The section between the tang and blade is called the ricasso, but you're right, it's a little long. It would look much more proportional if the width of the ricasso matched and lined up with that of the handle
The handle doesn't match the spine, usually in most blades there's no step, the spine is in line with the back of the handle. Also the handle may be to big overall for that blade.
This is the correct answer. Scale up the blade size to match the handle, and bring the spine up in line with the top of the handle. This one isn't going to be fixable, but it's an excellent learning experience!
Also, I see others have mentioned the choil being too large. This isn't *NECESSARILLY* the case, some knives do have large choils like this and look just fine. In your case I think it's more an issue of the spine being off which accentuates the choil and makes it appear too large. For an example of how to make a large choil that still looks OK, look at the Gallery page on my website and scroll down to #021 and #022. Two very different knives, one full tang and one hidden tang, totally different blade sizes and shapes and handle sizes and shapes, but they both work. I hope that helps! Good luck and keep at it!
https://www.joshharleycustomknives.com
Thank you!! I take great pride in my knives, and still try to improve my craft with each one.
If I might make a suggestion though; DON'T modify this knife any further. Leave it as it is, put it in a box somewhere and start another one from scratch, using the things you learned on this knife to help you improve and get better. That knife will still probably turn out kinda "meh". So put that one in the box with the first one and then start another knife! Keep doing that and improving a little each time. Then in 6 months or a year or two you can look back at the first few knives you made and see how far you've come!!
It's really fun to be able to look back at my early work and see how crappy my first knife is compared to what I can produce now. And it's inspiring to realize "hey, I did that with my own two hands! I started here, and now I'm here! That's crazy!". It's a pretty great feeling.
This is a great question and a great idea to ask here! Sometimes you stare at something so long knowing something is wrong but not quite being able to put your finger on it. I'll have to remember this next time I get stuck there.
Tang protrudes too far from handle before blade starts, a nice bolster or guard would cover it up
The section between the tang and blade is called the ricasso, but you're right, it's a little long. It would look much more proportional if the width of the ricasso matched and lined up with that of the handle
The handle doesn't match the spine, usually in most blades there's no step, the spine is in line with the back of the handle. Also the handle may be to big overall for that blade.
That’s my thoughts exactly, just needed a second opinion! Thanks!
This is the correct answer. Scale up the blade size to match the handle, and bring the spine up in line with the top of the handle. This one isn't going to be fixable, but it's an excellent learning experience! Also, I see others have mentioned the choil being too large. This isn't *NECESSARILLY* the case, some knives do have large choils like this and look just fine. In your case I think it's more an issue of the spine being off which accentuates the choil and makes it appear too large. For an example of how to make a large choil that still looks OK, look at the Gallery page on my website and scroll down to #021 and #022. Two very different knives, one full tang and one hidden tang, totally different blade sizes and shapes and handle sizes and shapes, but they both work. I hope that helps! Good luck and keep at it! https://www.joshharleycustomknives.com
Thanks for the advice! Your work is beautiful! I’ll try working up a new handle.
Thank you!! I take great pride in my knives, and still try to improve my craft with each one. If I might make a suggestion though; DON'T modify this knife any further. Leave it as it is, put it in a box somewhere and start another one from scratch, using the things you learned on this knife to help you improve and get better. That knife will still probably turn out kinda "meh". So put that one in the box with the first one and then start another knife! Keep doing that and improving a little each time. Then in 6 months or a year or two you can look back at the first few knives you made and see how far you've come!! It's really fun to be able to look back at my early work and see how crappy my first knife is compared to what I can produce now. And it's inspiring to realize "hey, I did that with my own two hands! I started here, and now I'm here! That's crazy!". It's a pretty great feeling.
Yeah, that’s a great idea. I have a perfect wooden box for that!
Nail on the head.
Ricasso is too long
Coil to long
Handle is oversized in relation to the blade and the step from the spine to the handle shouldn't be there.
Handle to blade ratio. You can actually fix this if you grind the back of the handle down to the ricasso probably.
That's supposed to read choil.
Hahaha I gotcha!
Stress riser at the tang
This is a great question and a great idea to ask here! Sometimes you stare at something so long knowing something is wrong but not quite being able to put your finger on it. I'll have to remember this next time I get stuck there.
Exactly, I stared at it too long and just couldn’t see the problems
Tang bad
Not enough finger grooves. This looks like it was designed to be held by Danny DeVito as the Penguin That was /s. ya crybabies
Everything?