first knife design.

Cameron Wilcox

Well-Known Member
I drew up this design and am looking for any suggestions or critiques on the design.

The dimensions came out hard to read but they are .25" thick 9.5" long 1" wide blade handle scales are .75". the X tick marks represent pin holes

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I would reconsider the dimensions. If you are going to make a knife 9.5" long with a 5" long blade that is only 1" wide, 1/4" will be too thick of stock to use. 1.) It will feel like a brick in your hand and be extremely off balance. 2.) 1" is entirely too narrow for a 1/4" thick blade. I would recommend 1/8" or 5/32".
 
okay. I'll do that, but what width would you recommend for this if i was to keep it 1/4" thick? it is probably going to be a camp/utility knife. I am not sure how many choices I am going to have when I purchase the steel and might draw some more sketches in the future.
thank you for the suggestion.
 
I would grind the bevels no less than 1-1/4" wide for a 1/4" thick blade, if you want it to cut reasonably well.
 
I would probably go with a 2" bar of 5160 if I were to do this design. That would give you plenty of room to play with in order to widen the blade as well as give some curvature of the handle. I would also add a little length to the blade, maybe 7". 5160 is a very durable steel that works very well for larger camp knives that will be used for chopping.
 
I recommend starting with 1/8" stock for your first knife. 1/4" is a lot to be grinding away and it's just not neccasary for a knife that size.

You will have trouble finding 1/4" stock less than 1.5" wide anyway. With a full-flat grind that will give a nice keen bevel. However that's still overkill in this case. A fully tapered, full-flat 5" x 1.25-1.5" blade made from 3/16" stock will be extremely strong without being a brick. It will also cut very well. This Growl prototype is just over 1/8" at the spine, and if you can break it without putting it in a vice (in other words, break it while using it like a knife :)) I'll take you out to dinner.
xhp prototype finished.jpg

The design itself honestly looks like the dreaded "sharpened pry bar" - it needs curve and flow. Not just for looks, but to be comfortable in hand and well-balanced in use. Make you some templates out of cardboard or thin scrap wood before you commit to it. While you're in a drawing mood, sketch up the cross-section. That geometry is much more important than the profile of the blade in determine how well it will cut, slice and chop.
 
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bubba, I like #2! Looks like you're using software for your drawings, are you using a CAD program or a paint type program? If you try a CAD (like CadSTD Lite (free) which Cal recommended to me) program, try using a french curve tool from tip to toe and see what you think. Seems to be a popular feature on drop point skinners, and the intersecting line passes right through the grip to line up your holes. Drawing them is as much fun as making them!

I also shaped a prototype out of cardboard just to feel the geometry for my first "personally designed" knife. Also put holes in it and put a piece of cord through it so I could see how it'd feel with a lanyard on it. And when its all said and done, you'll find things you wished you did better, and there'll be a v.2. That's part of the fun as well!
 
No this was by hand. I don't have any software at the moment. and about the card board thats what I'm doing right now cutting it out so the "handle" is the same thickness.
 
Download CAD Standard Lite for free here, and I'll send you a file to use to set up your settings. You're doing great by hand! A wise man told me half of the success of the knife is in the design.

You also learn what you can do with your tools. Since you and I don't have our own waterjet, laser or CNC machine at home, its important to know what you can and can't cut with a hacksaw. I wound up having to modify my first design to accmodate the limitations of my tools.
 
Chapnelson, If you have a template to get started with CAD Standard Lite, I would be interested in it too. I've been trying to find decent free drawing software to work on knife designs, and haven't had a whole lot of luck. I've tried google sketchup and inkscape so far, but really haven't had much success with either.

Download CAD Standard Lite for free here, and I'll send you a file to use to set up your settings. You're doing great by hand! A wise man told me half of the success of the knife is in the design.

You also learn what you can do with your tools. Since you and I don't have our own waterjet, laser or CNC machine at home, its important to know what you can and can't cut with a hacksaw. I wound up having to modify my first design to accmodate the limitations of my tools.
 
That's looking much better Bubba. The slight drop at the back of the handle will fit in your hand better. Keep it up! Remember cardboard is cheap :)
 
thank you. I put one together with the thickness of the handle and thats how a lot of the new design was put together. I looked at some of your knives for general handle shape and tweaked it from there.
 
Chapnelson, If you have a template to get started with CAD Standard Lite, I would be interested in it too. I've been trying to find decent free drawing software to work on knife designs, and haven't had a whole lot of luck. I've tried google sketchup and inkscape so far, but really haven't had much success with either.

Sure thing Ben! It's on a different computer so I'll have to send it tomorrow.
 
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