Combat knife design

I fixed the spine, guards and choils and made up some patterns. I like the tantos so I made patterns with both kinds of tip. I also made a small version with a 4" blade but it didn't look right as a tanto. You guys were right though, as well as looking better, the regular blades feel a lot more versatile in that holding the card patterns and pretending to cut stuff felt a lot better with them. The SAK is for scale.
http://imageshack.us/a/img202/7100/photoapr07202502.jpg
The drawing of sheaths is substantially more challenging than the drawing of knives but this is what I managed. I designed the sheath for the biggest one as I want a knife to use as a camp knife and this one will do.
http://imageshack.us/a/img41/362/photoapr07224349.jpg
The one on the left shows the welts, the arcs are to show the holes are of equal distance from each other for moving the belt loops to different positions. The right hand picture shows that the kydex will be formed around the bolster for retention.
http://imageshack.us/a/img202/7451/photoapr07224403.jpg
This is a sketch of the sheath and knife. I decided 304SS was a better idea because I hate working with aluminium as it is too soft. The sheath will be held together with Chicago screws so as to be able to tighten and loosen them as the kydex expands and contracts slightly in the heat and also they can be removed to rearrange the belt loops or to mount them on the other side.
http://imageshack.us/a/img850/2265/photoapr07224406.jpg
This shows how the belt loops are attached.
http://imageshack.us/a/img255/8017/photoapr07224438.jpg
For scale, this is 5mm square paper so the sheath is 8mm thick and 10mm with the belt loops. I want to use 4mm steel for this knife so I will have a 4mm welt, the kydex will be 2mm.
http://imageshack.us/a/img706/2323/photoapr07224434.jpg
This is something I am designing so that I can wear the knife at a more comfortable height. I figured it might as well go here. It will be made from two bits of 40mm polypropylene webbing and allows the sheath to be worn at thigh height. It is more convenient for when I use the knife as I won't have to lift jackets and what not. It has a pouch for a sharpening stone because when I make this I want to be able to put it in my BOB and not worry about it getting blunt. If I am carrying a knife I will probably have some use for a flashlight and I want it to be as accessible as the knife so it stands to reason that they should be in the same place. It takes an extra inch of webbing to make a flashlight holder so there you go. I have put button holes on the webbing belt loop as I never wear a belt. Since you can't wear a knife on braces (suspenders for you Americans) I will sew buttons on to my trousers to mount the knife.
(I know it took more than a minute.)
 
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I like the new design. Looks very practical and your tip hasn't significantly changed from the tanto shape, so any practicality there is retained.

I'd say the next step is to cut out a wooden version that is the thickness you're thinking about the handle being and see how things feel in the hand.
 
Liam,
You are doing a good job of thinking out your design, I suggest that you try to consolidate things a bit and remove what you can, its getting a bit too much like a Batman rig and you will find that there is "beauty in simplicity" Too many different things to get snagged in the brush, broken or just plain too heavy for one sheath.

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com
 
The batman rig will be a one off, I removed a lot from the original design. I am of the opinion that if something is simple to use then it is fine, it is simple to use and not beyond my ability to make. The rig is purpose designed and it is removable if I don't like it. I will get some 4mm ply and see what happens. This is easily the most effort I have ever put into designing a knife but there is something not right about it. I am not sure about the weight but I comfortably carry that weight on my leg over long distances. Apart from the rig I don't really know what is left to take away. A question though, I intend to etch the blade black with FeCl because it looks better than an uneven patina, if I etch my makers mark first could I fill it with nail polish so that when I etch the rest of the blade the mark is left bright?
 
LiamLynch said:
The batman rig will be a one off, I removed a lot from the original design. I am of the opinion that if something is simple to use then it is fine, it is simple to use and not beyond my ability to make. The rig is purpose designed and it is removable if I don't like it. I will get some 4mm ply and see what happens. This is easily the most effort I have ever put into designing a knife but there is something not right about it. I am not sure about the weight but I comfortably carry that weight on my leg over long distances. Apart from the rig I don't really know what is left to take away. A question though, I intend to etch the blade black with FeCl because it looks better than an uneven patina, if I etch my makers mark first could I fill it with nail polish so that when I etch the rest of the blade the mark is left bright?
Click to expand...

Liam,
You need to wait until you are healed and then make a couple of these to test to destruction, That's how you will find the "Bugs" in the design and then modify or remove them. My comment about it getting to be a Batman rig is about the torch & etc holders you have on the sheath.

