Bowies

[Thrustus]

Send in pics of your Bowies. I will send in pics of mine later when my son shows me how to post photos.

 

[Buffalohump]

This is all I have at present: Stephan Fowler Rebel Fighter and Cold Steel Natchez.

 

[jwise]

Those are BEAUTIFUL bowies! Is that a composite blade on the Fowler?

I have always wanted a nice bowie, but until I get one, I have this:

It is just a place-holder, but it is fun to play with until I get a real one.

 

[Nternal]

Anybody have pictures of a laredo? I was thinking of getting one but I wanted to see owner pictures.

 

[BryFry]

Here's a Laredo, and a Fallkniven Thor...

More Thor next to its smaller sibling-

Crowell/Barker competition bowie-

Laredo again, after I customized it a bit-

Ontario and classic Ka-Bar...

 

[Nternal]

How do you like the laredo?

 

[BryFry]

How do you like the laredo?

I like it alot. The SK-5 version is a great knife for the money. I like the old western style of it, it feels very well ballanced and fast in the hand. It has a rather uniquely styled tang that is half welded cable, (sounds weird, but is quite strong and offers improved balance and perhaps better shock absorbtion).

I think it is designed more towards a fighting style of bowie, and I believe it would work well as such. But I've also taken it out camping a few times, and it chops wood and slices pretty well too. Sk-5 steel seems to be pretty decent in my experience. pretty tough, sharpens well, and holds an edge OK.

Fit and finish on mine was OK, though the grinds on the blade were not perfect. Comes with a good looking leather sheath that is of the fast-draw retension type. Meaning that there is no snap or strap to keep the knife from falling out of the sheath, but I solved that with a small length of leather cord on mine.

As you can see in my pics, I went ahead and personalized my Laredo to my liking. It is quite nice when new, but I personally felt that the handle was a tad bit slippery and had slightly sharpish edges, so I sanded it down, rounded the edges, roughed it up a bit, and engraved it for better grip.

I also enlarged the choil to make it big enough for my finger, then ground down the gaurd on the sides to make it easier to choke up on the blade, and give the knife an overall slimmer/flatter profile. The filework and patina were mostly for looks, but I think that the darker blade would also make sense for a potential fighting knife as the dark blade is harder for your "enemy" to track with his eyes. (not that I expect to get in any knife fights any time soon )

If you're thinking of getting one< i say go for it! :thumbup: I think you'll like it.

 

[Ebbtide]

Take a look at the old, discontinued Western W49.
Quality steel, not stupidly thick. Worn, used models are still affordable.
I bought this here in the BS&T

With a little elbow grease and some hand tools I turned it into this

I think BryFry would agree, personalizing a knife can be quite rewarding.

 

[Georgia Guy]

BRYFRY,
what did you use to grid down the choil and the gaurd sides? Also how did you get the solid patiana?

 

[cziv]

double posting ...oops

 

[cziv]

I'm still working on my Western W-49. I used all of the techniques from that website you sent me to ebbtide. I've hand rubbed it with baby oil and 200, 300, 400, 600 grit sandpaper & oil. I went over it again with the white scotchbrite pad (the lightest) which scratched it up so I went through the whole process again.

I've pretty well abandoned getting it as clean as yours since it was really bad when I got it. I'm about ready to file the rise out of the top and trim the handles and call it a "user." It does cut pretty darn good, had it out the other day cutting some dead branches.

Here's 2 mos. ago first:

Here's after many many more hours of sanding with oil on the paper. It doesn't look much different.

 

[Nternal]

I like it alot. The SK-5 version is a great knife for the money. I like the old western style of it, it feels very well ballanced and fast in the hand. It has a rather uniquely styled tang that is half welded cable, (sounds weird, but is quite strong and offers improved balance and perhaps better shock absorbtion).

I think it is designed more towards a fighting style of bowie, and I believe it would work well as such. But I've also taken it out camping a few times, and it chops wood and slices pretty well too. Sk-5 steel seems to be pretty decent in my experience. pretty tough, sharpens well, and holds an edge OK.

Fit and finish on mine was OK, though the grinds on the blade were not perfect. Comes with a good looking leather sheath that is of the fast-draw retension type. Meaning that there is no snap or strap to keep the knife from falling out of the sheath, but I solved that with a small length of leather cord on mine.

As you can see in my pics, I went ahead and personalized my Laredo to my liking. It is quite nice when new, but I personally felt that the handle was a tad bit slippery and had slightly sharpish edges, so I sanded it down, rounded the edges, roughed it up a bit, and engraved it for better grip.

