Post here for design critique.

Ty Adams said:
I like the way it looks, simple and clean. The hump for the finger choil might push your fingers back towards the heel some, making the handle feel shorter then it is. Make a template and see how it feels. Some times it looks good on paper but in real life it is uncomfortable.
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Here's one I designed had approval from the customer. We were both excited. I made a template, and it was just to uncomfortable in the hand to proceed.
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Overll that is a good blade design with the handle only needing the bottom lone altered to make that a very usable knife. Take the "peak" out of the underside and replace it with a light convex curve and you will be surprised at how much that changes the feel in hand. Lay your hand flat on the table and look at the curve that shows the differing lengths of your main finger joint (first joint) and use this curve as a guide for the handle underside as that is the griping shape your hand makes.
 
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Ok I am interested on mainly the blade shape on this one for now it still needs work. Does it look like a drop point to y’all? I have a family member that wants a 6” (I don’t know why so long.) drop point knife. Normally I would wait till my skill Level was better but he’s not expected to make it much longer so I’m trying to get him a knife pretty quickly.

Blade length 6”

Handle length 41/2” (It will probably end up longer as he has huge hands.)

Blade width is about 1 1/4

Will be maple burl handle.

1075 steel

Mosaic pins.
 
Yes that is a drop point Daniel. Having a drop point is generally to facilitate the skinning of animal so there is more to the design than just the spine curve.
What is the purpose of the knife you have drawn
 
Justin W. said:
I just got a CAD program to start getting a bit more precise on my designs but now I just have to figure out how in the heck I'm supposed to use it lol
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Justin, I don't know what program you have, but Mike Stewart, EKIM Knives, has a tutorial on using DraftSight that is over an hour long. It will give you much of the basics for using it. That said, I also agree with Ted that having a sketch of what you want to accomplish in CAD is so beneficial prior to using it.
 
Von Gruff said:
Yes that is a drop point Daniel. Having a drop point is generally to facilitate the skinning of animal so there is more to the design than just the spine curve.
What is the purpose of the knife you have drawn
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I have asked him what the knife would be used for and all he will tell me is he wants a 6” drop point. 6” to me is to long to be a comfortable skinner. I like something pretty small so I can get in the tight spaces. Since he hasn’t given very much info I will just design it as a drop point skinner. I am not happy with the profile at all looking at it this morning so I will keep working on it and update when I get closer.
 
J. Doyle said:
Daniel, draw it with a little less belly and a little more point and see what it looks like.
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That was going to be my next question John as if it is to be used as a skinner the belly is too square off the point. Follow the line of the spine forward to the edge of the pic and then have a gentler start on the curve coming back to where the actual belly is marked in here. That will allow for the slicing that happens when opening up down a leg or belly of an animal and still have the flaying ability for skinning the rest of the animal.(of course you would have to bring the length bat=k to your 6 inch needs then)Untitled.png
 
Smallshop said:
Daniel...why don't you just make the Bowie you know is brewing inside you...lol!!
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You must be a mind reader! I’ve wanted to do one for so long. Op’s Thread lit the fire again. I have a special plan for one but I’m not quite capable of pulling it off yet. Soon……
 
That looks great @Ty Adams! Definitely a lot longer then I personally like but I want to make this guy exactly what he wants. Worked on my design tonight. Still not quite where I want it. I will keep working on it and post when I get it! I’m going crazy without my grinder. I’ve been at this about two years and probably only 2 1/2 - 3 months have I actually been able to work on knives. The rest has been buying/building equipment. And the knives I have worked on have been ground to thin because I wasn’t used to the 2x72. I have learned a ton from y’all though and I really do appreciate it.
 
Daniel Macina said:
That looks great @Ty Adams! Definitely a lot longer then I personally like but I want to make this guy exactly what he wants. Worked on my design tonight. Still not quite where I want it. I will keep working on it and post when I get it! I’m going crazy without my grinder. I’ve been at this about two years and probably only 2 1/2 - 3 months have I actually been able to work on knives. The rest has been buying/building equipment. And the knives I have worked on have been ground to thin because I wasn’t used to the 2x72. I have learned a ton from y’all though and I really do appreciate it.
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I don't envy you. Still looking forward to seeing what you come up with!
 
It will be one my first project once I get my grinder running next month. I will post pictures even if it looks terrible. I’m learning (slowly) that I need to post pictures of my work no matter if it’s good or bad.
 
Daniel Macina said:
That looks great @Ty Adams! Definitely a lot longer then I personally like but I want to make this guy exactly what he wants. Worked on my design tonight. Still not quite where I want it. I will keep working on it and post when I get it! I’m going crazy without my grinder. I’ve been at this about two years and probably only 2 1/2 - 3 months have I actually been able to work on knives. The rest has been buying/building equipment. And the knives I have worked on have been ground to thin because I wasn’t used to the 2x72. I have learned a ton from y’all though and I really do appreciate it.
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Daniel I've been in the same boat; not a lot of time working on knives but spending time (and money) getting things ready. I sometimes think the getting ready part is slowing me down and I should just jump in. However it seems like when I just jump in I end up with shoddy work that I'm embarrassed to admit is mine.

I've been re-miss in posting photos of what I'm doing as well. I'm in agreement that I should post what I have, so I can learn faster.
 
Having a community of knifemakers to assist with critique is a valuable asset for new and improving makers so make the most of it being available. I was self taught through experience but would have jumped at the opportunity to learn from those who had mastered the craft
 
It is terribly difficult to design a knife around a six inch blade without it looking like a short sword. This is that “special-use knife” area where culinary knives, pig stickers and fighting knives live.

Sometimes it’s worth drawing up your best effort and then submitting the drawing to the customer along with a second drawing of a similar knife with more aesthetic and useful dimensions and see if the customer doesn’t abandon his fixation on blade length.

Sometimes the customer wants what he wants, but oftentimes is working from an idea that he isn’t actually married to. We makers confront this regularly with our own designs. What we thought was a great idea (and even looks great on paper) doesn’t actually pan out when we make a template and hold it. We hit this wall all the time, so we ought to expect customers to get lost down the same blind alleys, and sometimes we can lead them into the light.
 
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