Designer's block.

Guindesigns

Guindesigns

Well-Known Member
I've notice a weird thing I have a problem with. Designing handles. the part of the knife that connect it with the user and I cannot seem to draw a good handle to save my life. I'm alright designing the blade and what not but the handle is were I loose it all. Helpppp!!!!!!!
-Youngpup
 
find a knife with good handle and start from there. i like a handle that is straight top and bottom with width that tapers to the rear and front. made a mockup knife from basic steel then add wood and start shaping.
 
commit to drawing 1 complete knife a day for 30 days. Pick a different style knife each time.
Sounds really simple but it won't be.
start your own knife sketch book and keep it for reference. Find paper that has 1/4" grid outlines. The grid lines help with size/scale.
The average handle is around 4.5" - 4.75" long and 1"- 1.25" wide.
Copy classic knife designs when sketching. There is a reason some designs are classic.
pay attention to pin placement and size.
draw some with and with out bolsters.
I bet doing this simple exercise will push you through it.
 
It depends on what type of knife you are looking to make as to the handle design. For a kitchen knife the grip will be almost always either a pinch grip or a light full handed grip that will influence your design and as Scott says find a knife that works well fr you and go from there. On a hunting knife it will depend on the type of hunting knife as to whether it will need to be used in both the blade up and blade down position and for a skinning knife where it is used for flaying as well as blade up and blade down there are more aspects to consider.
 
Tracey has the right idea using the graph paper. When you get done it easy to take it to the metal cause you have all the kinks worked out. If it don't look right to your eye, no one is gonna convince you it is something you wanna build!!
 
not to be a skeptic, but a drawn handle is a drawing. get some basic wood, pine or poplar would be fine. get a ready made blade, BossDog sells 'em, or a scrap steel mockup and make an oversize handle from pine or poplar. shape with wood rasp, hand sanding, disc grinder, and belt grinder.. to shape a handle i use all four in addition to a dremel clone with sanding drums or carbide bits. you can find a combination of length, width, height, taper, and roundness(?) so the knife disappears in your hand. friends were skeptical until they handled a knife i was happy with and found "Their spot" where all they were aware of was the blade between their fingers. I am right handed and find a combination of a fairly flat left side and a rounded right side fits my hands best. all edges must be rounded, the butt tapered slightly and rounded, the front tapers to with 1/8" or so from the blade.
 
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Great advice so far. I had exactly this problem when I began. I struggled with handles so bad. The conclusion that I came to was that the handle is really where the design begins, and the handle has to be right for the knife. Obviously you don't put a Bowie handle on a kitchen knife.

I really like Tracy's idea, and to take it one step farther- pick ONE style per day. Start with google images and look at knives of that style. Spend thirty minutes looking at the handle shapes and the contours, or lack thereof. Pretty soon you'll find that there is a style that speaks to you because your eye will keep landing on knives that have that similar look. Copy that handle and draw it on graph paper. Begin with your length. I suggest 4-3/4 inches on the finger side to make sure a guy with meaty mitts can hold the knife. If the handle ends up with swoopy lines and curves and the butt drops, whatever, make sure there is 4-3/4 inches of room for your four fingers. All the swoops and curves on the back side makes the total length whatever that turns out to be. In other words, don't assume you're starting out with a 4-3/4" block of wood and then try to shoehorn your design into that dimension.

Once you have a handle you like, the blade will grow out of the handle all by itself. The lines should flow. If you base your lines off the handle the overall knife will almost always look right.
 
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