Dana Acker
Well-Known Member
What elements do you think go into making a good knife?
Now wait and think a moment before you answer. Obvious things, like appropriate steel selection, adequate craftsmanship, proper heat treatment--hard edge, springy back, aesthetics, balance, etc. are all givens, and do not count for this discussion since they are so obvious. For without all of the above what do you really have?
No, I'd like to know what features you think should be built in to a knife, or more particularly a type of knife that makes it that good type of knife--or a functional knife, or whatever, and most importantly, why? What features do you build into a working knife to make it a good working knife in your opinion? Or a combat knife? A tactical knife? A hunting knife? Art knife?
Here's an example from my own knife philosophy. I've made a lot of working knives of all sizes and descriptions. Two things I feel that are needed on a knife a person might be using every day, are some form of guard (whether it be an added guard of brass, copper, SS steel, wrought iron etc., or an integral finger stop, either forged or cut into the blade) to keep the hand from sliding forward on the blade. Also I like a longer ricasso area, and either cut jimping or file work on the spine of the blade as a thumb grip, for working forward of the guard area--ie., for choking up on the knife for better control when doing precise work. Slicing four of your fingers to the bone while in the field can ruin your day...especially if you're not adept at suturing.
So design and function have evolved into important parts of my knifemaking. Certain ideas that I incorporated into many of my blades are to me, of such importance, that I've either not finished older blades that I had started, or, refused to sell or give away blades that didn't have those features if said features couldn't be retrofitted into the knife.
I once got to work with a Captain in the Green Berets, who was interested in designing into a knife those features he thought to be the most essential set of characteristics needed for a good field/combat knife. He was a person for whom a knife was not a luxury. It was a constant companion/tool/weapon. We talked for better than a month before we decided on a prototype. I built the prototype which he used and evaluated, then sent the knife to his knife fighting instructor who had trained troops in knife use in Viet Nam. He offered some changes, which I incorporated into the 2nd and 3rd ones I produced for him (more on this later). But that exercise really made me think about what features are necessary to make knives be the best they can be. Until that time, I just sort of fired up the forge and made whatever....not really thinking about whether or not the knife was all that it could be.
Captain Knight felt that the perfect combat/field knife should contain the following:
1) Double/cross guard
2) Finger groove forward of the guard (for choking-up)
3) Roughed area exposed at the pommel for striking matches.
4) Two finger grooves on the handle itself (behind the guard) in case if in a fight he lost his index finger, it left him an extra groove to keep hold of the knife. (Who thinks of stuff like that?)
5) Partially serrated bottom edge, and a long, sharpened false edge.
6) Micarta or other comparable synthetic handle material for wet conditions.
These are the things that readily come to mind from the talks we had. As of our last conversation (which was several several years back), he told me he was being transferred to an unnamed government agency. It pays to know and keep happy people who can call in an air strike. Just sayin'....
Another fellow who was an elk hunter, and hunted frequently in Wyoming, ordered a knife with a bent blade...I kid you not. When he placed his order I thought he was fooling with me. But he insisted. When questioned as to why he wanted me to put a bend in a perfectly good knife, he told me it would make it easier to field dress a full grown elk. So I forged him a knife, and, if you were holding the knife in your hand and were looking down on the spine of the knife (which had a 6" long by 2" wide by 1/4" thick blade with a gut hook) right where the blade started to slant toward the gut hook, I put a significant bend or sideways curve to the right. He said when the elk was hanging up, he would pierce the carcass just below the neck, and as he cut to the right going completely around the underbelly of the animal back up to where he pierced it, a curved (bent) knife would cut better than a straight blade. Anyway I made it for him and delivered it with gritted teeth, because my name was on a bent knife. Grrrrrrrr. Also I charged him over twice what I would have charged for the same knife with a straight blade.
Long story short, he called me up after returning from the hunt, and told me it was the best knife he ever used to field dress an elk. I've never field dressed an elk, so I had to take his word for it. But he was so enamored with that knife, he had me make two more exactly like it for some of his hunting buddies. I wish I could post a photo of it, but this was back before digital photography days, and all I have left are old real film photos, that wouldn't scan well....
...which leads me to another philosophical point I've adopted. Both Capt. Knight's knife and the prototype bent knife each pleased their owners so much that they ordered two exact duplicates, which were to be identical to their prototypes. The money was good, but I learned quickly that it is extremely difficult to make three knives exactly alike in every detail with a hammer. I learned my lesson, and I make no duplicates any more. Similar, yes, to a degree, but an exact copy? Not this old boy.
OK enough about me; remember, this is supposed to be a "make you think" exercise, and not intended to be a debate. There's really no right or wrong answer (except for bent blades perhaps
)--it's strictly personal, and a matter of the maker's taste. But hopefully there will be some ideas posted that will make us all think and perhaps be able to incorporate better ideas into our knifemaking, which could make us better at what we do, and help us to make a better product. That's what this is all about. Sharp and pointy are good, but there's more.
