I just recently acquired a mid-70s the early '80s belt buckle dagger style bowen with original belt and I'm trying to find out a little more information about it and what can I bring the leather back with it's decent but to keep it conditioned so I can wear it every now and then and keep it as a collectors..
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Photos Bowen belt buckle knife and belt
- Thread starter boltsup88
- Start date
What type of information are you looking for? I can tell you that Bowen catalogs from the mid 1970's through the late 1980's state that their knives were made from 440C stainless steel (which was considered a "super steel" of that time period. And still a very decent steel today).
Here's a catalog from 1976-
An excerpt from that 1976 catalog-
Here's a catalog from 1987. Hard to see, but it also says the steel is 440C-
As far as restoring old leather, I use mink oil. Others may have other methods.
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Here's a catalog from 1976-
An excerpt from that 1976 catalog-
Here's a catalog from 1987. Hard to see, but it also says the steel is 440C-
As far as restoring old leather, I use mink oil. Others may have other methods.
.
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- Jun 29, 1999
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I remember those, but I could never figure out how you would keep your pants up once you pulled the knife out.
lukusamongus
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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- Apr 28, 2024
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Wipe the belt down with neatsfoot oil or mink oil. Give it 30 minutes or so to soak into the leather. Follow up by wiping down again. Don't soak too much in right off, you can over do it. As long as it's not cracked, you can probably make it pliable like new.
FYI. Pretty sure mink oil isn't from squeezed minks any longer. darn it.
FYI. Pretty sure mink oil isn't from squeezed minks any longer. darn it.