Testing your own knives

sfbreed

Blade Field Editor
As a Field editor for Blade mag. and tactical gear mag. I have had my hands tore up while evaluating knives. If the makers would of handled their knives they would of caught these bad areas. It seems that a trend to make the knives look nasty/tactical/new, that the basic use of a knife is thrown to the side.
The knife should have only 1 sharp spot and that is the cutting edge. If the knife dosen't feel good in the hand, the client will not use it and will not buy another one.
I would like to suggest that all makers do minimal cutting chores and carry to prevent sore spots and rib poking.
I bust factory knives all the time but thats what you get from mass produced knives. I would expect better from hand made knives. Thats why people buy our knives.
What do you do to stop this??????
 
The knife makers that endure are the ones who make each knife as if it were for themselves to use.
In all the years I've been reading Blade (and other knife publications),the makers I see enjoying longevity and growth are the ones
who are intimately familiar with every element of what makes a Good Knife...and absolutely adhere to the fundamental Truth that Form Follows Function.
 
Glad you brought this subject up.

As a street medic and RN/Paramedic working out of the back of a BK-117 helicopter for many years (17) I needed my tools to work the first time, everytime. I continue to pull a couple shifts a month in a Trauma/Surgical ICU to keep the skills up. Those expriences living and working in emergency situations every day drive my knifemaking.

Now running a busy Crime Scene Cleanup service I have a great test bed for testing the knives (design) and my heat treating. Doing the tear-outs, cutting filthy carpet and various demolition duties on former meth labs will stress a knife. Myself and my employees have beat the tar out of my knives in an attempt to find out what was working and what needed to be changed. Was it comfortable to work? Did it hold and edge? For how long? Cutting what type of material? Could the average Joe put an edge back on with a simple stone, oil and a strop? These questions had to be answered by me first. Then and only then, did they go to market.

I still get input from users (US Border Patrol, Aghan, Iraq, Private Security Contractors) and that information is taken very seriously - it's makes me a better knifemaker. Period.

BC

Edit: I still carry one of the first knives I ever made and use it daily. It's ugly but functional :)
 
Last edited:
Good thread Kim!

I have to chime in that this issue seems to be a fairly recent one within the custom knife world. There of course has always been the odd knifemaker who thinks the "cool factor" overrides everything else...and those are the ones whom I feel are responsible for this trend. I have a lot of newer makers bring their knives to me for "evaluation" and it seems that more and more often I "bust" them for building a knife that is simply uncomfortable, or even painful to use. Often when I bring up the point that one or more "features" make the knife uncomfortable or difficult to use, I get the retort..."But it's so cool!"
I use something that Wayne Goddard taught me years ago. There are three things that a knife should be........

1. Look good
2. FEEL good
3. WORK good

I have to believe that the trend of knifemakers producing knives that are uncomfortable is because many makers simply do not use what they make. An example that comes to my mind is a specific knifemaker who I witnessed at a recent show. He was like a used car salesman, claiming that he produced "The best Elk hunting knife ever"...the funny part to me was that this individual had told me himself that he had never been hunting, nor had he ever used a knife on a game animal. Like wise, I personally believe the same is true with many of the makers who produce "tactical" knives these days. I think it's a combination of things, including some makers' unwillingness to take the time and effort necessary to "work out the bugs" of a design, and worrying more about the "wow" factor then about the actual usability of a design.
A measure of blame must also be placed on knife buyers....in many circles, the "wow" factor of a knife has become the determining factor as to if the knife is a "good one" or not, and some makers have allowed this to determine the attributes of what they produce, rather than using the three factors I mentioned above.
Here's a thought to end this post on... If you believe that you've produced a good "using" knife...get a 4x4 and cut through it with your knife. If you can get through the 4x4 without a blister, bruise, or other wound, then you have produced a knife with good "user" characteristics.
 
Last edited:
You're 100% bang on Ed.
From my perspective,as a knife user for over 30 years,one reason this topic has been given breath is because when most of us were growing up,
factory knives and the majority of customs were everyday tools,like an axe,or shovel or saw...
They were purpose designed and made,with only a secondary thought to appearance (generally speaking).
The 'Cool Factor' rarely made an appearance.
Now,knives are far more than simply an everyday working tool,and a large percentage of knife owners don't truly use them as they are meant to be used...
and there is a breed of knifemaker arriving who similarly haven't used their knives on the farm,in the bush or battlefield,who cater to those buyers;
as a result,Form sometimes finds a place ahead of Function.
 
Gday Kim,
I had always thourght my handles were pretty comfy or that i had a pretty good idea of how a handle should feel until when testing my JS performance blades i got some surprising sore spots when doing the 4 x 2 chops. Didnt require a lot of work to get rid of the hot spots but it sure made a difference to the feel and handling of the knife without sacrificing any "looks".
Cheers Bruce
 
...I have had my hands tore up while evaluating knives...I would expect better from hand made knives. Thats why people buy our knives.
What do you do to stop this??????

I'm a pretty regular 'Blade' reader and always enjoy your articles. It's probably not too pc to tell it like it is, but useful to try to read between the lines. The pages of a magazine can be a helpful tool for a rookie maker to get some idea of good design and execution, even if an article had a different intent.

