Now that you're bein a little more specific, maybe I can to. Personally, I think folks get just a little to carried away, when they start talkin' about blade shapes an blade styles when about all they're using it for is animals up to the size of deer. Lot of times it just boils down to personal preference, as far as the blade profile goes. Having said that, I'll have to admit that most of the blades I've built an used are droppoints. I also happen to be fond of clippoints, as long as they're the spey(straight) types an not the curved california or turkish clips. An I definitely don't like those that have a swedge(false edge) on the top. Really weakens the point, an that's a stabbin' thrusting design, and the one type of knife I absolutely refuse ta build are the "pure" fighting/combat knives. Goes against my grain, which is maybe strange since I'm retired Military(Navy). Then again, maybe not. When it comes to blade length, as long as the blade is long enough to do the job comfortably, its the right length. I tend to like blades around 5" long, but then I don't consider my knives ta be just for huntin. I do a lot of camping and hiking an canoeing an just messin around in the woods, an find I like a longer slightly heavier blade cause I use them for more than just cutting up game. Again, having said that, most of the knives I build for customers have 31/2-4" blades. Of the four "personal" blades I've built for myself, one is a long clippoint(5"), one is a droppoint(5"), one is kinda a hunter style(4" with straight back, but a lot of belly an a fine point), an one is a warncliffe(4" an which is gettin to be my favorite blade profile). I'm also abandoning the Loveless style droppoint and goin to one that has a lot more drop, a fine point, an a lot of belly; at least for animals up to the size of deer. Blade's more like a leaf shape, almost an ellipse. The standard droppoint might be fine if you're using your blade for a prybar or disjointing a moose or some other large critter, but is unnecessary(to me, an a number of my customers) for small game ta deer. That finer point is a lot more useful when skinnin out a deer, an will handle some of the caping chores if needed.
What's a lot more important to me is the steel type, and the edge and blade geometry. The only gind I do/use anymore is the flat grind. Used to do some sabre ground(where the blade is flat ground part way up the blade), an a couple of convex grinds but don't(won't) bother with those anymore. Have a total antipathy towards hollow grinds, not cause I can't do them, just won't waste my time. To me, an to a lot of other people who are building hunting knives vs. "tactical", ugly lookin' things, a thin bladed, around 1/8" diameter, flatground blade with a slightly convex edge, is the ultimate cutting blade. An that is absolutely true, has nothing to do with "personal opinion". Doesn't mean that you should go an throw out your sabre or hollow ground blade; they still cut just fine, just not as fine. Like I said earlier, you should use what you enjoy using; don't necessarily have ta listen ta some fool like me. Was lookin' through a bunch of old BLADE magazines the other day, an concentrating on lookin' at factory knife designs as far as huntin' blades go, an the one that hit me as the best is Cold Steel's Master Hunter. Also think the Grohmann blades are a great design(though the grind sucks) and some of the Fallkniven knives based on their Swedish pilot's survival knife design.
Far as steel goes, my standard is 154CM heattreated by D'Holder(one of the great knifemakers). It's not the best out there,BG-42 is better but a lot more expensive, but it's still a damned good steel. I also like D-2. Don't build carbon steel blades, cause there's no market for them, though there's some great steels out there, i.e. 0-1, an 52100.1095 an W-2 aren't bad either.Learned to make knives using old files(w-2), an the one's that were finally good enough to either sell or give away without cringing take one hell of an edge. Folks that have them,really like them.
Handle materials I like and use are stabilized woods, non-tropical, non- endangered woods(mainly curly maple an walnut), all the various micarta's(really tough stuff, an mainly good looking), Dymond(pakka)wood and occasionally some poly pearl, which is an art grade cast plastic with patterns like pearl except in all kinds of colors. The stickiest, non-slip material I've used is Canvas Micarta, only in the black canvas color. Not bad looking, an when finished to around 320 grit has a nice sticky texture to it. I know freakin' Loveless likes green canvas, but I suspect the old boy is color blind.
I could go on an on, but maybe this answers your question better, maybe not. As far as prices/challenges go, you'll have to e-mail me about that. Don't do buisness at this forum, although I will say that after someone's bought one of my knives, they often tell me I don't charge enough.
