Guess who learned AutoCAD

So I don't mean to beat this to death, but I've been learning how to do AutoCAD for the last few days, and aside from the swearing, and itching my head, I finally made a scaled model of the field knife which I am calling the Tahoma Field Knife (Tahoma being the native name for Mt. Rainier).

The reason why I did this is to be able to easily (or more easily) bring my design to the water jetting company or laser cutting company to have prototypes cut out with a high degree of precision so that it will be the closest it can be to the final product. Check it out! I feel like the geek I was back in the high school biotech academy.

I was also able to really fine tune angles and shapes that would have taken me a lot of trial and error without it. This process has been a really eye opening experience, and I tip my hat to the guys who do this for a living making airplanes, guns, pretty much everything. Anywho, it is getting late, so I'll sign off, and will have a testing video of my first prototype up soon (maybe even tomorrow).

Take care out there,
Andy

Pictures/Tabletop overview of knife design

Field Utility Knife Design

I'm no stranger to knives, and I have made a dozen or so in the past, but this is my first knife designed for my outdoor adventures. You could call it a survival knife, much as you could call a precision rifle a sniper rifle, but to me it all comes down to whoever wields it.

My criteria when designing this knife was it needed to be light enough to carry for many miles. Ounces are pounds, pounds are pain. Some knives out there are much too heavy to use for an hour straight while building a shelter, over the course of a week or more you can forget about it.

It also needed to be profiled to be a decent chopper and slicer. You can't get the best of both worlds, but 3/16th" is the best compromise. I also chose 1095, because it holds one hell of an edge, and isn't so expensive that people can't afford it.

I wanted a backup blade in case the main edge got dulled up after use, and it also helps with piercing material or flesh straight on, so you can precisely sever a spinal cord of an animal without worrying about the blade traveling left or right.

I wanted a wire break for reasons of getting through fences, scavenging wire, ect. It also helps get pots and other things out of a fire as well.

I positioned the thumb ramp forward of most designs out there because for me personally that's where it is comfortable, and it puts more meat at the choil, and with the hole, both serve a good anchoring point for lashing to a spear.

The handle is curved, and slightly thicker at the spine of the handle. If you try to make a circle with your finger and thumb, you will notice a taper at your first knuckle. This taper in the handle is to promote good edge alignment for efficient chopping.

The knife will also have 2 fire spindles for leftys and righties, as well as aid in reversing a grip on the knife. 

The butt end of the knife is a pry bar type device for times where you need to wedge something open. I like this shape because it also helps me screw in tripod plates haha.

I plan on doing a video on this knife soon after I complete the handle and sheath. So far it has gone really well, although aesthetically it could be better (but doing what I can with what I got!) I'll post pictures once it is near complete.