Home Forums Gear Knives and Blades Bowie WIP

I was contacted awhile back by a friend I went to high school with. She had married another friend from high school and he is a career soldier deployed to Afghanistan. She wanted me to make him a knife. No problem. I made him a very functional knife with micarta scales. It was kinda utilitarian by my standards.





He received the knife when he came home for Christmas. He contacted me to let me know that he liked the knife and wanted another one, a big, flashy one with lots of bling and a cross in the handle for all to see. He explained that he is Special Forces and works with a General in the Special Operations Joint Task Force. He is required to speak with tribal leaders about ??????? I don't know what they would talk about, probably something having to do with goats. He also explained that these tribal leaders are kinda primitive and set in their ways. As primitive as they are, they do remember the Crusades and the image of the cross worn by a warrior is big medicine. Ok, big knife, with a cross, for an American negotiator. It's got to be a Bowie but it can't be too big. He has to wear it on his kit and a monster Bowie would get in the way. I decided on an 8" blade in S30v steel with a coffin handle. This is the roughed out blade and handle frame.



The guard, spacers, liners, pins, and cross will be made from 416 stainless. The handle material, I don't know. I have some nice, stabilized wood onhand but I'm leaning towards black linen micarta. I think the black would look good woth all the silver. the knife will be 13" OAL and made from 27 seperate pieces. This is a pic of the basic pieces of the knife after they have been fit.





The finish and detail work starts now. This one will burn up some time.

Very cool. Your "utility" knife is like filet mignon is utility beef! Will he get "the knife" in time to help with negotiations?

Looking forward to watching the progress of this.

I did not see a makers mark on either blade, care to share your name? Some of us knife nuts might have heard of, or even have some of your work.

Was thinking the same thing when I read the "utility" comment. But also, I thought I would like to see some of your "fancy" work.

I agree with the thinking for a black handle with an inlayed silver cross, the contrast between the cross and handle should be outstanding.

Very cool to see Squawsach here. I've followed his work for some time on other forums dedicated to talking archery and rimfire shooting.

If there was ever a maker that designed knives in my wheelhouse, it's him.

He also has easily the best knife making tutorial available online. I'm not sure what I'm allowed to post here, but a quick web search should prove fruitful.

Cheers and welcome!

Very nice work.
I don't think anyone here is anything less than thankful when someone posts related info and links.
Not much to hide with this group and learning new info, etc is a good thing.
jmho
Tim

Here's the tutorial. It's a fun read.

http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=264909

I have been doing a little work on the Crusader Bowie. My big fingers are about numb and my eyes are tired. The filework is almost complete and it's a good thing because I don't want to look at a file for a week. I made the cross for the handle from 416ss and I like the way it looks. The cross is styled from an image I saw on a shield from the Crusades. There is still a bunch of work left to do but after I get the guard shaped and the scale inlet for the cross things should start to fall into place. It will soon start to look like a knife.

Simply outstanding!

Very nice

WOW!. Amazing work, and to think it will used to intimidate Muslims. Simply amazing.

Squawsach:

You do wonderful work, and your tutorial was very informative.

One thing that I could not see clearly is how you ground the blade after scribbing the edge lines.

Do you file the sides flat, or do you use some type of grinder? I can hollow grind, but I have never learned to flat grind. I have made one flat ground blade, filing it flat with a file, and it took what seemed to be weeks of filing. There has got to be a quicker way than this.

Awesome blade. I can't wait to see it finished.

Thanks everyone for the kind words. I grind my blades on a hamemade 2x72 with a flat platten. Flat grinding is all I know. I have never attempted a hollow ground blade but I do plan on getting a large contact wheel and giving it a try. I made one blade many moons ago using nothing but a file and hacksaw. I will never do that again.

My father was a tool and die maker. When he started his apprenticeship he was given a blueprint, a file and a block of steel. He never wanted to do that again but he learned a lot doing it.

Very impressive. Man, that is a $hit ton of handwork given the complexity of the design. Great thread......

I worked on the Bowie today. The glue up was a complete mess. A gallon of epoxy squeezed out when I put the clamps to it. When the black golf shaft epoxy cured, I couldn't tell what the handle was supposed to look like. It was a big blob. I hacked at it with files until it started to take shape and then burned up a mile of sandpaper.

It 13 1/4" OAL with a .210" s30v blade. I hope to get better pics when the suns up.

WOW!!!!!
jmho
Tim

Superb!

Thank you for spending your time sharing this build.

It's a beauty. Give yourself a pay increase. I probably average about $1.50 an hour on mine.