A guardless Bowie/camp knife...

anvilring

anvilring

Joined
Nov 29, 2000
Messages
2,869
I can't help myself. I love wood. And as Danbo will tell you, I've a lifetime supply it seems of really nice walnut. This one's in 5160, with a nickle silver ferrule, or should I say it "looks" like a ferrule. Blade length is 8.5 iches while the handle is a solid 5 inches. I'm going to pin the handle this eve when I get home.
Needing some belt money, I was thinking of selling this over'ta the "blades for sale" forum. $275 maybe??? no scabbard. Does that sound reasonable? for 8.5 inches? There's a few hairline scratches on the blade as I just had to take a few swings at some rope...:)

guardless Bowie pic #1
guardless Bowie pic #2
guardless Bowie pic #3
guardless Bowie pic #4
 
very nice -- perfect finish on that puppy!! I wouldn't let it go for that low a price though.
 
Wicked nice!
Every time i see your mark I kick myself for now getting an etching machine yet...I am so lazy. It'd cost less than one knife's sales but I just can't bring myself to take any cash out of the almighty "KMG Fund"
 
save up for the KMG!! You can get a stamp some other time. Get a BIG contact wheel for your machine and the rotary slack belt attachment. I love mine although I use it on my BaderIII. Works great! I bought one at the Blade Show this year!

mitch
 
Great lookin knife Mitch, but your price is way low.

What do you put on your walnut? It looks much darker than mine do.

Don Hanson
 
Don: I use "Fiebings" (sp?) "medium brown" leather dye... works great. I'm to pin this one and when I do, the little sanding that'll be done as of that task will show some more highlights and figure in the walnut. I'll send you a pic if you like. I've gone to leather dye on everything as it seems to be much quicker to penetrate, and had the staying power that regular wood stains just don't seem to have. And of course, you can blend them! Fiebing's has light, medium, and dark brown as well as "buckskin" and a host of other colors including "oxblood" which will add some red to things, a lot or a little.:)

m
 
Outstanding knife! I love everything about it, especially the guardless aspect.

When I saw your $275 price I was grabbing for my wallet. I think that price is really, really low. Considering the great finish, fit, grinds, wood, the handle looks fantastic, I think $400 is reasonable. Especially when you take into account the "JS" stamp on the blade. $275 seems like a good price for a JS hunter, not a bowie.

Matt
 
Really nice work Mitch. I like the gaurdless look. Beautiful fit and finish. I agree with the rest. You're being modest with the price.
Ed
 
How long in hours does a knife like this take? I only have my smaller knives for reference. My last one had double bolsters and a lot of work to bring out the hamon and Gidgee, and i was thinking around 300 for it. I want to get a sense of what kind of hours you are working with, and the relative cost of those hours. Most of my knives take between 18-30 hours to complete from scratch to finish.
 
From start to finish, I've got about seven hours in this knife. Many times, (although not on this particular knife) I actually use one of those cheap digital stop watches (of which I've several out in the shop) dedicated to just one knife. So from the time I pick up a hammer to start forging, from the minute I'm finished sharpening it, I know what I've got in it in hours and minutes. I do this pretty often just to see how long "things take". I'm usually suprised one way or another, I don't count the forge heating up, tempering in the oven, or all the time spent normalizing the forged blade because I'm doing other things while that's going on. Keep in mind this is a very simple knife to make especially since I've become pretty proficient in this style and I'm working with nice straight 1.5 inch 5160 spring stock and a Little Giant power hammer for many of the forging chores; walnut and I are old and fast friends by the way. If like many folks, you try something different every time, and use new materials your yet to feel "comfy" with, it gets very time consuming. If you don't have a stopwatch, try a notepad and your wrist watch, I'll bet your spending less "real" time on things than you might realize. At any rate, your making really nice knives! :)

mitch
 
$275?!
That is a $500 knife. Add a nice sheath and you could get that all day long.

Your knives are amazing Mitch. Price them accordingly. A very well known knifemaker told me. "If you dont think your knives are worth anything, your not going to get a customer to think there worth anything.

Beautiful Knife. $500.
 
Just thought on the price Mitch
that's about $34.00 per hour but not really..
you have over-head to pay for and you should pay your machinery also
they cost you money and will cost to repair in time also.. propane and ele are getting pricey too not to mention clean up time shipping and handling on
incoming materials and there is a lot I'm not mentioning that just ad to the bottom dollar ..

what is ones self art worth?
you might be making $12.00 - $15.00 per hour on it :)

self employed ,,, priceless. :D
 
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