So what's your philosophy? Make sure you list along with your ideas, what type of knife to which they apply.
Now wait and think a moment before you answer. Obvious things, like appropriate steel selection, adequate craftsmanship, proper heat treatment--hard edge, springy back, aesthetics, balance, etc. are all givens, and do not count for this discussion since they are so obvious. For without all of the above what do you really have?
No, I'd like to know what features you think should be built in to a knife, or more particularly a type of knife that makes it that good type of knife--or a functional knife, or whatever, and most importantly, why? What features do you build into a working knife to make it a good working knife in your opinion? Or a combat knife? A tactical knife? A hunting knife? Art knife?
Here's an example from my own knife philosophy. I've made a lot of working knives of all sizes and descriptions. Two things I feel that are needed on a knife a person might be using every day, are some form of guard (whether it be an added guard of brass, copper, SS steel, wrought iron etc., or an integral finger stop, either forged or cut into the blade) to keep the hand from sliding forward on the blade. Also I like a longer ricasso area, and either cut jimping or file work on the spine of the blade as a thumb grip, for working forward of the guard area--ie., for choking up on the knife for better control when doing precise work. Slicing four of your fingers to the bone while in the field can ruin your day...especially if you're not adept at suturing.
So design and function have evolved into important parts of my knifemaking. Certain ideas that I incorporated into many of my blades are to me, of such importance, that I've either not finished older blades that I had started, or, refused to sell or give away blades that didn't have those features if said features couldn't be retrofitted into the knife.
I once got to work with a Captain in the Green Berets, who was interested in designing into a knife those features he thought to be the most essential set of characteristics needed for a good field/combat knife. He was a person for whom a knife was not a luxury. It was a constant companion/tool/weapon. We talked for better than a month before we decided on a prototype. I built the prototype which he used and evaluated, then sent the knife to his knife fighting instructor who had trained troops in knife use in Viet Nam. He offered some changes, which I incorporated into the 2nd and 3rd ones I produced for him (more on this later). But that exercise really made me think about what features are necessary to make knives be the best they can be. Until that time, I just sort of fired up the forge and made whatever....not really thinking about whether or not the knife was all that it could be.
Captain Knight felt that the perfect combat/field knife should contain the following:
1) Double/cross guard
2) Finger groove forward of the guard (for choking-up)
3) Roughed area exposed at the pommel for striking matches.
4) Two finger grooves on the handle itself (behind the guard) in case if in a fight he lost his index finger, it left him an extra groove to keep hold of the knife. (Who thinks of stuff like that?)
5) Partially serrated bottom edge, and a long, sharpened false edge.
6) Micarta or other comparable synthetic handle material for wet conditions.
These are the things that readily come to mind from the talks we had. As of our last conversation (which was several several years back), he told me he was being transferred to an unnamed government agency. It pays to know and keep happy people who can call in an air strike. Just sayin'....
Another fellow who was an elk hunter, and hunted frequently in Wyoming, ordered a knife with a bent blade...I kid you not. When he placed his order I thought he was fooling with me. But he insisted. When questioned as to why he wanted me to put a bend in a perfectly good knife, he told me it would make it easier to field dress a full grown elk. So I forged him a knife, and, if you were holding the knife in your hand and were looking down on the spine of the knife (which had a 6" long by 2" wide by 1/4" thick blade with a gut hook) right where the blade started to slant toward the gut hook, I put a significant bend or sideways curve to the right. He said when the elk was hanging up, he would pierce the carcass just below the neck, and as he cut to the right going completely around the underbelly of the animal back up to where he pierced it, a curved (bent) knife would cut better than a straight blade. Anyway I made it for him and delivered it with gritted teeth, because my name was on a bent knife. Grrrrrrrr. Also I charged him over twice what I would have charged for the same knife with a straight blade.
Long story short, he called me up after returning from the hunt, and told me it was the best knife he ever used to field dress an elk. I've never field dressed an elk, so I had to take his word for it. But he was so enamored with that knife, he had me make two more exactly like it for some of his hunting buddies. I wish I could post a photo of it, but this was back before digital photography days, and all I have left are old real film photos, that wouldn't scan well....
...which leads me to another philosophical point I've adopted. Both Capt. Knight's knife and the prototype bent knife each pleased their owners so much that they ordered two exact duplicates, which were to be identical to their prototypes. The money was good, but I learned quickly that it is extremely difficult to make three knives exactly alike in every detail with a hammer. I learned my lesson, and I make no duplicates any more. Similar, yes, to a degree, but an exact copy? Not this old boy.
OK enough about me; remember, this is supposed to be a "make you think" exercise, and not intended to be a debate. There's really no right or wrong answer (except for bent blades perhaps
So what's your philosophy? Make sure you list along with your ideas, what type of knife to which they apply.