Appearance is important, but it means very different things to different folks. I don't blame someone for making and selling a knife that looks interesting, but a knife might look great because it looks useful. I appreciate that you slice, cut and chop things up in your evaluations.

Thank you for your service, Craig
 
...If you believe that you've produced a good "using" knife...get a 4x4 and cut through it with your knife. If you can get through the 4x4 without a blister, bruise, or other wound, then you have produced a knife with good "user" characteristics.

Very well put.

Great thread, sfbreed, thank you!
 
Thats my point exactly. now I do not expect a full blown testing of each knife but it does not hurt the knife to cut some rope and a few pieces of wood when you try a new design.
You will make wall hangers and wow knives that are more for show and thats cool and they sell. but its hart to say you make the best skinning knife and you haven't even cut paper with it.
Where are all of the young/new makers?
Their comments are important.
Usually it takes under 15 min. to correct any problems, so use your knife.

Sorry for the rambling but its a sore spot(hint,hint) with me.
 
.
Where are all of the young/new makers?

I'm 30, so take that FWIW, but I am very new to making knives...

to this point, I have only a couple finished enough to even use, and of them, I put the one I always reach for at the bottom of this post. I call it "the shank", but i have found it to be quite comfortable for me. Although I haven't hacked any lumber, I have done house stuff like cutting smaller ropes and what not. I know this isn't a great comfort test, but I have never had the thought of "hmm, that feels funny" while cutting with it. the handles looks a bit chunky, but in the hand, it is nice.

I try to put as much thought and prep into the handle as I do into the blade... We'll see how well I do around Christmas time this year....

I have since stained and finished the scales...
2010-09-29%2015.50.07.jpg
 
New maker here too - part time - been at it seriously for a couple of years. I figure I can buy a d@mn good factory knife for functional use for a lot less than a custom knife - so I approach it as a fun-factor thing. But I want it to work! And yes - I've been hacking and bending (and breaking) blades and will continue to do so. I like to think my heat treat is getting better with experience and tutoring (old dog - new tricks - you've gotta hit me upside the head with a 2x4 a few times). Now my buddy Jeff Crowner - he makes survival knives like you *cannot* get out of a factory. But me - I'm in it for fun. I've been tweaking a handle shape that I like ... but I overdid the contour on the last blade I ran through the ABS JS routine and wound up with a blister - so I've backed off on the sharpness of the contour on the handle - here's a shot with the lower-profile rise on the bottom of the handle:
BowieSN5_1024a.jpg


And here I am about to bust a blade:
AboutToBreak.jpg
 
I'm a new maker (5 years) although I'm 58 years old. I use all of my knife models to test them but I use them for the purpose that I designd them for. I use my bread knife for slicing bread, paring knife for cutting fruit and veggies, skinners for skinning,fillets for filleting and slicing meat, folders for everyday cutting tasks, ect., ect. I havent used my Taliban stabber for stabbing any Taliban yet but I'm ready if the oppertunity presents itself. I think ya'll get the picture.
 
I've been making knives for 1 1/2 years. Not young but new :)

are you kiddin' me?
Bill,from the quality of your designs,and the strength of your knives I figured you'd been doin' this a fair bit longer...
I was trying to find the thread of you showing your knives at work...
would you happen to have a link kickin' around?
 
I have only made about 15 blades, tried to HT at home, got discouraged, then moved to files to make a few blades. Cutting tests with a 2x4 quickly showed me that a file knife was far superior to a "home hardened" blade I had done. Now I haven't sold any of my knives, but I did give one away to a hunting friend that I have who told me, yet again, that it doesn't hold an edge very well. He did think it felt nice though. One of my file-knives went in the KITH, but I wish I had done better on it. The feedback, even if negative, helped me see mistakes that are more major than I had thought.

Now I am getting more steel, and will be sending it to someone else to harden for me. I trust someone with years of experience more than my 15 knives.
 
I'm a new maker for the last couple of years, age 53.
I have about 8 knives under my belt all made mostly by hand tools and dremal, I don't have a belt grinder.
I try to test my knives for what they were ment to be used for.
I have not tested a blade to destruction yet. My little EDC I could not get the sharp edge I wanted
and a friend of mine changed the edge angle just a couple of degrees and was able to get a great edge.
Even thou this is a small knife made for cutting and slicing, I took a 1x6 pc of oak and chopped half way thru it
before my hand hurt. This knife was not made for chopping but if I needed the job done it could do it, just slow because of the small size.
My heat treating continues to improve as well as my designs.
I think most of us makers do test our work in one form or another. If you want to test a skinner blade give one to your friend that hunts
and the same with a fillet knife have someone put it to use in real life events.
I try to make knives that can be used in every day life and I'm not worried about making a fancy wall hanger but,
I do want all my knives to look and function the best they can without any flaws or complaints because my name is going on my work.
If I'm not happy with one of my builds how could a customer be satisfied.
 
Last edited:
Bill,thank you for those links...and rekindling my absolute lust for your knives...
when I'm back to work,and you have one of the Ridgebacks available,I'll be the guy outside on your curb in the morning with the sign that reads
"WILL WORK FOR A RIDGEBACK"...:biggrin:
 
Back
Top