Design Principles & Philosophy

Having studied design at an art college puts me in a unique position in the knife world. I was taught to first copy the work of the masters before I ventured into my own designs. This has proved to be valuable training, regardless of profession. Knifemaking is, indeed, an artistic venture. I view it that way, and hopefully you do too.

Design, for me, is a journey. You start at the beginning with a rough idea of where you want to end up. Along the way, you encounter various challenges and adventures. In the end, you are satisfied with your accomplishment, wiser for having met the obstacles, and hopefully (though exhausted), you are filled with enthusiasm for the next adventure.

I am often filled with various, sometimes conflicting emotions upon completing a knife. Sometimes, I just feel lucky to have finished it at all. Other times it a breeze and I am stunned by my own craft. Either way, it is valuable time for me and well spent.

Many cultures throughout history have used numbers (and their relative proportions) to create design principles. One example is the Golden Section. Another is simply the number "3". These ennumerations hold no mystical value for me - they are just good ways of organizing your thoughts and executing beautiful designs. There is not enough space here to get into all of them; suffice it to say, I do use them in every knife design. (If you are curious about your order, or have a special request, I will gladly oblige.)

That said, there are a few basic principles I try to stick to in every knife. They are:

Proportion, Tapering, Balance, Curvilinear, Clean Lines, Simplicity

A properly proportioned knife design is easy to spot. It looks good and feels good. The handle fits, the blade is not too long or wide, nor is it too heavy. There are many factors in considering proportion in three dimensions. It is not something you just draw on paper. It is carefully considered throughout the entire process, from paper to grinding to handle fitting to the completed knife. There are constant adjustments - additions/subtractions - in order to achieve and maintain proper proportion. The subject is one that can be taught, but is only mastered through years of experience.

Knives are not merely sharpened bars of steel. They should have some taper in the blade and tang. There are many good reasons for tapering a blade - balance, penetration, toughness, lighter knife, and so on.

I believe a good knife should be well balanced. For a fighter/hunter/skinner, the balance should be between the guard and first finger - it should feel light in the hand, regardless of length. A chopping knife should be weighted more forward, the balance lying at least 1/2" in front of the guard. A carving knife should have the balance deep in the middle of the palm. There are many ways to achieve good balance - fullering and/or tapering the blade/tang; adding swell in the palm or butt of the handle, to name a few. Just requires a little thought-in-advance.

Humans don't have squared-off corners, and neither should knives. They should fill the hand with gentle contours. The blades should sweep and arc. A gentle curve is relaxing and beautiful. It does require extra work and attention to detail. However it is worth it for you and for me. A knife with curves is stunning from any angle, any view.

The ABS (American Bladesmith Society) lists one of the skills of a good bladesmith being the execution of clean lines. This means no stutters, uneven edges, lopsided grinds, bumps in the handles, etc. But I like to take it farther. It also means this = the longer the line, the better. Why all this talk of lines? Because when you look at a knife, you look at the edge, the spine, the ricasso, etc. and not the face. The eye "learns" by following lines. This principle dates back to antiquity and has been an element of good design since.

Sometimes we are afraid of simplicity. We want to clutter things up. There's a name for that phenomenon - it's called Horror Vaccui (the fear of empty space/vaccum). No-one wants to live in a blank white box, of course. But when horror vacui takes over, simplicity is lost, design intent becomes muddles and mediocrity ensues. Simplicity is something that requires control - how much can be "left out" and still create a beautiful design? I tend toward designs that are more simply understood (not necessarily simply crafted).

I do most of my design work in AutoCAD 2005. Mostly because, as an architect, I am already skilled with that particular program. The benefit, for me, is being able to generate a more creative, yet also measured, accurate drawing. I can draw large sweeping curves with a fixed radius. I can figure out finger grooves more accurately. There are just some things that a computer can do better. Once the design has been printed, I tape it down to a piece of cardboard or basswood and cut it out. This gives me a more real-world vision of the knife design. Sometimes, I'll go back to AutoCAD to make changes - other times, I'll make the changes right on the wood model. If the design is particularly complex, I'll make a complete mock-up in basswood. Takes less than an hour, but saves me hours of frustration later on.

Here are a few pictures to illustrate this phase:

Once the design has been completely thought out and tested in at least cardboard form, its time to start making the blade. There are two ways to arrive at a blade shape - by Stock Removal and/or by Forging. I'll discuss each method separately.

For stock removal, I begin by tracing the design onto a bar of steel. I use the Silver Sharpie marker because it leaves a bright, easy-to-see mark that stays on the blade, even through heat-treat. Then I cut out the design the best I can at the metal-cutting bandsaw. This eliminates a few hours of grinding and saves on buying a lot of "steel-hogging" belts. After that, I head to the KMG, hooked up with either the flat-platen or small wheel attachment, to finish profiling. I avoid belts under 80 grit, simply because I don't want to have to remove the deep scratches later on. After shaping the profile of the blade, I start grinding the bevel, whether full flat, saber or convex, I shape it until I get down to about 1/16" thick at the edge. At this point, 90% of the shaping has been done. Only fine sanding is left. The process is the same whether it is full or hidden tang.

