Bagwell Score

JParanee

JParanee

Joined
Dec 23, 2006
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Bill Bagwell is at the North Eastern Sportsman show this week in Harrisburg Pa. He works for Goex black powder as a shooter and a hunter and is there representing them . Well a a few friends and I went out to visit with Him and his wife. I knew he would have two knives with him and needless to say they came home with us. I got the stag and forged carbon bowie which is almost identical to the stag and carbon one that I already have that has been pictured here before. That blade is my carry and user blade and i love it and wanted this second carbon blade to keep nice and if god forbid I would loose my old one which was made prior to 91. My friend Nick took home this lovely one of a kind Damascus Hell's Belle which is beautiful and has a rare square Dog Bone style handle which Bill says he has not done before. He has done other dog bone handles but none like this. The carbon blade is 9 1/2 the Belle is a nasty 11 inch piece. Tuesday night he is coming over for dinner and to stay the night with his lovely wife Sidra. I am very excited for the chance to talk hunting and knives with him and will let ya all know how it goes. These two blades where made in the last few months. Thanks for looking
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Keith I think almost all of Bill's carbon bowies have mirror polishes on them. I do not want to speak for the man but I am pretty sure his logic is that the high polish it easier to keep from rusting and is easier to buff small scratches out. I love a fine hand sanded blade but they are a bitch to touch up and they rust quicker than a mirror polish. I usually like for looks the hand rubbed or high sanded blades but a mirror polish really works on his blades everything has to be straight or it shows and these 9 1/2 to ten inch pieces are a real favorite of mine.
 
Very nice. As i stated in a previous bagwell thread, I actually like the carbon/stag knife better than the damscus piece. Call me silly.:D The older bagwell that I sold recently had a hand rubed finish but the carbon knives that Bill had at the Ohio Classic show had a buffed mirror finish. I thought they were very well done. I'm to the point where i am ok with either type of finish as long as it is done well. I would love to know where Mr. Bagwell got his large 1084 stock.
 
What an experience! .. And dinner too?.. I must admit being a little ashamed and surprised! ..i did't know Bill Bagwell was still around. I've even had one of his knives, but have been in the dark about the man. I did learn several years ago he was one of the original founders of the ABS, right? ..maybe JP, you can fill us in on some of his history.. (i might be the only ignorant among us , but I'd like to hear more) wish i could see your photos!..my phone computer only shows "x" bummer! ..still think your avatar knife is classic beauty! thumbs up!
David
 
David there are more eloquent people that are far more knowlegeble than I am on the history Of Mr. Bagwell and the AbS. All I know is that Bill was a member of the founding members and he was the author of the knife column in Soldier of Fortune for many years. He is probale best known for his fighting bowies and you could say he kinda wrote the book on the subject. He believe's as do many others that the properly forged fighting bowie is the best knife for combat and I agree with him. He has his fans and he has his oponents. He has done nothing but treat me like a gentleman and are friendship has grown. We both like to hunt and that and our love of bowies makes for good conversation. There is something about his bowie's that say's you can bet your ass on me I won't let you down kinda feel. There balance and live feel are hard to beat and I think any bowie collection is lacking without one of Bill's blade's . As an investment I think one of his bowie's is a very solid buy, king of fighting bowie's and being one of the founding members of the ABS. Bill once said to me someone said he could not make a pretty knife (i disagree) but he sure could make a scary knife. Alot of people seem to think Bill is retired and not around anymore. This is not true He Still makes a limited amount of knives each year he has made me two in the last year. He likes to do bowie's I believe mostly and I do not blame him for that. I have some of his older work and it is excellent but I am not alone when I say I think he is doing his best work right now. He also shoots and hunts for the Black powder co. Goex He was in Africa this past year and he and his lovely wife also shoot in competitions. His wife is quite accomplished. He is a wealth of stories and knowledge and I am looking forward to their visit.
 
To my eye, the carbon knife may be about as close as you can get to a perfectly proportioned big fighting bowie. Mr. Bagwell has made some changes to the shape of the blade and the grind of the clip since he made the knife i used to own and i like the results. Yeah, I know that "brass has no class" but i could live with that...lol. I want to try to make one like that with blued 1018 fittings;)
 
Joe you are right the clip is slightly different than my old one and I to do not like brass but thats what it had. Would love to see one like it with blued fittings.
RAN thanks I agree
 
jdm61 said:
Yeah, I know that "brass has no class" but i could live with that...lol. I want to try to make one like that with blued 1018 fittings;)
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You know we will all want to see pics (and use the knife for a few months) when you're done.

I wouldn't write off written-off materials so fast these days. Giraffe bone is supposed to be something that only wows newbs like me, but Sfreddo recently made a bowie with giraffe-bone scales that was breath-taking (saw it in this forum over the past 30 days), so why not brass? In JParanee's new Bagwell, it looks like it's meant to be there and will set you on fire and kick your sensitive areas if you dismiss for being just brass. So I agree that, in general, blued mild steel looks better most of the time, just not this time.

JParanee said:
Thanks Joe , I'm a sucker for simple carbon and stag bowie's myself
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I'm not usually drawn to them; especially not the simple ones. Usually, it's the stag bowies with the nickel silver butt-cap engraved to look like a continuation of the stag and the blued damascus spacers on the engraved nickel silver guard leading to a blade with a wildly ferocious hamon on the blade that get me all gaw-gaw, but I really like your new Bagwell. My feeble mind can't begin to imagine the skill needed to make a 'simple stag and carbon bowie' look that good. I don't know how the other guys develop the talent to accomplish the complicated bowies, either, but there's something about your newest Bagwell's simplicity that betrays a huge amount of talent.
 
Thombrogan you are right everything just works on this knife and it's simplistic nature I think in a way adds to it . It's design and execusion speak for it self in volumes it is just a clean bad ass bowie that you know will get the job done. Thanks for all your comments
 
I just want to say that you would be amazed how well the dog bone handle fits in the hand. This piece is a traditional style bowie from Mr. Bagwell. For the size of this blade it is well balanced and amazingly light and sharp as anything. Meeting Mr. Bagwell and listening to him talk about what goes into the making of his knives gave me an appreciation of his work of which I knew was already surperior to anything I have ever held in my hand. His wife Sidra makes a sturdy leather sheath to hold this magnificent blade and I am proud to have it as part of my collection! Have a knife day! :)
Nick
 
This is a pic from when Bill Bagwell and his wife came for dinner and to visit overnight. We talked about knives a bit but mostly we spoke about hunting. It was a pleasure to have him and I really enjoyed it
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