Jan Hendrik
Elite Cafe Member
This is a design for stainless steel bolster on a knife for a client. What are your thoughts on the design?
Critique Request Knife bolster design
- Thread starter Jan Hendrik
- Start date
This is a design for stainless steel bolster on a knife for a client. What are your thoughts on the design?
Marrinan
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
That is a fine design. You have minimized the background removal. That is nice, Reminds me a bit of Phil Coggan's work. Look forward to seeing it cut. Remember your budget for the job-ALWAYS and never under charge. If it is not cheap enough for the customer, set it aside and do anther job more in line to the budget and save this for a spec knife, sample or to use and enjoy and use as a sale piece, Fred
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don hicks
Elite Cafe Member
I like your design , love to see it cut.
Cheers
Don
Cheers
Don
davidshe
Elite Cafe Member
Jan, I think it looks great and thanks for that advice Fred!
Southern Custom
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Jan, I would only point out one spot that may be out of balance. The element in the bottom right corner is "heavier", for lack of a better term, than the surround scrollwork. The single large leaf is a lot of positive space in one spot and doesn't balance out with the negative space in the rest of the sketch. This will become more apparent once the piece is cut and background removed. I've made this mistake before. It isn't as obvious in the sketch but once cut it will be.
Be sure of the steel you are going to cut. I have also fallen into the trap of an overly ambitious design on a bolster that turned out to be flint hard and therefore added to the time and changed the finished look of the piece due to lack depth.
Layne
Be sure of the steel you are going to cut. I have also fallen into the trap of an overly ambitious design on a bolster that turned out to be flint hard and therefore added to the time and changed the finished look of the piece due to lack depth.
Layne
Jan Hendrik
Elite Cafe Member
Wow! What a compliment! Thanks. I feel I still have a looong way to go and have much to learn before I can even dream of reaching the level of artistry and craftsmanship of the likes of Phil Coggan.
Jan Hendrik
Elite Cafe Member
Thank you for your insights Layne. I was hoping some dark shading in the recesses will balance out the "heaviness" in that area of the design. I will cut it and see how it looks in the end and improve on the next designs.
Dani Girl
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Cool sketch
It looks quite nice, there's nothing overly wrong with it. When you start drawing do you draw the backbones only a few times to see what shapes will look best or just go with the first sketch and keep refining it?
I recently posted on a site i get work from that i can make my work cheaper by stippling the background or just dotting it out with a round bur, apart from broader shading lines i can't think of anything else to do to keep on budget.
Nice sketching though, definately keep cutting.
It looks quite nice, there's nothing overly wrong with it. When you start drawing do you draw the backbones only a few times to see what shapes will look best or just go with the first sketch and keep refining it?
I recently posted on a site i get work from that i can make my work cheaper by stippling the background or just dotting it out with a round bur, apart from broader shading lines i can't think of anything else to do to keep on budget.
Nice sketching though, definately keep cutting.
Jan Hendrik
Elite Cafe Member
I draw the backbones several times to get a pleasing flow in the space I have available and then start filling in with leaves.
Jan Hendrik
Elite Cafe Member
I don't know if this is the appropriate place to ask this, but what would you guys charge to design and cut a design like this on two stainless steel knife bolsters? Relief engraving with proper flat background removal.
Marrinan
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Ah the money question---I charge fifteen dollars an hour studio time (Like if you rented my tools and studio) and I try to charge about thirty to forty dollars an hour labor (depends on hardness and complexity of shape). Inlay is one hundred dollars per inch. Those are my goals anyway. There are things that affect the rates but those are my goals. Design time costs as well at the same scale. Fred
Jan Hendrik
Elite Cafe Member
So after approximately a year I finally got the time to finish this project. I can now see some areas where the design needed some changes, but I will strive to improve with every new project.
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