A new look for one of my 1917 Frontier Bowies...

PocketKnifeJimmy

PocketKnifeJimmy

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Aug 4, 2013
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Over the past few years, I've acquired three of the Cold Steel 1917 Frontier Bowies. My collecting such gadgets, I purchased my first one early on when they first introduced them. That one's made with 1055 carbon steel. When they came out with the 1085 carbon steel version (which in my online reading has turned up it listed as being 1080, 1085, or 1090 carbon), I purchased two more. Well, I decided to keep the 1055 and one of the 1085 versions in complete factory condition. But, the third one, (in 1085 carbon), I've been in the process today of modifying it's look by removing the blued finish from the blade (but leaving the blue on the guard and tang). I really did not know what sheen I was going to finish the blade with, the decision being made as the work progressed. Well, with the bluing gone, the slight deviations from the hand hammer forging process, are a tad bit more noticable in the white, (imo), than with the previous blued finish. So, since I was not going to like a mirror blade finish on this, I chose to go with a fine brushed sheen. Just seems right on this project. Now I just got to clean up the screws and handle, and then reassemble her again. It only took a few swipes with a sharpening stone to get the edge good again :)

Btw, I performed the work on this project by hand, using no power tools. Why?... i guess I wanted to add to the old school charm that these knives carry :)

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Well, here it is. I'm very happy with the final result :)
That said, I ask myself this... Would the Cold Steel Frontier Bowie have been better off being offered this way instead of with the blued steel? Well, in my opinion, no. Why?... Because the blued finish on this model just works well with this offering. It's part of what makes it stick out (along with it's other features). So, no, I am still glad that CS chose to make these knives the way they did.
As for this one I just de-blued, I like it this way too... But only because I already have the other two in blued steel.

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Is it just me or in the last picture does this finish make the knife look like a silver painted plastic knife ?

I like the looks of the blades on these but the handles are one of the ugliest things I've ever seen.

You did a good job on this btw.
 
Thank you.
And, yeah, my second pic did not catch the look, maybe the first pic above got it a little better... But, it actually has a nice sheen to it (not plastic/fake looking). I went down to 600 grit, before using OOOO steel wool. The final touch was using a cloth with some metal polishing compound (my making sure the satiny look remained).
The other thing I did while working on the blade, was to round off the ledge where the main grind met the final sharpening bevel. I'd say now the final cutting edge is more like a convex.

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The handle is a feature I like the look of (unique), and LT of CS has explained the purpose of the grip's shape :)

Video where he explained why the handle was designed as it was (at just after the 2:30 min mark)...
 
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lol!!!... Well, maybe I have very big pockets ;)

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I have seen a few pics online of a Cold Steel employee having removed the bluing from his 2nd quality specimen. He did a great job on his, and went much further than what I did to make mine unique. His had all the bluing removed, including from the guard and tang. He also did some file work to the blade's spine and to the guard. My skills don't go quite that far.
I may do further "stuff" to my bowie, but nothing is currently planned. A white handle would be cool on it, (like the ivory colored polymer sometimes used on revolver/pistols). But, I don't have the skill to make those, and there is no company offering replacement handles for these (that I know of). I do think that it's design lends itself well for customization. It having the tang that it has, and the removable handle via screw attachment, I could see this being a knife that will bring out the creativity in some.

My now slightly customized Cold Steel 1917 Frontier Bowie has become a one-of-kind :)

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