Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2008 14:11:59 GMT
Hi:
Ive always wanted to make blades, and finally dove into it head first early this year.
"Perfect execution requires perfect planning" - This would sum up my learning this year quite nicely.
What are some elements of proper knife design? I am finding the design aspect to quite difficult.... for some reason it never dawned on me that to build blades... I would need ideas for blades.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2008 21:30:45 GMT
I was making skinners and Bowes, right now I'm making Norse Seaxes, find what makes you go Oooohh, and go from there....SanMarc.
|
|
|
Post by Matt993f.o.d on Nov 27, 2008 21:58:10 GMT
Get some books. "Custom Knifemaking" by Tim Mc'Creight is a great place to start. It has ten projects, from a kitchen paring knife, through folding knives all the way to a Damascus steel dagger. Great book. Covers the basics real well.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2008 20:28:29 GMT
Both Marc and Matt have given excellent advice.
Here's my spin =).
Follow the above...and then make a knife. Carry it around while in the process of making it. Feel how it balances and such. After you put your handle on it...see how it feels in your hand. If it's tip heavy in a negative way, adjust the distal taper, make the tang wider or thicker. If it's butt heavy, drill some small holes in the tang (make sure to chamfer them) until it balances the way you like it. For the actual design aspects...browse the internet. I've got a HUGE file of blades (both swords and knives) that are inspirational to me.
A few points to keep in mind....
Knives cut things. They should have a relatively thin cross section. 1/4" is WAY too thick. 1/8" is far more realistic...but is more in line with a good chopper (that doesn't have to pass through its own cut). Thinner is often better for knives, and blades in general to be honest...but requires more skill. Matt's book should help you out with that. If you think it's just a hair too thin lol, it's probably just right =).
Hope that helps!!
Cris
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2008 15:17:16 GMT
Thanks, Excellent advice from all. I will purchase the book suggested.
Ive also been able to find some inspiration browsing Jay Fishers site, as well as the Lloyd Harding tribute page.
Ive been working on the "thinner is better" aspect as well. I have been very suprised at how thin I can take 01 with no heat treat problems.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2008 3:07:46 GMT
I went for an all out compromise between as many aspects as possible with this knife. Bowie knives in my opinion should represent the ultimate in a general purpose knife. As one chap on IFI said, you should be able to hunt with it, fight with it, skin with it, do camping chores with it and so on. A bowie knife should be all things to all [frontiers] men. That is why I chose these characteristics. It is 6" long, as a compromise between a fighting knife and a camp knife. It is DH, to give a balance of flexibility and edge retaining prowess. It has distal taper, to keep it from being overly heavy. I chose a 25 degree edge to keep it sharp feeling but strong. Do you think I have been successful to any extent? Have I made the right choices here, or am I barking up the wrong tree? The keyword is "compromise", When you compromise one thing to gain in another, you have to remember that the original idea is compromised. A knife that does everything will never do everything the best it can, it will always be a compromise at what it can do. A knife that is a keen slicer will chop but it won't hold up for long, a knife that is a chopper will not slice well at all. Heat treat for one will not be the same for the other. So when trying to engineer a do it all knife, you end up with a knife that does it all, but does none well. You might be saying, "then if I made a knife to do one thing and do it the best, I would end up carrying 1000s of knives right?!?!?!". No, you would carry whatever knife you needed to do whatever job you are doing. If you will be hacking a path through thick brush you will bring a chopper, however if you will also be hunting you will also bring your skinner. 2 knives, doesn't sound too bad, and both will do what they do best. Going to be in a rough part of town, then of course you will bring a fighter, but you will leave the chopper and skinner at home as they will be of no use. If you look back into history you will see this, and even if you look into modern day you will see it as well. Look at a butcher shop or kitchen, the chef or butcher will often have a wide array of knives, from cleaver to paring, each has they're own job and place in the chef/butcher's arsenal, you would not peel an orange with a cleaver nor would you split bones with a paring knife. As far as bowies are concerned, the view of the do all knife is also flawed. Looking back into history again or into modern design, you will see fighting bowies with thin centered points, heavy belly thick spined choppers, and slick curved skinners all fall under the "bowie" category. I applaud the effort to make a knife that will do all things good, it is very challenging to try and wring the best performance in every aspect a knife may be asked to do! I think you have been successful in what you started out to do. There are many points of view and opinions as to what makes a knife a knife and what makes a good knife a good knife, I am just offering mine. I tried to make knives that would do everything and got frustrated when they would not do everything as good as I wanted them to, but then was given similar advice (thanks Kevin) and now make a knife with the singular intended purpose and to be designed to do that one thing the best it can and came to an epiphany .
|
|