Blade to Handle Ratio

Daffy

Well-Known Member
Hey Guys n Gals,

So I went to an Archery Shoot and saw some custom knives and axes a week ago... And now I have the urge to make my own knife. I did some research on the forums and off and have started picking up my supplies. Last night I went ahead and started to trace out the design I planned on doing. To me it looks like a drop point hunter (but hey i'm a noob so maybe you guys might give it another name.) Anyways, after transferring the design to the billet I felt as if there was to much handle an not enough blade. Seemed like a 1:1 ratio. The billet is 1/8x1 1/2x7 7/8 1084

So my question is... How do you judge how long or short a each part of a knife should be? is there a golden rule? Or do you just go by a combination of function and aesthetics?

Thanks for the help even if I may be asking a silly question
 
So my question is... How do you judge how long or short a each part of a knife should be? is there a golden rule? Or do you just go by a combination of function and aesthetics?

There's really no set rule or ratio when it comes to handle and blade length. The biggest determining factor is just how you said it: function and aesthetics. If you're making a skinner for instance, you don't necessarily want a blade that 10" long and a handle that's 7" long. Likewise, a 4" blade might be useful as a utility neck knife, but won't be too practical with a 2" handle.

If it looks good, make it, if not, tweak it.
 
As Andrew said,
I look at the use of the knife first. If it's a Culinary knife, The Handle will be my most of the time 4.75-5.5 inch handle. Depending on who I am making it for?

On a hunter, I would will use the same 4.75 -5.5 Inch handle since this knife is made for a belt carry and for long time usage. Or a Three finger skinner is? Yep! Just long enough to fit the customers three fingers. Now if someone wants a light Hiker Knife that one will run 4.75 -5" tops because of weight. If they want a Necker Knife it will be shorter and narrower.

So you can see the end use and mode of carry are what dictates handle length.
I could give many more examples but I am sure you see the picture here.

My last two cents here are.
Build, Test, Evaluate and change your design as necessary.

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com/
 
A good tool to use is a really stiff backing material. Make a copy of your design, glue it to a stiff backing material and then cut it out. Now, hold it in your hand just as you would using the knife. This will allow you to get a feel for the profile of the design and usually give you a clue as to rather or not you need to tweak the design. It also gives you something more tangible to evaluate for dimension and aesthetic balance.

I often use heavy cardboard as a backing material, but you can use any material you have handy. I know a few guys who use plexiglass and yet others who use aluminum bar stock. Of course the closer you can get to the actual thickness of your blade material the better feel you will get.

Ba
 
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The first 2 drawings were my original ideas. The one with the ruler is what I came up with after reading some of your posts. I attached it to a thick piece of card board to the back of it to get the feel... I'm leaning towards the last one but I would like to fix some of the curves on the blade and handle and maybe make the drop point on the blade slightly more pronounced... If you guys see and flaws or things that can be tweaked let me know!

Also thanks for all the help so far
 
I would take the handle on #2 and put it with the blade on #1. The blade on the second knife doesn't have the smooth curve of the first plus having the heal of the blade so much lower than where the curve to the point starts looks out of balance plus it looks like it would cause a weird angle for slicing. It makes it look like the heal of the blade would want to dig into what is being cut.

Doug
 
When I started out making knives , I looked at many many knives and pictures . I found something that I thought I could make .. I made it , I found many mistakes and things that I thought I can do better next time ..
I wish I knew about Knife Dogs when I started out .. There is so much info here , its great ..
I can tell you already from the start , you are way ahead of me when I did my first build ..

You go for it dude! Go with your own feel and think about getting down the rough edges to smooth , trying to keep everything as straight as you can .. And if you are gonna flat grind ?? An old man gave me 3 bits of advice .. 1 Flat , 2 Flat and 3 Flat .. Keep that in the back of your mind if your gonna flat grind ..

Make your knife , make your mistakes and move forward and you will see improvents everytime. We all make mistakes and learn everyday , thats what I love about this stuff ..

You will see the differances from your first knife to your second and so on ..

Good Luck and make that knife ..
 
:lol:
I hope to keep my "Design Modifications" to a minimum on this one... But I'm sure there might be one or two of em ;)

I hope to start working on it this weekend if I can find all the supplies... Who knew wet or dry sandpaper was so rare!
 
2012-05-11_19-50-04_356.jpg

Just wanted to update with what I've done so far... I'm thinking about taking the blade down another 1/8-3/16 of an inch tomorrow and shape the handle a little more.

Hopefully it isn't looking to bad for my first try at this knife making thing
 
Admittedly, you have a way to go with that blade but so far you've done a whole lot better than most do on their first knife. Just take one step at a time and keep going. If you screw up, try again.

Doug
 
Daffy, Try here at USA knifemaker supply or most of the knife supply houses will have wet & dry paper etc. A local Auto body refinishing place will have the 3M line of wet & dry in a pinch.

Think Metal and wood finishing for many supplies.

Your knife is more thought out than my first! I just started in with hand files on a older annealed file.
For me, The design is in my mind's eye. I see it and work towards that goal.

There is no right or wrong way, Find what works for you? Most of the time!:happy:

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com/
 
I actually checked a few different hardware, home improvement, auto, and hobby stores online and in-person... They all said it was just for paint or plastic and the one place I found locally only had 3 different grits... I ended up looking on ebay and ordered some sheets from there. Not sure the quality but I'll see this week when they arrive lol...

Also on most thing I do I end up thinking and rethinking... Not having everything I need to complete the project on hand is giving me too much time in between steps but hopefully this week I'll be a little more ready to actually do and not just think!
 
An auto paint/body supply would be your best bet for quality paper if you wanted to pick it up locally. Your next best would be Auto Zone or O'Riely's. I've purchased 600-2000 grit at each of these stores. The cost is much higher than what yu will pay ordering from Midwest Knifemaker Supply as you usually get 3-4, 1/3 sheets at around $5-10 per pkg at the auto parts stores.
 
I actually wen to the local auto zone and the guy said it was for paint... I guess I just don't know enough about this stuff yet to be able to buy with confidence unless it says for metal use on it
 
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