Wondering about pin and thong tube placement

G

g dub

Joined
Dec 15, 2009
Messages
62
I am hoping to get some of your guys feedback on a knife I just finished up. It took me a while to work out the pin and thong tube hole locations I was trying to balance them out. This knife was my first chopper style of knife and my first time working with CPM 154, I found it fairly easy to work with and was very clean when it came back from heat treat. I am planning on making another one for myself as I gave this one away to a friend and thought I would get some second opinions for the next one.

The specs on this are:

1/4" CPM 154, approximately 13.5" overall, with 8" blade and is 2" wide, with a hand rubbed 800 grit finish. I forgot to weigh it but she is a bit of a beast. Handle material is some homemade mycarta that I had left over from a previous project. I used 1/4" pins as well as some 1/4" thin walled brass tube for the lanyard hole.





Thanks in advance for any feedback. This forum is an awesome source of information and the more I interact with other makers I realize what a great bunch of folks they are and how willing they are to help out complete strangers.

g dub
 
It looks like an excellently designed chopper.

When using a thong tube as well as three pins, things can visually seem a bit odd. Try drawing things on paper several ways to see if any adjustment makes it look better. I start with drawing just the three pins. When they look good, I add the thong tube. Sometimes it looks OK that way, and sometimes I have to move my pins forward a little bit. Be careful not to get the front pin too far forward or it can look like it is crowding the front of the handle. On your knife it is just about right. Maybe the pins could have been shifted back about 1/16" to 1/8", but without holding it, it is hard to tell if that would be needed. In any case, the difference would be very minor.
 
Nice looking knife. I think that two pins and a lanyard tube look good together. It looks a little crowded with 4 pins on the handle, especially with all of them being 1/4".

Here's one of mine with two 1/8" pins and a 1/4" lanyard tube.

IMG_3773_zpswazzyo4r.jpg
 
It's a fine looking knife !!! I believe what upsets the handle looks a bit is that the scales should have been say an 1/4" longer in the front and done in an arc.
Frank
 
I think Frank nailed it, that straight line at the ricasso makes the forward pin look close and a bit awkward. A curve there and a little less ricasso would smooth things out. If you wanted to keep that amount of ricasso, I would move the front pin back. Thong hole looks good, nice looking knife. That's my two cents, but its only worth about a penny.

Shane, that is a great looking little knife.
 
Thank you for all of the feed back. I see what each of your suggestions would add to the overall look and flow to the finished knife. It is hard to tell from the photo but the front of the scales are done in an arc but if it was done more so with two pins and the lanyard tube I think it would flow better an look less crowded.

For what it is worth it does feel very good in the hand with the balance point just in front of the handle. Like I said earlier this knife is now in a new home but the more I looked at the photographs it just didn't have the flow that I had originally envisioned, we will see what how the next one comes out. Doing your best and working to improve on each blade is what it is all about. Thanks again for the feedback and constructive criticism it is appreciated.

Shane, I am really liking that little knife of yours. I do not see any plunge lines did you grind the bevel/taper back into the handle area similar to a Japanese kitchen knife?
 
I agree with the others. The straight line at the front of the handle doesn't leave enough room by the first pin. Don't forget that there are other ways to do thong holes. If a thong tube gets a little cramped with the pins, or the placement looks awkward if not in alignment with the pins, try running the thong out the back end. It will clean up the look of the handle. Also, many times the thong hole is placed in the upper guard lug.


http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1346497-Walnut-and-Steel


 
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