Bowie thickness

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69_knives

69_knives

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Nov 20, 2008
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I'm just pondering the question; when is a blade too thick?

and for that matter, too thin?

Is there an unwritten or written ratio for thickness to length. Should a bowie be capable of prying brake drums off a dump truck?

I kind of like the idea of being able to have the bowie sheathed on your hip without needing suspenders to keep your pants up.

So what's the average thickness 1/8", 3/16", 1/4" or bigger? My first one was just a hair over 1/8" and it seems to hold it's own hacking on a 2x4, maybe could be a little faster with more weight but how often does one really need to chop wood with a bowie?
 
I forge them out of 1/4" stock and that feels good to me. But there are some that have made some out of 3/8 or even 5/16 stock. bit big for me but 1/4 may be big for you. Kind of a personal prefrence. But most of the bowies I have handled or made have been 1/4 at the spine/ricaso.
 
I see. I am starting with 3/8" stock and forging down to whatever thickness it ends up at. Last 3 knives have been around 1/8" final thickness..

I guess I should get some thinner stock and make my life a whole lot easier. :)
 
My 9-10 1/2 inch bowies end up in the 1/4 to 5/16 range at the ricasso, but they have pretty much a straight taper to the point from the plunge cuts. I have done a couple of camp choppers the same way and they work just fine and don't weigh a ton. I don't like heavy knives that feel like you are holding a crowbar. On a big bowie in the 11 inch x 2 inch range, I would probably go a bit over 5/16. My fighters tend to be 3/16-1/4 and hunter go 3/16 or maybe a hair thinner.
 
I am doing a bowie for a customer that is around 13" x 2.75 and im forging it out of 1" round. but it will be 1/4" at the spine and have a distal taper to the tip. i think balance is somthing to consider when picking a blade thickness. you dont want it to blade heavy to where it feels weird to handle.
 
When it feels right, it is right IMHO. that said, I'm with the 3/16-1/4" crowd...

-d
 
I usually go 3/16. If it's a real heavy chopper I'll use 1/4, but in either case I like a nice distal taper from ricasso to point. A thinner knife works much better for cutting small limbs and brush while a thicker one will work better for chopping down trees. I did a comparison of an 8inch blade 3/16 thick with a lot of taper and a thin edge against an 18 inch blade that was a little over 1/4 inch thick with a thicker edge. For stuff up to 1 inch thick the small knife would cut better up to about 2 inches they were pretty similar and beyond that the big knife won. So it's really all about what the intended use for the knife is. You just have to decide if you want a machete or an axe.
 
JTknives said:
I am doing a bowie for a customer that is around 13" x 2.75 and im forging it out of 1" round. but it will be 1/4" at the spine and have a distal taper to the tip. i think balance is somthing to consider when picking a blade thickness. you dont want it to blade heavy to where it feels weird to handle.
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How's the flex on the blade because swords also have a bending angle . It's where you bend the ladder (swords as much as 10 degrees maybe more. So I'm wondering if the same could take part
 
This is a 15-yerar-old thread from 2009. The OP hasn't been here in 11 years. Look at the dates when pulling up old threads.
 
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