Testing your own knives

Been makin sharp pointy things sinse 1990 during desert storm. Glad to see some feedback. knifemakers who actually use their knives, out standing. If you use it you will produce a better knife.

I work on handle design and contour more than anything. It's the biggest challenge. I want my handles to be contoured to fit your hand. It doesn't take a lot of time to do it properly, but it does take practice. I don't texture anything. It's just too much for a bare hand and a lot of materials like micarta work just fine without any texturing. G-10 is the same. Beadblasted g-10 shaped properly is hard to beat. Great thread.
-John

I finished this knife yesterday and tested it this morning. I cut one mole and one wart off my face, it is so sharp I didn't feel any pain.

Hopefully you have one very careful 11yo grandson...

Not the best picture, but I made this one up for me about a year ago. 4 inch maple handle, 1080 blade just under 3 inches. I field dressed a doe last week, cut all the meat off the bone, trimmed off all the fat and sinew, and cut everything but the backstraps into strips to run through the meat grinder. All together about 6 hours with that knife in hand. No blisters or hotspots, never had to sharpen it, even after cutting through a little hair and the ribcage. I plan some changes to the design, but overall I'm happy with how it performed.

Nathan

BRad704 said:

Hopefully you have one very careful 11yo grandson...

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All of my grandchildren are well trained in the handeling knives and guns. They can't even remember when I started teaching them gun and knife saftey because they were too young. All of my grandsons have already made their own knives, with my help.

Hey Kim! Gotta say that you are right on. When you tested my knife for blade, I tested it first! Thats not to say it wasn't stressful waiting to see how it came out! But I used that model alot and knew it didnt give me any hot spots. So I was comfortable selling it to people. Gotta go grind!
GOD BLESS!!!
Michael

This thread has inspired me. I had a prototype that needed testing anyway, so I took some of the ideas here and put 'em to work. Time for me to put my money where my mouth is!

sfbreed said:

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.

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Makes sense to me! I have no desire to make any knives that don't earn their keep. You're not going to use it if it hurts.

EdCaffreyMS said:

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.

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Darn straight. Now, this knife was never designed to be a chopper or survival knife. It's meant to be a general-purpose/EDC blade, not a combat knife. But what if I got lost and this was the only knife I had?

I sharpened it on a standard Lansky system, set at 20 degrees per side. It cut paper and carboard nice and clean. Then I used it to cut, whittle and chop through a 2x4. Didn't have any 4x4's on hand, but I thought that would give a fairly good idea if it will hold an edge. It did. Then I took a deep breath and plunged the tip into the 2x4 and proceeded to stab/pry/dig my way through it. I was frankly surprised I didn't bust the tip off, this blade is ground pretty thin and tempered quite hard.

I was able to cut paper cleanly and shave hair (not so cleanly) with it after all that. I can see a few shiny spots on the edge, but no chipping or bending, not even at the very tip.

Just as important, I didn't get any blisters or hot-spots in my hand. It was comfortable in all positions.


blade: 1/8" CPM-154, mild distal taper, full convex, Rc=59. handle: black canvas micarta, 1/4" SS corby bolts.

All the credit for the blade goes to Crucible Metals and Brad at Peters HT... quality steel and quality HT is what made this knife perform so well. I just ground it and put the handle on. I'm learning where to "soften" up the handle shape so it doesn't dig in but gives you something to grab onto.

I welcome any comments. Thanks for reminding me to put this thing through some testing!

P.S. the orange on the blade is the reflection from the Home Depot box it's on, NOT rust or blood

Heres one I'm making for the CKCA Cancer Research for 2011. I cut a 2"x4" in half twice without a grip on it. It was uncomfortable but mostly I just wanted to make sure it held a keen edge. The hollow grind was working against me though. A flat grind of convex would have taken out bigger chunks of wood. This knife is a fighter not a chopper. Just goes to prove that the grind is important for its intended purpose.

Keep on making them and testing them. Just finishing up 2 little damascus hunters and a damascus folder. will post pics asap.

My knives definitely have a recurring theme when it comes to the shape of the grip and there is a reason for that. I am actually pretty monotonous with it but I think it is worthwhile to experiment with nuances and really fine tune a design, rather than try to re-invent the wheel on every knife.

sfbreed said:

Keep on making them and testing them. Just finishing up 2 little damascus hunters and a damascus folder. will post pics asap.

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I see there still aren't any pics...
you still working off that Christmas turkey and brandy,
or what?:3: