Wolf1775
Member
So I'm still on the quest for a fixed blade. Before y'all groan, I've actually narrowed it down to a couple production fixed blades, and I'm ready to pull the trigger depending on who's available. Vet bills for a service dog, however, had to be paid first, but only set me back a couple months on this project.
Meanwhile, I started drawing up some ideas on what I've found I want in a knife, and I figured I'd post here and on another forum for some input. If I can find someone who'd be willing to make the design (if it's good) for a fair price, then I may go that route, though I don't expect it to be cheap.
Here are the intended purposes:
-General cutting: Rope, 550 cord, cardboard, bags of dog food, tape, etc.
-EDC: On my person just about everywhere I can. If it's not on my person, it'll be in my daypack.
-Camping: Primarily food prep, cutting more rope, cutting more 550 cord, lighter bushcraft
-Hunting: Skinning, white tailed deer
-Field kit: 550 cord, cutting paper, cutting fabric, light prying
-Defensive: Secondary purpose to cutting, pistol and/or rifle will be my primary for defense. I just want to make it clear that it's not meant as a combat knife, and it's primary purpose is to cut whatever mundane thing I need it to cut.
I've recently used this shape of handle and found it to be extremely comfortable and easy to control. I wouldn't want the handle scales to be overly thick, since I intend to have it on my person at all times (or near it). I was looking at both drop point and spear point and wanted some input on the pros/cons of them both for the above purposes. I figured spear point would be better if it were a longer blade and lend itself better to being part of my field kit and defensive purposes, which a drop point would be better overall for everything else. I had thought about a tanto point, but lost a lot of the curvature of the blade, which reduced it's usefulness as a general purpose knife (for me). I had also considered a reverse tanto to drop the point down towards the center, but just couldn't find an angle that looked good to me. Y'all might be able to make it work better than I could though.
Regarding the grind...
-Which grind lends itself to slicing and piercing
-Which grind helps retain lateral (?) strength for prying
-Which grind retains its edge well and can be sharpened without a huge amount of effort
-Not really meant for chopping or batoning
I'm also curious about:
-Adjusting the shape of the handle to make it good for cutting and thrusting motions
-What other grip shapes would lower the overall profile and still allow for a full grip?
-Which material would best suit a knife this size? I was looking at A2, D2, O1, and 1095 but am lost in the different varieties and heat treatments.
-Micarta vs G10 scales vs paracord
-How much this would cost to commission a knife maker to make? I'm imagining the material, heat treatment, and grind are the biggest factors in the pricing.
I'd love any feedback and visuals that'd help develop the design. I want to keep the blade and overall grip shapes as close as possible, provided the shapes aren't off the mark for what I'd want to use it for.
Meanwhile, I started drawing up some ideas on what I've found I want in a knife, and I figured I'd post here and on another forum for some input. If I can find someone who'd be willing to make the design (if it's good) for a fair price, then I may go that route, though I don't expect it to be cheap.
Here are the intended purposes:
-General cutting: Rope, 550 cord, cardboard, bags of dog food, tape, etc.
-EDC: On my person just about everywhere I can. If it's not on my person, it'll be in my daypack.
-Camping: Primarily food prep, cutting more rope, cutting more 550 cord, lighter bushcraft
-Hunting: Skinning, white tailed deer
-Field kit: 550 cord, cutting paper, cutting fabric, light prying
-Defensive: Secondary purpose to cutting, pistol and/or rifle will be my primary for defense. I just want to make it clear that it's not meant as a combat knife, and it's primary purpose is to cut whatever mundane thing I need it to cut.
I've recently used this shape of handle and found it to be extremely comfortable and easy to control. I wouldn't want the handle scales to be overly thick, since I intend to have it on my person at all times (or near it). I was looking at both drop point and spear point and wanted some input on the pros/cons of them both for the above purposes. I figured spear point would be better if it were a longer blade and lend itself better to being part of my field kit and defensive purposes, which a drop point would be better overall for everything else. I had thought about a tanto point, but lost a lot of the curvature of the blade, which reduced it's usefulness as a general purpose knife (for me). I had also considered a reverse tanto to drop the point down towards the center, but just couldn't find an angle that looked good to me. Y'all might be able to make it work better than I could though.
Regarding the grind...
-Which grind lends itself to slicing and piercing
-Which grind helps retain lateral (?) strength for prying
-Which grind retains its edge well and can be sharpened without a huge amount of effort
-Not really meant for chopping or batoning
I'm also curious about:
-Adjusting the shape of the handle to make it good for cutting and thrusting motions
-What other grip shapes would lower the overall profile and still allow for a full grip?
-Which material would best suit a knife this size? I was looking at A2, D2, O1, and 1095 but am lost in the different varieties and heat treatments.
-Micarta vs G10 scales vs paracord
-How much this would cost to commission a knife maker to make? I'm imagining the material, heat treatment, and grind are the biggest factors in the pricing.
I'd love any feedback and visuals that'd help develop the design. I want to keep the blade and overall grip shapes as close as possible, provided the shapes aren't off the mark for what I'd want to use it for.
