any good design ideas for push knives?

[soundmind]

We have a knife in the kitchen my wife loves and a friend of ours saw it and commented she would like one similar to it. Her and her husband have become friends of ours and a great support for us out here so I'd like to make it for them for nothing. But I've been kind of stuck on a design and was wondering if I could get some ideas.

The picture of the original knife is in "Blizzard day" thread.
I think what attracts people to it is the short comfortable handle and the angle of the edge in relation to the handle. It seems to lend itself to a push cut with very little resistance.

Here's a shot of what I'm thinking so far. To me it doesn't seem to lend itself to the same ease of cutting as the other. But I really don't like the hook on the heel of the blade on the first. Some of the "quarter" knives I looked up have that hook, too. But in my drawing you'd lose cutting some edge, which is actually nice on a push knife for longer cuts. To fix that I tried to add to the tip what I took off the heel.

I just don't think it's got a good feel, just by looking at it.

I've also only got 2" width that I can fit into the forge so not sure how to implement a tang sticking out away from the edge at that angle.

 

[Sean Jones]

What are you using it in the kitchen for? Anything in particular? Dicing? I just posted the leather knife you asked about earlier"What's going on in your shop" thread. But here it is again.

https://imgur.com/VJwXWEx

I don't know if that's what you have in mind or not. I like your design, though I think I would want the trailing edge of your bevel rounded off some. Other than that I think it would work much better than mine in a kitchen environment.

 

[soundmind]

What are you using it in the kitchen for? Anything in particular? Dicing? I just posted the leather knife you asked about earlier"What's going on in your shop" thread. But here it is again.

That looks good. I like that tail end for leather.

I need to make one for myself, too. I was surprised to learn the other names for them - I only knew them as leather knives.

For our friend, I think she had kitchen use in mind. I could ask but wanted to surprise them with it.

The pictures I found of quarter knives piqued my interest though. They look similar to something I thought I invented. I wasn't too keen on the profiles, though. If I can figure out something similar it would a fun challenge to forge and finish out.

For a handle I think as long as it fits into your palm it'd be comfortable.

 

[KenH]

We have a knife in the kitchen my wife loves and a friend of ours saw it and commented she would like one similar to it.

Well, why not copy your knife for her since she likes it already?

The leather knives I know about - aren't they sometimes called "round knives"?

 

[soundmind]

Well, why not copy your knife for her since she likes it already?

It'll probably be kitchen use. I didn't think she realized she wouldn't like the hook on the heel when she actually tried to use it - to pull back when cutting something.

The leather knives I know about - aren't they sometimes called "round knives"?

I found that, too. Ulus also.

I guess a "quarter" knife is more like the shape I have going. I searched 'custom quarter knives today' on google and found some nice looking ones.

 

[MTBob]

Here's an idea for you, fix'in to plasma cut a push knife from a saw blade.

After the cut.

I found that having both "wings" was kinda awkward, so I whacked off one of them.

Showing a pretty crappy handle fit-up. The shape of the handle fits comfortably into the palm.

The full half circle was really a pain to grind sharp. Cutting into a quarter round made finishing the cutting edge a bit easier.

 

[soundmind]

Here's an idea for you

Looks good. I liked the position of the point on the heel in relation to the handle.

I've been looking around online some more this evening. I found a design element I liked that also emphasizes (for lack of a better word) the push cut along the heel. The edge was slightly extended in the back and had a short hollow grind back there.
I'll try to post a link tomorrow when I have some more time. There are a lot of nice leather knives out there.
I appreciate the time and photos.

 

[soundmind]

I wondered how I could combine the comfortable knife I had with some nicer flowing design elements.

I couldn't really see what angle the handle needed to be in relation to the edge in order to keep it comfortable and, also, more versatile.

I like the relieved bevel behind the edge of this one. It looks like it's hollow ground anyway.

Also from this knife I learned that one of the basic concepts of a push knife is you can push the heel (in this case) like you would drag a point on say a kitchen knife. So I seen that it's good to make the handle height in relation to doing that, so you don't drag your knuckles.

I had only thought the belly of the blade was the main area of contact. What to do with everything above it, I don't know. The knife you made makes a lot of sense Bob. To me anyway.

 

[soundmind]

The shape of this one is probably more what I'm thinking

Something like this would be fine for leather work, too.

looks elegant and comfortable and would suit the purpose.