I suggest that you concentrate on the knife design first,
get it how you really want it.
Then the sheath design second.
Then the Batman add-on's, Third.

Have fun!

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com
 
The doctor said four weeks until I can use my arm like normal, then surgery in a few months and six weeks again after that. I will get working on a few as soon as I get the ones I am doing finished. The sheath is still completely functional without the rig so I will make that as a seperate project. I am going to try to make dovetailed bolsters I think. I'm not sure what materials for the actual knife though. An O1 blade is most likely but maybe 14C28N, 304 bolsters? People seem to use 304 but why not 316? My friend has a vacuum chamber and I can make a press in a few minutes so I want to see if I can make a Kevlar phenolic type thing at some point, Kevlar woven in a 3D pattern and held together by stainless steel thread, made like homemade pretend micarta but stabilised a it is made? I will buy micarta to start off but I want to test this idea as well. Is it beat to have a tube for the lanyard hole or do the bolsters do the same job? I am thinking 3mm pin also.
 
I can see that you have pt a lot of thought i your designs and I commend you for taking the construcive criticism well. As others have stated, I much prefer your later deigns where you have eliminated the chisel tip. Having dealt with several of these style blades in the past I can testify as to what a pain in the butt they are to sharpen.

You have put a lot of thought into your sheath design. I can see your train of thought in your design, but I would encourage you to leave out the welt. If you are concerned about environmental deformation of the Kydex, use a lighter color of Kydex. To solve your retention issue I would encourage you to sculpt the handle into what I refer to as a reverse hour glass shape. The lower area in the handle will give the perfect "bite" for the Kydex to lock into. If you are confused as to what I'm referring to, let me know and I will take a couple of photos to demonstrate.
 
hey Liam
i am still trying to figure out the design for such knives as well, you have very solid design, i would just like to suggest something and the more experienced guys can back me up or correct me.
it seems you plan on using bolsters, right? generally these knives are pretty heavy and from several experienced users i learned its best if its light, so unless you put those intentionally for some reason like balance or so i would replace them with micarta handle (or whatever material you planned on using, but as far as i know micarta is best for this type of knives due to the fact that its light, tough, and has best wet grip). and might be best even if the handle material covers the guard as well (i never used them and only made one so far, but in my head i believe if the handle material is on the guard as well it will be 1 extra protection 2 softens the blow and pressure on the index finger (or the hand if held in reverse))

hope that helps and hope you make a spectacular knife man!
 
Murph, what is your reasoning for leaving out the welt, I'm guessing it is weight, if it is I will do what I can to reduce the weight of the design while keeping some kind of metal welt. I could bite the bullet and go with 6082 aluminium or buy some titanium instead. The welt gives a solid structure for the belt loops to mount on to and to support the whole sheath. I think I understand the retention thing but a picture could be useful. I might make it deeper also.

Shokr, the bolsters are to hold the handle material to the blade, it means I don't have to peen the pins and have stress on the handle. I will look at making it go around the guard also.
 
Alternatively (and lighter than bolsters), look at either Corby rivets or flared tube rivets for holding the handle slabs on.
 
The problem with corbys and rivets and the like is that you can only fit a few in the handle, I prefer the idea of six pins. Would you rather lie on a bed of nails or three machetes kind of thing. If I can get it to balance right it means that the handle doesn't weigh more than the blade roughly so if I don't change the blade and it balances then it won't be much heavier than without bolsters. The smaller knives probably won't have them or I will look into titanium.
 
Liam,
I wouldn't lay down on ether of them!
I use Loveless style bolts in all stainless steel with Epoxy, Just two per knife for all but a few really long handled knives. Then three or four.
With the round nuts countersunk properly they are by far the strongest in my experience on wood, Micarta etc and one has never failed on a knife of mine in over 16 years and about 3000 knives.

I feel pins work well when they are used on a unstabilized wood, horn, or bone and you want to distribute the holding power over the entire scale to avoid any warping etc.. It isn't necessary when using Micarta, or stabilized woods etc.

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com
 
Overkill is underrated, I will try with and without. See what I like better. I will test two to destruction when I can make knives again. One with bolsters and one with loveless bolts. If I can make the bolsters a similar weight to without bolsters I will do bolsters though.
 
Use mini-Corby rivets and you can put in six of 'em. http://www.knifemaking.com/category-s/369.htm

What I've found in making full tang knives this size is that the tendency is to be handle-heavy, necessitating lightening holes to get a nice balance at the blade/handle transition. The more you can do to eliminate weight on the handle end, the easier it's going to be.

Of course, I don't taper my full tangs either. That would also help with the handle weight issue.
 
I will try those mini Corbys, they are expensive though and I need to pay for shipping to the UK also. I will probably have to wait until I have a big enough list of stuff I need from America to make it worthwhile. I was planning to do lightening holes anyway. I don't know how I would go about doing a tapered tang with files but it is something to try.
 
This thread was hibernating a little. I'm going to be doing the biggest and smallest of the designs for myself and my brother, he is threatening me with spoiling movies so I have no choice. This is going to be started at the end of July and I'm doing some serious planning for the whole thing. I will use 4mm O1 for the blades, etched black or thereabouts. The smaller will have a micarta handle and three corby's, the larger will have either micarta or stabilised spalted beech, held on with 304SS pins and bolsters. The sheaths will be kydex with a welt hopefully.
 
I know I'm REALLY late to this thread, but figured I'd give my input. My dad was in the Marines, as was two of my uncles, my best friend is currently in, and another friend of mine is also in the Marines. I also had two uncles in the Army, 5 friends who are currently in the army, a step grandfather who was in the Navy, a cousin and two of my friends are in the Navy, and one of my close friends is in the Air Force. So......I guess I know a few people haha. Here's my input from all the stories I hear from them.

It really depends on your MOS on how much you'll be needing a knife, and what kind of knife you'll need. If you're regular infantry, you'll probably be needing it a decent amount, but as the others said, it's mostly for utility tasks. My dad used a Ka-Bar with a 7 inch blade when he was in the Marines in the 80's, but at that time they carried less equipment than they do now. My best friend is currently at Camp Pendleton, and they don't allow fixed blades there for whatever reason, so most of the guys have folders that serve most of their cutting needs. When my uncle was in Korea, his main knife was the USMC Ka-Bar, and he used it a lot for everyday use. But I suppose it'll also depend on what environment you're in as well, in that it will depend on how often the need arises for you to cut something. My best friend uses a Ka-Bar folding knife, my other friend in the Marines uses a SOG Seal Pup Elite, and I noticed a lot of guys like to have serrations.

There's also a good article I read in either blade or tactical knife magazine that goes through all the different knife types that men in the military carry, and I noticed quite a few of them had serrations. In my opinion, the guys on here gave you excellent advice on knife needs of infantry, especially blade length and design. Couldn't have worded it better than them.

I really like your designs so far as well. So far, they seem very practical, well designed geometries. I think your 5 inch blade would be perfect. It looks like it would be light, easy to carry, great for utility, and seems quite sturdy. Great to see a full tang design as well.

Well, that's just my 2 cents. If you like, I can also get my friends in the Marines to weigh in on it. Although one is an AAV crewman, and the other is an LAV crewman, so not sure how much they're using knives, especially since they're not in Afghanistan right now. As for training, all I know for now is they've been using folding knives. My best friend said he'd love to buy a boot knife if they start allowing it on base, so I guess you gotta get around politics as well.
 
It's only late when I am too old to make knives. It's impossible to design a knife which can do the best in all situations but this design is supposed to be a jack of all trades type. The different sizes are a mixture of a desire for variety and the fact that I haven't quite grown out of Rambo syndrome. Serrations are something I may experiment with at some point but not in the near future. Folders are the same really. Any input from military or similar types is useful so if you could ask them about it that would be good. I would like to see what military people actually think of my designs as well. Also because I designed this with the help of others and for the military I don't mind if anyone wants to copy the design.

Can anyone think of good names for these patterns as well. I don't like leaving any design un-named and its only right that I let people name them. There are seven patterns so I will go with seven names. Just give a name, reason and which pattern and it will be done.
 
Yep, just bare in mind, no two men or women in the military think alike when it comes to blade needs. It always depends on their job in the military, and different people prefer different things just like any civilian. So while one guy in the Marines might find a 7 inch blade too big, another Marine might wanna carry a 7 inch blade. It always depends from person to person, just like any other walk of life. As for a name, I kinda like Gladiator :)
 
For the semi-tanto version that is. I think Gladiator will be cool. The biggest version. I also think Native American tribe names would be awesome too. A lot of U.S. military equipment is named after Native American tribes, such as the Apache, and the tomahawk cruise missile after the Native American weapon. You could give a tribal name to each of the knives, in their memory. For example, my area in Virginia had the Powhatan, and then there's also the Mohawks, the Cherokee, the Creek, The Sioux, the Apache, the Comanche, and that's 7 right there. Which is good, because I couldn't think of any more tribes off the top of my head lol
 
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