I'll add something that I've not read so far, and it may be a bit ambiguous sounding to some, but it's something that pretty much all the advanced Bladesmiths/Knifemakers do, likely without even thinking about it..... and that would be proportioning/shaping a handle to fit the human hand.

The way I explain it to students is that when you close your hand around an object, the area where the index finger meets the thumb is always the smallest area of a person's "grip"..... and where the heel of the hand and pinky finger meet is always the largest area of a person's "grip". In addition to that, if I had to describe a shape/radius/contour that feels the most comfortable in the hand, the closest approximation would be an upside down teardrop shape (if viewing a knife handle from the rear/butt)

There are probably some "seasoned" Bladesmiths/Knifemakers chuckling about now, thinking "DUH", but time and again, I have students who bring knives to me, asking for "a critique" (but really I'm just "looking" and trying to be as nice as possible) and what I see is just the opposite..... handles that are wide and tall near the ricasso/guard, and are narrow and short at the handle's butt.

Exact dimensions of what I described are really a moving target, dependent on the end user of the particular knife. I know myself, and likely folks like Brion and Lin (who are all good sized men, with large hands) have the natural instinct to make a knife that feels good to them....it's just human nature. Everybody handles it in their own way, but what I've found over the years is that when I THINK a handle is "right", I take it to my Mrs., who is about 5'7" (about the average height for a human), and who has learned a great deal about knives living with me all these years.....and I generally find myself heading back to the shop with my tail tucked between my legs from hearing... "That handle is too fat." "That handle is too tall." Or something similar, even though the handle felt/feels really good to my big maw of a hand.

The reason I say that is because if you are selling knives, one of the 3 criteria that I use/apply to any knife I build, is that is must "feel good", and that means to the majority of the people it will be exposed to. Time and experience has taught me that if I make a handle that fits my Wife's hand, and she says "That handle feels really nice", then I've just nailed the feel/fit for 80-90% of the people.

One of the questions I ask clients who wish to place an order is... How tall are you....and generally from their response, I can produce a handle that "fits" that individual. Generally anyone less than 6' tall, and Cindy (my Mrs.) is the final word on how the handle feels. Anyone over 6' tall, and I make the handle so it feels right to me. Not an exact science, but it works for me in the majority of cases.

Ed,

You nailed it. <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//wink.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />

Really good information here everyone and thank you. Like most my hunter standard ricassos are pretty close to an inch tall and the length from guard to plunge varies depending on guard style and blade style. However it usually ends up being about 5/8" for a one inch tall ricasso. Now some bigger knives like bowies the ricasso may go slightly over an inch in height. As for handles, again I am pretty close to the standard it seems. About 4 3/4" for hunters and around five for bowies. Again as Lin said it is subjective, there are no hard fast rules, just generalities. One thing I have noticed is a lot of people just starting out have a tendecy to err on the side of caution and their ricasso length from plunge to guard is just too long. Consequently the knife looks off. These are things that you just have to learn through study and experience. One thing I have found that is a good study source is the book Knives Annual. They started in 1981 and continued up through 2018. I have one from every year. A lot of pictures of knives and different styles. These are available used and some from Blade/ FW Media. Great study material. I am also with Ed. Let your wife hold the knife. Amazing what another perspective can give you. Diane is my quality control and idea bouncing off of person, has a pretty good eye.

Good idea LIn.

Brion

Maybe this is a good time to talk about design process/technique?

Here is a step by step how I design a knife from scratch. (or at least how I begin and get the profile)

Let's call this one a Bird & Trout/EDC sort of affair.

First, I draw a cross on the paper. This represents the center line and the front face of the guard.

Then, I draw perpendicular lines to mark the ends of the blade and grip area.

Now, I define the width of the blade and draw a box for the whole knife.

As this is a B&T, I will use a 3/4" wide blade. 3/8" on either side of the center line.

Then I add the blade edge shape using a French curve and I just decided to drop the point a little.

Add the ricasso and guard width

Define the Choil, the spacer and the length of the guard.

Now I start freehand sketching the handle profile.

Make a bunch of erasures and change it up, erase the lines for the design and take a look.

Does it look "right"? I don't know yet. I will put it on the floor and look at it from various perspectives.

Once I get the profile right, I will start deciding the other design criteria.

Partial tang with solid handle or frame handle with scales? Furniture material? Handle material? Embellishments? Add all of these notes to the side bar on the drawing.

I will then make a side drawing on the same sheet for the top and bottom views and a Butt shot for the heel end and guard cross sections. Add them to the drawing and I have the road map.

As a new ABS Associate member I really appreciate this information. Designing and crafting higher-end Knife Presentation Stands for the myriad of knives I have seen and handled (and thanks Ben Seward) at a couple of the bigger knife shows I was able to get a "handle" (excuse the pun) on the dimensions of the various knives from: Peanuts to Lockbacks to Hunters up to Texas Bowies. I hope you don't mind if I jump back in later asking some questions and getting any thoughts or suggestions on what I craft. Thanks Again!

THANKS! You guys are all sharing such great information. I can't say thanks enough. This is a great thread

Ed, I appreciate your description of how you fit a knife handle to the general population. Your description of the design and how a proper handle should be profiled has helped a ton! There is an immense amount of knowledge being offered up and this is the reason I am proud to be a member of the ABS! thank you all for your help!

Lots of good information here. Something that I'll add since we've discussed both handle & ricasso dimensions is that I like to see the height of the ricasso match the height of the front of the handle. I just feel that it enhances the overall look of the knife when both the top & bottom of each line up.