Best blade grind for Bowie knife?

Why limit yourself by calling it a Bowie? Nobody knows what a true Bowie is anyway. Design the knife you want.

I would want the point in line with the spine, no more than an inch of false top edge to help with piercing, leaving alot of thick spine for batoning.

Full flat grind. Minimal guard.

I’m a big fan of the 124, I don’t think tgey are fragile in any way, but would like one about 2” longer.

I cannot see myself enjoying food prep with a knife that is good for batoning. 2 knives is the answer for me. Even if the second one is just a pairing knife.
 
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When I think bowie, I don’t think chopper. Maybe you mean a bowie-esque blade profile?

Listen to the blade makers above as they are giving good advice.
 
tltt said:
Full flat. I'd also look for a a straight back shape. Reading your requirements, my mind flashed on the old Browning Crowell design or something like Becker Fisk Magnum Camp shapewise.
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Both the Barker/Crowell & Becker's BK5 are a couple of my Favorite knives....they are almost perfect.

And one of the reasons I started making knives. Making them just how (I) believe they Should be.

:D
 
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not2sharp said:
Bill Siegle is the maker. He has been making knives for over 30 years in Oregon and specializes in camp/wood working tools. The steel is zone tempered 5160 which works well for this application. 5160 is a carbon steel primarily used for suspension and springs on all manner of vehicles. It holds up well to repeated impact, holds a good edge, and is corrosion resistant. I have a few of his knives and they work great. The knife I linked above is one of a kind. He tends to make his knives individually, so the shapes and designs are constantly changing. He likes to experiment and is always coming up with new knives.

Here is his sub-forum on Bladeforums, where you can see the types of knives that he likes to make:

Siegle Knives

Designer and builder of quality, affordable cutting tools meant to be used. http://www.siegleknives.com
www.bladeforums.com www.bladeforums.com

N2s
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If you like it, and you have the money, I would definitely buy it. I do prefer carbon spring steel, like 5160 or 52100, as opposed to standard carbon steel (1075-1095). I'm currently looking for an Ontario Bushcraft Woodsman in 5160. At some point, Ontario switched the steel type to 420HC. 420HC actually doesn't bother me much, since I already have so many large, high carbon steel knives, like my Ontario SP10 in 1075 steel. However, the 5160 versions are difficult to find, now that OKC got bought out by Blue Ridge Knives. I could actually use a large stainless steel knife. 420HC isn't truly stainless, but it takes a lot less care than an uncoated carbon steel blade. I just feel like the 420HC versions should be less expensive than the 5160 versions.
 
DDDYLN said:
If you like it, and you have the money, I would definitely buy it. I do prefer carbon spring steel, like 5160 or 52100, as opposed to standard carbon steel (1075-1095). I'm currently looking for an Ontario Bushcraft Woodsman in 5160. At some point, Ontario switched the steel type to 420HC. 420HC actually doesn't bother me much, since I already have so many large, high carbon steel knives, like my Ontario SP10 in 1075 steel. However, the 5160 versions are difficult to find, now that OKC got bought out by Blue Ridge Knives. I could actually use a large stainless steel knife. 420HC isn't truly stainless, but it takes a lot less care than an uncoated carbon steel blade. I just feel like the 420HC versions should be less expensive than the 5160 versions.
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I've found 420HC to be highly corrosion resistant, as well as very tough. I rescued a 119 from the bilges of a west coast saltwater fishing boat where it had been immersed long enough for the sheath to be completely soaked and ruined. The knife cleaned up nicely with no rust, pitting or other corrosion.
 
y53p said:
I might be getting a custom Bowie knife in elmax with an 8 inch blade. I’ll use it for pretty much everything from chopping to batoning to food prep and I was wondering which blade geometry would join together toughness with slicing capability (btw it’ll have a secondary bevel and not a convex).
Hollow is out of the question because it’s frail and bad for chopping, so it would be between a high sabre grind and a full flat.

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A regular sabre will likely be too blocky on slicing tasks but I’m up for debate on either one of these types of grinds above.
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It depends on your desired use for the Bowie knife. I prefer large Bowie knives that can be used as survival knives in addition to self defense knives. In my experience, a partial flat grind make the most sense, meaning a flat grind that transitions to the full spine thickness about halfway up the height of the blade. I also prefer more of a spear point as opposed to an exaggerated upsweep at the top with a steel swedge. It makes for a stronger tip, and I actually think it works better for piercing.
 
What stock thickness are you thinking? The overall thickness makes a big difference in how the grind will work and change the strength or the possible strength. I like a bigger blade with 3/16" thickness VS thicker unless you do something like a hollow grind to help with slicing. A saber grind will perform better on thinner stock as will a a full flat grind but when you get thicker you lose a lot of utility for food prep and fine cutting. The Becker BK9 is just about as perfect a bowie style knife as you can get but I have always wanted a custom version in a better steel without the sharpening choil or the extended pommel.
 
There is no best, just different.
First define the primary use.
Let’s use the knives I’ve posted above as examples.
The Browning is a beast. In my book, a camp knife.
A chopper. Heavy , thick, the full flat grind & apple seed edge excels at chopping.
The W 49 is a Bowie, thinner, lighter, quicker. More weapon oriented but still capable of some camp chores. The saber grind gives the thinner blade considerable strength. I put a convex edge on it (& 90% of my knives).
PJ Tomes’ San Francisco Price style Bowie is lighter yet. No chopper by any means. Designed as a weapon it’d be equally at home in a camp kitchen or butchering station. Full flat grind & apple seed edge make it a remarkable slicer.
The Stromeng, with its Scandi grind is a fine carver, kitchen and camp knife. Very thin & lightweight, I wouldn’t want to chop with it but it’s the one I’d grab to make a walking stick or even a marshmallow stick lol. Used it for food prep at the campsite plenty of times too.

It’s all a matter of compromise.
Do you want a “jack of all trades master of none” or a specific tool that will lack in other areas?

The W 49 is the one I’d pick.
The Tomes is my BBQ bowie
In reality I’d get along just fine with the Stromeng.

Hope this helps, and makes sense. Typing on my phone is laborious at best…..
 
Ebbtide said:
There is no best, just different.
First define the primary use.
Let’s use the knives I’ve posted above as examples.
The Browning is a beast. In my book, a camp knife.
A chopper. Heavy , thick, the full flat grind & apple seed edge excels at chopping.
The W 49 is a Bowie, thinner, lighter, quicker. More weapon oriented but still capable of some camp chores. The saber grind gives the thinner blade considerable strength. I put a convex edge on it (& 90% of my knives).
PJ Tomes’ San Francisco Price style Bowie is lighter yet. No chopper by any means. Designed as a weapon it’d be equally at home in a camp kitchen or butchering station. Full flat grind & apple seed edge make it a remarkable slicer.
The Stromeng, with its Scandi grind is a fine carver, kitchen and camp knife. Very thin & lightweight, I wouldn’t want to chop with it but it’s the one I’d grab to make a walking stick or even a marshmallow stick lol. Used it for food prep at the campsite plenty of times too.

It’s all a matter of compromise.
Do you want a “jack of all trades master of none” or a specific tool that will lack in other areas?

The W 49 is the one I’d pick.
The Tomes is my BBQ bowie
In reality I’d get along just fine with the Stromeng.

Hope this helps, and makes sense. Typing on my phone is laborious at best…..
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The Browning C/B is almost the perfect blade.....
My personal one sucks, but still it offers Much inspiration. Mine is bent with a bad handle. My wishing it came better is one of the inspirations for me to start Making... :)
 
One of my custom bowies is made out of 52100 and it has been through hell and back.. It was in my edc rotation while I was working and now it is still in rotation since I have retired.. It's design is based on the Charlie Och's special ops bowie that I had tweaked for my needsthumbnail (1) special ops bowie.jpg
 
junglefighter said:
One of my custom bowies is made out of 52100 and it has been through hell and back.. It was in my edc rotation while I was working and now it is still in rotation since I have retired.. It's design is based on the Charlie Och's special ops bowie that I had tweaked for my needsView attachment 3071543
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Ive always. Oogled and Drooled over that puppy right there......Sweet blade and pants..👍👍👍
 
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