I think any builder is going to learn more the longer he works at building guns, and the longer he lives. Every crafts man has a sense when something doesn't " Look right" or " feel right" to something they made. And, conversely, I think they all have an innate sense of when something is right that they have made.
I learned about the " Golden Mean" and how it was used in building guns long after I had designed my own guns and stocks for other guns. When I learned that, much of what was gnawing at me about earlier efforts instantly went away, as I had learned, finally, What WAS WRONG with those earlier efforts. The same thing happened after I build my first Knife. It just was not right. I actually rebuilt it twice, and now have some more work to do on the blade because it was not tempered properly. I am still happy with the last work I did on the handle more than 35 years ago, but the blade has suffered a chipped off point, that needs to be redone, and I want to redo a small part of it to "fit " properly the rest of the design.
I have kept that first knife because it instantly reminds me of all the mistakes I made making it, as well as the corrections I have made since. If and when I complete these last two projects, it will be as complete as I can get it, and I may just begin making a new blade, slightly different, but a whole lot nicer than this one. This knife has no frills. The next one will have something- but I haven't decided what.