My new design

[pvtcamo]

This is my first knife design. I was thinkin': "What if I can carry only one knife with me in the woods? What size/shape would it be?"

This is my hybrid of Tom Brown's Tracker and old Nessie (Nessmuk's knife).

What do y'all think?



P.S. I'm not a maker, 'cause I can't get a hold of some steel, and I don't have a forge, so If anyone wants to make this one for me - let me know. uppy_dog

 

[C_Claycomb]

I think that the handle has too much drop towards the butt. You want to be able to chop with this, so you need to be able to move your hand right out to the end of the handle, and not have it slip off. Also, if you had less drop on the butt, you could arrange it so that more of your fingers are above the cutting edge, think of using the knife on a chopping block or board.

I think that the hole in the blade might be a bad idea. It will weaken the blade right where you want strenght for chopping/prying, which is what a bigger knife is going to get used for. Positioning finger holes like that can be tricky, get it wrong and you simply get your finger chewed up.

My experience has been that you want the handle coming as close to the cutting edge as possible so that you can get as much mechanical advantage as you can when carving feather sticks and the like. Unsharpened ricassos are not bad for field dressing game, but I am less fond of them when wood work is the primary function. Even a thick blade isn't as wide as a narrow handle and can't spread the load to your hand as effectively during hard carving.

I like to have my handle slabs 4.5-5 inches long, 4.75 seems to be what I use most often.

Bear in mind, mating successful designs does not guarantee that the offspring will work as well I have made knives with inspiration from multiple sources, all the features were great in their original form, but when put together for a bushcraft knife it was dreadful Blades, handles, and purposes all have to be worked out in concert if the finished knife is to perform how you want. Generally, keeping things simple is better than trying to make something do too many jobs.

 

[pvtcamo]

First of all... Thanks for watchin' and for advice! I appreciate it.

About the handle: you are supposed to hold it in such a way that everything below the middle pin is outside of your grip. That is, the curvey part of the handle. If you wanna chop with the knife you slide your hand downward, and hold it with 3 fingers only (I would use lanyard to compensate for missing grip). That way you would get the blade line below your fingers (similar to khukri design) - I think.

A admit, the finger hole was a STUPID idea. Thanks for helpin' me see it. If the hole goes, the handle starts somewhere at the middle of the hole (where my initials are). That gets your hand closer to the blade, which makes you control the knife better when carving.

Maybe I should make more pics, to show what I mean by the above?!

BTW, the knife would be 3mm thick, carbon steel.

 

[Shinken]

I normally like my knives relitivly thin, but on a knife with a full flat or hollow grind i think it will be too thin, especially a big knife

 

[Squidders]

I personally hate handles which are too curved as they prevent you from turning the knive and using a pulling cut which is both safe and very strong.

 

[Matt Weir]

I cannae see owt?

 

[Nightwalker]

You can be a maker! Steel isnt that hard to get and you can make your own forge! Checkout the homemade forge I made here!
I just made my first knife, check out some designs and photos here.

 

[C_Claycomb]

I did wonder if that was the purpose of that curved down butt. Looking at it, I would expect that the knife would tend to try to rotate out of your hand if you had it in that shape. A khukri handle flares at the butt, as do the handles of all the good chopping tools that I have handled or seen.

I hadn't realised that the finger hole was the permanent place that you would put your index finger, I thought it was just there for choking up on the blade. Much better to lose it I think.

3mm seems a bit thin to me. It would be better if you could get imperial size stock 1/8th (3.175mm). I would probably go for 4mm and thin the bits that I didn't want to be that thick. I have a 5/32 thick x 5" long bladed knife with a blade of about 1.125" deep and it is no where near heavy enough to chop. It can just about snap cut if I move my hand down the handle and add some of the handle weight to the action.

I wonder what a reverse "distal" taper would be like on that...

 

[pvtcamo]

I have a 5/32 thick x 5" long bladed knife with a blade of about 1.125" deep and it is no where near heavy enough to chop. It can just about snap cut if I move my hand down the handle and add some of the handle weight to the action.

I wonder what a reverse "distal" taper would be like on that...

How 'bout a pic of the one you've mentioned???

And, I'm not sure I know what you mean by a "reverse 'distal' "... (I'm a newbie)

 

[C_Claycomb]

Distal taper is when the thickness of the blade tapers towards the tip. It can start right at the handle transition, at the ricasso, or further down the blade. The purpose is to reduce the weight of the blade, improve balance and to improve edge geometry near the tip.

Reversing it means that the thickest part of the blade is right where the curve of the belly runs into the straight portion of the blade. Another way would be doing a modified Michael Price grind to move weight forward to improve chopping ability for a given blade length.

(http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=285180)

My knife is NOTHING to look at. It is a beater knife which I rather regret to say I used some nice wood on. The blade was vinegar dunked and the kydex sheath has scuffed it, but it is the same length as the knife in your picture, give or take 1/4 inch.

If you are looking for a one-knife-to-do-everything, I would think you would want more weight. Making your design in 4mm stock would give just that bit more heft.

 

[pvtcamo]

Thanks for the info.

I feel stupid. Now I know how much I don't know...

Your knife looks GREAT to me, but than again - I'm an amateur...