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The Newbies Arena Are you new to knife making? Here is all the help you will need.

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  #1  
Old 05-21-2014, 11:24 PM
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Knifemaker96 Knifemaker96 is offline
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Short handled knives. Pro and cons?

So I am in the process of making a Heat treat testing knife just to make sure I am doing everything correct. I ended up making the handle short on this knife simply cause I wanted to (not sure why), but I was wondering if there would be any problems that you guys have run into using a shorter handle. Its just something that has been on my mind...

3" handle with a 8" blade.



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Last edited by Knifemaker96; 05-21-2014 at 11:28 PM.
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Old 05-21-2014, 11:25 PM
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Knifemaker96 Knifemaker96 is offline
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Truthfully its not "super short" just shorter then what I am used to with this blade length
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Old 05-21-2014, 11:56 PM
ArmedArtist ArmedArtist is offline
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I would think the balance of it would be a bit off. But I am in the process of making my first knife so I don't have any other knowledge about it. Just seems like it would be front heavy.
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Old 05-22-2014, 01:57 AM
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GHEzell GHEzell is offline
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I personally like a handle on a 'big' knife to be 5" or more... as the blade gets shorter, I tend to shorten the handle too, but anything less than 4" turns into a 3 finger grip, which is ok I guess for some styles of knife, but not ideal, especially for a chopper. It is not so much a matter of balance as it is a matter of control, IMO. You can get more leverage and control with a longer handle. Try using it in the kitchen for a few days and I bet you'll see the value of a longer handle.


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Old 05-22-2014, 02:32 AM
Doug Lester Doug Lester is offline
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I think that a longer handle would keep the fingers from wandering up onto the edge of the blade too unless you put a finger notch behind the blade that the index finger will sit securely in.

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Old 05-22-2014, 06:29 AM
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Crex Crex is offline
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Make it - work it - work it some more - your hand will tell you why short handles rarely work well on larger blades.


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Old 05-22-2014, 11:30 AM
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cbsmith111 cbsmith111 is offline
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The only benifit of a handle that short is being compact and easy to carry. You have pretty much eliminated that with your blade length. I think you're going to find it doesn't feel secure in your hand. I have tried designing compact handles for edc knives, but I have trouble coming up with an effective design with a handle under 4". It can work but it really takes some smart design work. A big blade usually needs a big handle though. Also consider that a small hand can use a long handle better than a large hand can use a short one.
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Old 05-22-2014, 08:13 PM
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Knifemaker96 Knifemaker96 is offline
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Yeah that makes sense. It does feel a little loose when holding it. Good thing is that this knife wasn't really made for heavy use or any at all. I am just using it to test my HT. so if it survives then I will shorten the blade some. I do like the blades design so my next knife will be similar, but with a longer handle. I will do some playing around with it.
Thanks for the input
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Old 05-30-2014, 10:31 PM
claymoore claymoore is offline
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Hey knifemaker,
maybe you could grind the handle a little and make a hidden tang? Just my .02
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