I also enlarged the choil to make it big enough for my finger, then ground down the gaurd on the sides to make it easier to choke up on the blade, and give the knife an overall slimmer/flatter profile. The filework and patina were mostly for looks, but I think that the darker blade would also make sense for a potential fighting knife as the dark blade is harder for your "enemy" to track with his eyes. (not that I expect to get in any knife fights any time soon )

If you're thinking of getting one< i say go for it! :thumbup: I think you'll like it.

For some reason I am not convinced that the laredo (maybe the shape?) is that much of a chopper and it wouldn't be able to take a forearm or arm off like the natchez would. Am I right or do you think it has substantial cleaving ability in a defensive situation. You have handled it in your hand and I have not and so maybe my concerns are just being paranoid.

 

[hodgescl]

http://i566.photobucket.com/albums/ss107/Nathan_the_Machinist/by_hodgescl_083010/knife2001.jpg

 

[BryFry]

For some reason I am not convinced that the laredo (maybe the shape?) is that much of a chopper and it wouldn't be able to take a forearm or arm off like the natchez would. Am I right or do you think it has substantial cleaving ability in a defensive situation. You have handled it in your hand and I have not and so maybe my concerns are just being paranoid.

The Natchez is bigger, and has a slight curve to the blade where as the Laredo is straight, so yes the Natchez is more effective at chopping. That being said, I still think you could take a hand off at the wrist with the Laredo and do serious damage to any human body part you strike with it.

The only real advantages the Laredo has over the Natchez in a fight is that it is faster, and more easily concealed.

I do believe CS will be offering an SK-5 version Natchez soon. I plan on picking one up myself. From what I've seen the only thing I don't like about the new SK Natchez is the quite unatractive kydex sheath it will come with.

 

[BryFry]

BRYFRY,
what did you use to grid down the choil and the gaurd sides? Also how did you get the solid patiana?

For the choil I used a dremel sanding drum. For the gaurd I started with a circular bech grinder, (I was very careful not to let it get too hot) then finished with sandpaper. I ended up with a nice concave halfmoon kinda shape instead of the oval shape of the original. Here's a better pic...

I played around with some different meathods a making a patina, but first I sanded the blade to a nice smooth finish, then I sprayed the blade with different chemicals like bleech, vinigar, and lemon juice juice. Mostly because I wanted to purposely cause a bit of pitting for that old timey look. Then I tried darkening it up with different stuff, but finally decided I liked using liquid gun blueing the best. Here's a pick of an early attempt at a patina....

I once tried to make a faux hammon line, but didn't like how it turned out, so later I decided to give it a more solid overall patina, again using liquid gun blueing, and just wiping it on with a cloth.

I'll try to look and see what the brand of blueing was that I used, ...can't remember right now.

 

[Nternal]

Yeah I'm also considering the crkt hisshou but It's a little too long to carry as easy as the bowies but It can probably take a limb off close to as good as the natchez and better than the laredo.

 

[BryFry]

cziv & Ebbtide: I love those W49's! That was one of my alltime favorite knives as a kid! My step brother had one when I was growing up and I was always trying to get him to trade or sell it to me... haha! I need to pick one up some time.
Ebbtide, that is some great work with the sandpaper!

Nternal: Yeah, I really like the look of that Hisshou as a fighter. I haven't handled one, but I would be curious how it compares as a chopper. But just going by length, weight, and blade profile I would guess them to be pretty close. That curved edge on the CRKT is a bit of an advantage, but the wider blade, and full flat grind of the Laredo helps it alot too.

 

[cziv]

BryFry - thanks, it's a big ol' knife. My Dad gave it to me a few months ago. It had been hanging on his wall for almost 40 years, I don't think he even noticed how time had ravaged it since his eyes aren't as sharp at 90 as they were once. It was so micro-pitted that I've sanded it to almost a FFG. The shiny spot in the center of the blade is what's left of the top section (swedge?) transitioning to the bottom 1/2 - not sure of the terms.

It looks much better in the natural light than in those pictures which were taken under flourescent lights with a flash, which shows every miniscule thing in more detail than the eye sees.

I was thinking of maybe going to 800, then 1000 grit before I cut the guards down and file the top like ebbtide did. Maybe it will smooth it out more.

Quite honestly it's a "project" since I could have worked overtime 1/10th the hours I've spent on it and bought a beautiful Bowie with the earnings but sharpening and sanding, sometimes makes a boring evening a lot more fun. I think some of you guys can relate.

BTW, I really dig the gun bluing finish and the concave grind on the hand guard. Excellent modifications. :thumbup:

 

[Big Mike]

Bowies?, ...here's a few.































Big Mike

 

[cziv]

Very nice Big Mike!