives that size and bigger. Gives you more room for tang width where it matters too.
 
K knoxknives : I agree.
If your friend has big hands, I would go wider with the handle. I would bring out the width of the handle along with the blade choil above the guard.

The blade looks good. I personally would make the long flat part of the blade curve inward a tad. I just feel that the flat part of the edge is very long and you don't want flat for cutting. But that is just my opinion.
 
Rear of bottom edge on blade needs to be a bit lower so you have a smoother line from tip back, very back of handle bottom needs to be rounded out some, I would listen to those who say make sure the handle is big enough for your friend, I wear medium large golf glove--even though I can't golf anymore--but that handle looks good for my hand, not for a large or xl hand. I like your design overall.
 
What do you guys think of the blade thickness? I generally prefer a thinner blade, but I usually don't make blades this big either. Is .130" thick enough, or should I go thicker, and give it more distal taper to compensate?
kuraki said:
This would be my only advice too. Handle seems a bit narrow to control a blade that width. Using your ruler and a post it, it appears about .750 tall. I tend to be around an inch tall on knives that size and bigger. Gives you more room for tang width where it matters too.
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I just measured it, and the narrowest part of the grip is 7/8" just behind the spacer. Maybe I'll bump that out to between 1" and 1 and 1/8", and bring the choil out to match.
The barefoot boy said:
K knoxknives : I agree.
If your friend has big hands, I would go wider with the handle. I would bring out the width of the handle along with the blade choil above the guard.

The blade looks good. I personally would make the long flat part of the blade curve inward a tad. I just feel that the flat part of the edge is very long and you don't want flat for cutting. But that is just my opinion.
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You're suggesting turning it into a very slight recurve? I like the idea on the basis of looks, but my friend specifically requested a straight blade. She will be using this knife at moose camp to prepare meals, and igloo coolers make great impromptu cutting boards. Recurves and cutting boards don't get along all that well.
 
Ah, that's the trouble with perspective and scaling from photos. I don't know I'd go as big as 1.125, but right around 1".
 
kuraki said:
Ah, that's the trouble with perspective and scaling from photos. I don't know I'd go as big as 1.125, but right around 1".
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I guess if I was smart, I would have dimensioned the sketch instead of slapping a ruler down in the picture!
 
Yeah, I agree, you don't want a recurve if you are using is on a cutting board. If you were going to use it only as a chopper I would take off the flat edge but if it will be used on cutting boards it looks great.

I personally like a thicker blade, like .187+, especially for a chopper. I would go with 3/16 if it will be used for food.
 
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