Some basic Bowie advice for your first one:
1) Most folks greatly overbuild their first Bowie. Avoid making it a 2-pound steel club. 3/16" is plenty thick. Lighter is faster.
Gigantic Bowies with 15" blades may look cool on the wall but are pretty much useless otherwise.
For your experience and tool availability, I would suggest a more modest 8-10" blade and 4.5" handle.
2) Go slow. Take a little off at a time in shaping the profile. You can't put the steel back once cut/ground away. Shape things a bit at a time. Leave the final clip shape for last.
3) The tang style that looks best is usually a full tang. The coffin handle is the classic. It looks good with just two or three mosaic pins or the classic perimeter rows of many thin pins. Hidden tang works, too, but requires more precise fitting, especially if you have a curved tang. A hidden tang is best looking on a Bowie with a finial nut or acorn nut for takedown.
4) Start simple. Fullers and brass backs are great but add a lot to the complexity of the build. Done right they look good. Done wrong, or even mediocre, they can ruin the look of the knife.
5) Pay attention to the ricasso drop and length. Too much length or a drop that is out of proportion can really make the blade look "off".
6) Keep the guard simple and in proportion. Many are far too large and wide.
7) The Bowie is the only knife that I actually like the "Brut-de-Forge look on. Leaving the upper bevels as forged has a rustic look that fits a Bowie. If doing stock removal, once the profile is done and shaped you can anneal the blade and then work the upper bevels with a ball pein hammer texturing hammer. Take a small to medium size ball pein hammer and grind the ball to a cone ending in a 1/4" to 1/2" hemispherical shape (depending on the size divots desired). Sand to 400 grit and polish shiny on the buffer. This tool will leave perfect divots. Go over the area many times to get an even pattern. You can make a set of these with faces from 1/8" to 1/2" for texturing all sorts of things. Sometimes I start with a larger one to get a rough coverage and then go over it with a smaller pein.
A simpler method is to leave the upper bevels at 100-220 grit and finish the lower bevels to 800-1000 grit. Don't do much on the upper bevels beyond the initial shaping and finish the lower bevels to the desired grit. Go back over the upper bevel with a hard backed 100-220 grit paper after the lower bevels are done. Even better is to use a coarse EDM stone on the upper bevels. Once the HT is done and the blade cleaned up, etch in FC and then clean up the lower bevels to make them bright. Note - It is a good idea to tape off the finished areas while doing the coarser work on the upper bevels to avoid scratches.
8) The sheath is an important part of a Bowie. Research them and spend your time making a well fitted sheath. If that isn't your skill set, find someone who does leather sheaths and holsters to do it for you. An old coin or concho is a nice feature on the sheath.
Biggest Tip - Make the proposed blade template in 1/4" wood first. Start with just the profile. Look it over and see if the silhouette looks right. Then add the bevels. Make several in different shapes if needed to get what looks best before drawing on the steel and cutting out.