 

[soundmind]

Just for fun I'll show you this one.

This is one I cut out of a circ saw blade about a week ago and kept the cooling slot. It's 1/16 thick. It hardened in P-50. (Didn't harden in AAA and cracked in water.)




The cooling slot made it look aggressive....for the tactical push knife that needs to fly below radar.
Anyway, it reminded me of the woody woodpecker/racing logo. It'd be fun to implement that somehow - probably won't do it though.

 

[soundmind]

I have to figure out how to forge the shape.

I have a blacksmithing book that had just a couple similar shapes but didn't really have the answer. The shapes were for tools made of thicker steel.

The only idea I have is to cut a rectangular portion out of the lower corner of a peice of bar, forge a split stright down in the corner of that cut to make both the heel, ricasso area, and tang. Then make the point after that, because I think I need to keep the front flat in order to make the first split. After making the point, then finish up the belly and line up the tang.

Idk, any takers?

 

[KenH]

Here's one I made a few yr ago for a guy - I'd never seen anything like it before until he brought a photo showing what he wanted. This isn't exactly what ya'll are showing, but along the same lines. AEB-L with Snakewood handle.

 

[Sean Jones]

I wondered how I could combine the comfortable knife I had with some nicer flowing design elements.

I couldn't really see what angle the handle needed to be in relation to the edge in order to keep it comfortable and, also, more versatile.

I like the relieved bevel behind the edge of this one. It looks like it's hollow ground anyway.

Also from this knife I learned that one of the basic concepts of a push knife is you can push the heel (in this case) like you would drag a point on say a kitchen knife. So I seen that it's good to make the handle height in relation to doing that, so you don't drag your knuckles.

I had only thought the belly of the blade was the main area of contact. What to do with everything above it, I don't know. The knife you made makes a lot of sense Bob. To me anyway.
View attachment 82381

My understanding of having two ends is when one becomes dull you can switch to the other side and continue your work before you have to stop to sharpen. That's how I've used mine anyway. The belly of the blade I use mostly for skiving, though it can certainly be used for cutting as well.

 

[soundmind]

Forged to shape. It was a challenge.

I started out trying to split a 1" wide bar to begin with making the heel. The split went ok, but I got lost in the process of making the rest.

So I switched to a pretty liberal preform cut out of 2" x 1/4" 1075. I hooked a corner I had in the ricasso area and heel area into the corner of the anvil and hit the tip in an attempt to shape the heel. Then I curved the edge and spine and forged the bevels. Next I drew out steel for the tang, then bent the tang back/up in a vise. Doing that I lost some of the shape between the heel and ricasso, but did succeed in rounding out what was a sharp corner.



I'm going to go with something close to what I have drawn. I asked our friends about it and they said they liked the trailing point.
I left a lot of steel in the profile. I think I should heat treat a simple shape and grind in the details.

 

[soundmind]

I after this I found lots of info on you tube if interested. A search for head knife or round knife yielded a lot of results with more trails to follow.

 

[soundmind]

This is the one I gave them. I ended up having fun with it. They were happy with it.
The edge is hardened and I barely pulled off a bolster slot under 50 thou. Lucky shot.

 

[soundmind]

Been doin' lots of other stuff but managed to also get a leather knife made for myself alomg with that other one for our frend. I needed a couple days to recoup after agitating the nerves in my lower back again and finished up a sheath for it too. Excuses...excuses...

This is birch burl I had stabilized and a serpentine stone pin I kept from another project. Turned out to be exactly .156 on each end and just a little thicker in the middle. Aluminum Oxide will grind it. I made a lanyard tube out of jade green G-10 1/4 pinstock. It is a very close match.
Here is a better shot of the handle. The sheath is some canvas I saved lined with lightweight leather.

Thanks again for the input fellas

 

[soundmind]

BTW I'm very happy to have one now. This cuts like a charm. Here is a link to the video that helped me understand what it was for.

at about 3:45

 

[Edwardshandmadeknives]

Sort of similar.

 

[soundmind]

Yeah I saw you cut your finger on your bandsaw making that. When I saw that photo I thought it was going to be from the round edge. I know making mine was scary - trying to figure out which way to grind, sand, and finish.

What kind of steel did you use for your ulu?