first knife design. final draft

C

Cameron Wilcox

Well-Known Member
I have made the final draft of my first knife design.
first knife.jpg

OAL is 8"
blade is of 1075
thanks again Steven Janik for sending me the stuff for this knife.
 
Good start! I thought it looked a little chunky, but then I saw your thickness dimension is 1/8 (looks more like 1/4 in the picture). When I made my first, one of the things critiqued was balance. It was too handle heavy. Consider some moderate skeletoninzing. Also give some thought to how many handle pins and where they go. (Too close to an edge invites splitting the handle and too far from the edge invites movement later.)

Only other advice I could offer is don't let it get to you if it starts to look a little different than your drawing. Many knives evolve through their creation. I call it 'respecified design parameters'. :biggrin:

Keep us posted

Rob!
 
Looks good, my only advice would be to give the handle some contour on the sides instead of a flat slab look. That is what I was told of my first knives, and when I followed that advice, it did make them look and feel better. Other than that it looks great, now have fun making it come to life.
Dale
 
JDW said:
Looks good, my only advice would be to give the handle some contour on the sides instead of a flat slab look. That is what I was told of my first knives, and when I followed that advice, it did make them look and feel better. Other than that it looks great, now have fun making it come to life.
Dale
Click to expand...

I agree. Don't be afraid to go with a more oval/eliptical shaped handle, or even to try and taper it slightly. It makes a world of difference with the overall feel and balance of the knife.
 
One of Murphy's laws: No good plan survives first contact. Oh, and Murphy was an optimist. That being said, stick to your design plans but at each step evaluate the function and then the form. "Form follows function." It should feel, good. It should cut good and then it should look good. Then, if you decide to change something make the changes. Be bold. At the end of the project, you (we) should have learned a lot. Make notes on your design sheet. Then, make another one ASAP applying all of your lessons. Ask for advice but beware. When you show your prize to the non-maker, they seem to love to point out the obvious and they have no solutions. It's the experienced maker that you want to solicit. He'll be genuine, and understanding... he was there!! Oh, and he'll have solutions... God bless the solution finder and not the fault placer. Be persistent, apply the lessons and then do it again!! I'm looking forward to seeing some photos of your creation!!
 
Yea, that's why we always have an alternate plan and if it's really important: PACE... Primary, Alternate, Contingent and Emergency... but then if you are the EOC, all your plans better be PACE :)
 
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