Bowie Questions

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Dixieblade57

Joined
Jun 20, 2007
Messages
1,361
I need your opinion on this! I want to build a Bowie with a blade having these approx. demnsions:

blade to be made from 1/4" thick steel

11" length blade

1 5/8" width

The reason I ask about this is I am trying to draw a, to scale drawing and the curve of the blade and the clip point does not look right. Something about it, is not proportionate! I really want to get this problem solved so I don't end wasting a piece of steel!

I do not want to change the length!

Is the problem the 1 5/8" width of the blade, should the blade be wider for the 11" length?

Or is the problem the blade curve and/or the clip point?

Anybody got any suggestions, on the question of proportion problem with this blade? I think I know the problem but I don't want to influence any one else's opinion.

1'' scale drawing scanned for this pic attached:
Note* my scanner does not do a perfect 1" square when I scan, it will be slightly smaller.

bowieblade.jpg


This is kind of pre-build critique on design!
 
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Thanks Mike,

That is exactly what I suppected was the width was too narrow, because no matter how I played around with the blade curve and clip I couldn't get it to look right.

Can I ask you a few questions?

How the heck did you do that image you posted under mine?

Have you got a program that you use to draw it with and if you do what is it, and where can I get one?

That is the slickest thing I have seen. Man you talk about making life much easier! Again thanks for confirming my suspicions
 
Dixieblade57 said:
Thanks Mike,


How the heck did you do that image you posted under mine?

Have you got a program that you use to draw it with and if you do what is it, and where can I get one?

That is the slickest thing I have seen. Man you talk about making life much easier! Again thanks for confirming my suspicions
Click to expand...

I do my drawings in Photoshop. It is fairly expensive and has a steep learning curve but I find it invaluable for doing "what if" designs and then rendering a good picture to show a customer. I also use it to printout full sized blade templates that can be traced onto bar stock.

One of the neat things is that you can work in layers. The blade, handle, guard, etc. can be drawn in separate layers and shown or redeigned individually.

Some people use CAD programs but they too are usually rather expensive and hard to master.

A good example of how I use Photoshop is shown on my website where I show the development of some of my custom orders. I can send the customer variations of a design to help them decide exactly what they want. See Making the Cheyenne Bowie for example.

Mike
 
D*%^ Mike,

That is the slickest thing since white bread, as they say!:eek:

I am not sure if I like the program better or that tutorial you made on the Making the Cheyenne Bowie, or the Bowie itself! Really great work on all, and thanks for the info on the drawing program. That could definately be handy for design and looking at options to scale! :cool: :thumbup: :thumbup:
 
My pleasure and thanks for the compliments.

I remember once seeing a pretty good tutorial somewhere on the Internet about how to "cyber" a knife in Photoshop. I don't have the link so you will have to search for it. It probably won't make much sense to you unless you have used the program some but it shows you some of the basics of the program.
 
A knife with a blade length of 11 inchs, sets the overall length at sixteen or sixteen and a half inches, which is a lot of knife in anyones book. As mentioned above I also believe the blade is to narrow for the length, just under 2" seems about right. If you add that much width to the blade, it will change the overall look a great deal.
An 1/8 of an inch is a lot on a knife.

Quarter inch material, at 11 inches is not overly thick. You don't have much to play with. This is a forgers viewpoint of course.

To me; A knife of that length looks odd when it is straight, they need curvature along the handle and spine. Unless it is a stabbing weapon like a dagger or rapier tanto and the like.
If its only meant to pierce, make it straight; if its both a chopping knife as well as a stabbing weapon, the point and nose of the knife needs to be below the hand that's holding it.

Go on Donn Foggs site and look at the bowies and fighters there. One theme you will notice overall, is most big knives don't have many straight lines to them.

This is a 121/2" ring guard fighter I made last year. Not a straight line in it.

Fred

aou.jpg
 
1 5/8 is not too narrow. I you are asking, I would suggest going with a flat grind and maybe shortening or shallowing the clip a bit. Also, a good rule of thumb is to line the point of the knife up with the center of the handle at the guard. If you want to raise it or lower it a tad, then go ahead, but start with it centered and see how it looks.
 
Thanks to everyone who posted on this subject! I had find the thread as it had gotten bumped to the next page, this morning. I did percesion work for alot of years and usually have a pretty discriminating eye but, for carpenter work. :D
It's taking me a while to put that to use in knifemaking. My eye told me it wasn't right but couldn't quit put a finger on the problem. I highly suspected the width was probably part of the problem but was unsure I liked the lines of the clip.
Now I got several sugggestions on how to play around with the design I am going back to the drawing board.
I have found out over the years when I like a piece I am building, others usually will too.
If I don't like it, I don't care how many others like it, I will never be satisfied with it, and it will not go out of my shop,except in the trash!
 
FYI, the knife in the center of the photo of these Randalls is 11" x 1-7/8" x 1/4". Looks pretty good to me.

bowie-big.jpg
 
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