Come on dogs lets chat.

Guindesigns

Guindesigns

Well-Known Member
ok i was working of my shop(trying to get the power up and finshed so i can start making knives at my own house) i got a thought i always wil get a great idea for a knife but as soon as i go to draw it for even sketch it i mess it up. so my question for young and old dogs alike is how do you come around to making a design for a knife and how do u get it from ur mind to the paper.

-Young Pup
 
I have a cad program that I use to create my designs. When I have the design I like, I print it at 1:1 scale. I then cut it out and glue it to a piece of mild steel. I then cut out the patter and smooth the pattern. At that point I can determine if I like the pattern or if I want to make changes. It may sound funny, but there are times that a design looks good on paper but not good once it is cut out of steel. There are also times when the design looks good until you hold it and then it just feels wrong.

I use my hard patterns over and over. I simply coat my blade steel with layout fluid, lay the pattern on top, and scribe around the pattern. When I cut the blade out I stay outside of the lines. When I grind the profile I grind until the line disappears. It works for me.

You can use a variety of materials to make hard patterns. I use mild steel because I can get it relatively easy.

I'm curious how others do theirs....
 
I have just started sketching my handles to try to get them to come out looking better but I have a problem that I'm challenged with sketching stick figures. I rely on graph paper and French curves and keep fussing with it until it looks right. As far as knife blades are concerned, they go from a picture in my mind to the steel but that's probably easier to do as a smith.

Doug
 
This is probably the only time anyone will get worthwhile advice from me about knifery. Drawing patterns is the one thing I reckon I'm good at. I start off by thinking up a knife and then I usually sit for ten to fifteen minutes trying to imagine every single detail of the knife, I then imagine using the knife and think about how comfortable I think it will be.
I then look at a bunch of pictures of knives used for the same task, just scroll through them, to help picture good starting points.
I do a very rough sketch on paper lightly with a pencil. No matter how rough it is or how bad the sketch looks at this point I always finish the first sketch.
I step back and look at all the things which look like they would be noticed by a non knife person in comparison to my original idea. I gradually morph my first sketch to look close enough to my idea. I cut it out when it doesn't look awful and test the size and what not in my hand.
I draw round it onto card and tweak my design until it looks right and I repeat the cutting and drawing on card method until I am happy with the design, fits perfectly (not "close enough") and looks good. It has taken me weeks to get a particular pattern designed but it gets quicker after a few designs. I usually end up with something that wasn't the one in my head at all though. I use card for my patterns because I don't have any acrylic yet.
I think that's about all I have to say about that.
 
For years I played with French curves on paper and I have a couple of artist pads books filled with drawings & such.

The process I use that has led to all of my successful knife pattern's is I have a vision of a knife pattern in my mind's eye, I grab a bar of steel in about the dimensions of the knife I wish to make, then I start grinding.

The pattern is in the steel and the finer points of the design discloses themselves further to me as I grind.

When I get the pattern ground out, I then make another one, then finish the first one. After I have tested it till I am happy I then trace out the pattern and have blanks water jet cut and then heat treated so I have them on hand and ready for when I sell one, Then I make two. One for the customer and one for inventory.

This is the short version but I think you can get the idea.
There is no wrong or right way to do this, find what works for you?

Cheers.

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com
 
I generally pick a part of the knife as a starting point handle, finger choil, ricaso, etc. Then start drawing it on my pad. Once I have what I want, I make a wooden one to see how it feels. If I need to modify it, I do it to the wooden one.

I have a bucket full of rejects for the grandkids to play with. Other times I just grab a piece of steel and start forging. They are one of a kind custom forged knives. LOL

In my intro class at Haywood Jason Knight, MS sad to us "if you can draw the knife in your mind on paper you will make great knives" or something along those lines. In 17 months I have about 20 note pads full of knives the first 6 of them are worthless, the next 10 are about 25% viewable, the last 4 have about 75% good ideas (starting points). My current pad has 14 pages worth of drawings to date, 11 pages are good.

I have forged about 60 knives to date, Number 60 is the best one yet. I was having lunch and drew it on a paper towel in the dinner. Got home and transfered my design to 5 gallon size paint stiring stick, grabed a Heller Rasp I just gotten, triple anealed it and then started forging the shape, finger groove gills, & bevels, in the end my 2013 Neo-Tribal KITH knife was born.

I draw at least 10 knives, 5 days a week. Good relaxation and it works for me.
 
Yes in referring to the designbof my knife. Idk I have it like I want it start grinding and BAM i end not likeing it so I change it.
-Young Pup.
 
Guindesigns said:
Yes in referring to the designbof my knife. Idk I have it like I want it start grinding and BAM i end not likeing it so I change it.
-Young Pup.
Click to expand...

That is OK! Most successful designs of any kind go through sometimes a few, sometimes several changes before the end result is realized.

For mr personally the act of grinding brings in new ideas as I work.

The great sculptor Michealangello Spelling? Said when he started carving his statue of David,
That David was already there in the stone, he just had to take away everything that wasn't him.

My process can work kind of like that to some degree.

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com
 
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