For forging, I begin with a flat bar or round bar of steel. I prefer round, because it allows more creativity and freedom. It also requires more reduction, which, when coupled with thermal cycling, aids in improving edge holding and toughness. I shape the blade with a heavy hammer, cut it off the bar, and then shape the tang. The blade is then soaked in vermiculite to anneal. I'm not too uptight about forging completely to shape. The belt grinder is a much better tool for creating crisp, clean lines. I forge mostly for creativity's sake.

Here are a few pictures of this phase:

After the blade has been finished, I compare it back to the original drawings and wood model (if created). Sometimes there are real-world adjustments that have to be made. When I'm satisfied with the layout of the knife, I'll trace the completed blade in ink onto a fresh piece of graph paper. Then the handle is drawn over in pencil (I usually end up redrawing the handle several times over). When the design is good, I'll trace it onto handle material and cut it out on the bandsaw. Whenever possible, I prefer to use pre-machined handle materials. I have found that starting with a straight piece makes the handle-shaping much easier. Since I do a lot of contouring, I can't just "wing it". I need to maintain a certain level of symmetry, and the machined stock is actually what allows me that freedom. At this point, my process changes depending on the type of tang I'm doing. For full tang, I machine the handle material to within 1/16" of the tang. Less to remove after glue-up. For hidden tang, I save the profiling until after glue-up, as sometimes the handle moves while it's drying.

After glue-up, I profile the handle to the appropriate shape, and if I'm contouring, then I'll go ahead and rough shape it to size using the small wheel attachment for the KMG. From there it's off the grinder and into the vise where I sand it by hand. I start at 80 grit and go all the way to 800. With each change of grit, I first sand against the grain, and then with the grain - to help exposed any uneven spots and/or scratches. By the time I've reached 800 grit, the handle is very smooth and usually only requires a quick waxing/buffing.

Stabilized Exotic Hard-Woods

The Exotic Woods I use have been dimensionally stabilized by injecting a resin into the pores of the wood while under a vaccuum. The stabilizing is performed by Mike at WSSI (Wood Stabilizing Specialists, Inc.) and retailed through Chuck Bybee at Alpha Knife Supply - which is where I get all my stabilized pieces. Chuck takes pictures of all his pieces and posts them individually to his website. To see that page, click Here = Stabilized Woods. Feel free to pick out a piece, and tell Chuck to send it to me for your custom knife project.

Brass, Copper or Stainless Steel

I use these materials for fittings - pins, guards, ferrules, bolsters, liners and spacers. Brass is the easiest for me to work with. When used right, copper looks the best. Both of those can tarnish, and if that is a concern, then I will go with stainless steel. I have also used mild steel for large guards and bolsters. Typically, my pins are 3/32" in diameter and the spacers are 1/8" thick.

Corby Pins

I am now using both Brass and Aluminum corby bolts to mechanically fasten handles.

Micarta, Carbon Fiber or G-10

Update! I am now offering knives using these synthetic materials.

Bone, Horn, Antler and regular Hard-woods

I can and do work with these materials for handles. It is not my first choice, but is certainly an acceptable one. The bone, horn and antler can be polished to a very nice finish. It does, however, require extra time and effort to "get it right", though, since these come in different shapes and sizes. I will use regular hard-woods on request, mostly as a cost-savings measure, but usually not for performance reasons. The exceptions, of course, being Arizona Desert Ironwood, Cocobolo and others that do not require stabilizing.

Acraglas

Acraglas is like epoxy, but much higher quality. It is stronger, lasts longer, more durable and like epoxy, can be mixed with dyes & dusts to customize the color. It's even roughly the same cost per glue-up. The only drawback is that it's not readily available, off-the-shelf at the hardware store. Most likely, you'll have to mail order it. Read HERE for more information on this super-strong gun-bedding compound. I use it mostly for hidden-tang knives.

Devcon 2-ton Epoxy

This has become my epoxy of choice when using corby pins.

Using the KMG to profile and contour

I use a back-n-forth motion while profiling and contouring on the 2" wheel - for both blades and handles. I try to keep the piece moving at all times to prevent overheating. Simply varying the pressure controls how hard it cuts and how deep the scratches go. Being self-taught this is how I have done things from Day 1 - it works for me and allows me to make very smooth contours.

3M Gold No-Load Sanding Sheets - available Here in 80-600 grit at Lee Valley Tools

These yellow sanding sheets last and last and last! They're good for at least 10 times as much sanding compared to standard garnet sheets. I use them for blades as well as handles. After 4 or 5 uses, just wipe it on a cloth (or your pantleg) and it's ready to keep working. It's amazing sandpaper. I won't use anything else for handsanding.

My preferred Belts for knifemaking:

For wood, non-ferrous metals, and misc. handle materials

• 36 grit Aluminum Oxide "X" weight - for rough-shaping
• 120 grit Aluminum Oxide "X" weight - for final shaping
• 400 Aluminum Oxide "X" & "J" weights - for fine sanding
  (prior to hand sanding)

For steel

• 60 grit 3M 977 Regalloy Ceramic - for "hogging" steel, starting bevels
• 120 grit 3M 977 Regalloy Ceramic - for setting grinds
• 220, 400 & 800 grit 3M 977 Regalloy Ceramic & Aluminum Oxide "J" weights - for fine sanding on flats and bevels
• "Fine" grit 3M Scotchbrite (equiv. to 600 grit) - for satin finish.