Collecting Custom Bowies

tom mayo said:
Randy Morgan has been collecting knives since the time of Noah, and lately he has been selling off some of his stuff. He has exquisite taste, is VERY knowledgeble, and you cant go wrong buying the stuff he is selling.
Consider the fact that he has already done your homework for you........knows who to buy and the right prices to pay.

He has a Tom Ferry for sale right now that I would love to have!!!:)
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An excellent suggestion.
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The differing, and very good advice given here is why I would really recommend that you take the time to do your homework. I have found out over the years that collecting involves much more than just purchasing what you like.
 
tom mayo said:
Randy Morgan has been collecting knives since the time of Noah, and lately he has been selling off some of his stuff. He has exquisite taste, is VERY knowledgeble, and you cant go wrong buying the stuff he is selling.
Consider the fact that he has already done your homework for you........knows who to buy and the right prices to pay.

He has a Tom Ferry for sale right now that I would love to have!!!:)
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although i haven't handled the knives randy morgan (nifrand) offers for sale right now, i second mr mayo's suggestion. i bought a greg neely bowie from randy a few months ago and it exceeded my expectations in every respect.

but maybe it's better to hang around here for a while and to follow the advice others, who are much more knowledgable than i am, gave in this thread. as a newbie regarding us-american bladesmiths (i live in switzerland) i learnt a lot here just by reading the contributions (and by drooling over the pictures they posted) of members like peter (ptgdvc), dan (danbo), keith, roger (rogerp) or even steven garsson (kohai999) and many others. however, welcome and have fun!

hans

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That Neely is sweet! We don't see nearly enough of his knives on the forums.

Roger
 
There are also custom knife dealer / experts such as Bob Neal and Les Robertson amount others, who are always happy to offer advise to collectors. Les has written a book "Custom Knives Buying Guide" which will prove to be very valuable in starting a custom knife collection.
I would reccommend attending the Blade Show in June and get there early Friday morning.

http://www.bobnealknives.com/1mainframe.shtml
http://www.robertsoncustomcutlery.com/
 
I bought my first forged bowie from Randy (nifrand) and can not possiby recommend him higher. Go with his stuff.

Rick
 
A lot of the Bowie knives offered for less than $1,000 have a pretty generic look: curvy wood handle, oval or 2-branch stainless steel or ni. silver guard, unfussed blade of carbon steel. They are the "bread and butter" production of many smiths. Even though they all are unique, they all share a pretty standard look. Every collection needs one, but I would caution you that the excitement they generate might trend down pretty sharply, compared to a more expensive but more ambitious design.
 
That Greg Neely bowie is a beauty. I'm not usually a fan of tiger/curly.fiddleback maple, but the way it was used on that knife really works for me.

Joss just made a really good point.
 
TJ,
You have gotten some excellent advice from quite a few very knowledgeable collectors.
My advice would be to spend as much time here as you can afford. :D

What Joss was referring to,I think,are 'typical' ABS Bowies/fighters.
Aside from some diversions,they are what I concentrate on most,now.
I also think he may be right on the more ambitious designs.

Hit the sites,Les',Bob's,KnifeLegends,BladeGallery,KnifeArt,SteelAddiction,etc.
You will see a lot of Bowies you like,I think.
Wait,come back here.
Read,ask questions.
Are you interested in Damascus?
What handle materials?
I think you will get more advice to follow. :D

Doug
 
WOW
This forum is great. I have been looking and reading a lot. This is a lot more complicated than I thought!! Looking at the knives are a blast. I don't know if I will ever become a serious collector. I can tell you my budget is not large enough. I might need to change my path a little and go more for the up and coming who offer great value. I think for my first purchase I want to limit it to about 350 to 550. Do you think this would get me something nice?

I located two 1911 pistols on the web sites which I thought was an outstanding value but I already had several like them so I passed. I gave the information to a guy who was looking at one of my guns and he purchased one of them. I was glad I could help.

If one of the "collectors", whom have posted see something for sale they are not interested but is a good value please shoot me an email.

Again thanks to all who have replied. This is by far the best forum I belong to.
TJ
 
So I'd probly go with Bill Bagwell myself, if not him, Jerry Fisk and Don Fogg make some sick bowies
 
tjtucker said:
I think for my first purchase I want to limit it to about 350 to 550. Do you think this would get me something nice?
TJ
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It certainly can get you something nice, though likely something very simple. And you will most likely be looking at the upper end of of that price range for a bowie as opposed to a hunter. Notwithstanding Joss' comments in this regard, I have always liked the simple, clean elemental bowie and generally have a few in my collection. Fancier does not always mean better. It is also not a bad place for a new collector to start for the obvious reasons. Even within this entry level category, I am pretty sure I could commision a dozen or so very different looking bowies, just playing with blade shape, blade size, fittings and handle materials. But in any event, you are talking about getting one knife, not several.

In this price range I would consider the following guys (not an exhaustive list, just who pops to mind as the first coffee of the day clears the cobwebs). A few may be just outside the upper edge, but could likely work with you to find a comfortable common ground.

Sam Butler
Craig Camerer
Brett Gatlin
Gordon Graham
Mike Johnson
Lin Rhea
Matt Roberts
Brion Tomberlin
Ricardo Vilar

If you use the search function you can probably find pics of their work here on the forums. If you go to the For sale by individual - custom knives sub forum you will find a few knives for sale by nifrand (Randy Morgan, as mentioned above. I believe he has a Graham and a Tomberlin.)

Roger
 
nobody mentioned Don Hanson III? is his work a worthy candidate also?
 
send me an email. I've been putting a small gun collection together, mainly 1911's. Been collecting bowies for a long time. Maybe we can exchange thoughts.

Pete
PLB737@sbcglobal.net
 
tom mayo said:
Randy Morgan has been collecting knives since the time of Noah, and lately he has been selling off some of his stuff. He has exquisite taste, is VERY knowledgeble, and you cant go wrong buying the stuff he is selling.
Consider the fact that he has already done your homework for you........knows who to buy and the right prices to pay.

He has a Tom Ferry for sale right now that I would love to have!!!:)
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Great advice. There are still a few of Randy's knives on the forum for sale and they are quite worthy initial investments for "testing the waters." Randy's prices seem very fair. I'm with you on the Ferry, Tom!
 
TJ:

More $$ than you mentioned you wanted to spend, but I'll be posting a Harvey Dean Southern bowie real soon. Carbon steel, stainless guard, exceptionally fantastic stag and 100% brand new condition. With sheath from Harvey. I bought the knife from Dave Ellis, who bought it from Harvey at Blade '06. I'm not trying to turn this into a "for sale" thread, but rather expressing my strong opinion that this is exactly the kind of knife that you want to invest in as a "knife novice". If I were you, I'd go for a signature style knife from a recognized top tier Mastersmith, who is active, has a backlog of orders, doing shows and is still reasonably priced. My personal choices here are Harvey Dean and Daniel Winkler. Two very different makers, but they both meet the criteria I laid out. I'd go with a signature style, large bowie from either one, carbon steel to keep it more affordable, nice stag handle. Don't go with wood on a bowie. Okay for hunters, but not bowies. If you buy one second hand, I like the knife to be 100% mint and original. Ask the seller if there are any pits in the blade, or handing marks. If so, pass on it. Go for 100% new condition. You'll spend in the $1600 to $1800 range, get a knife that you can be confident will hold all of it's value and that, in my opinion, will probably appreciate into the low $2000's before too long.

"Up and comers" are a tough call. At least for me. Sometimes a maker just never gets real "hot". Sometimes there's an identifiable reason for it and sometimes there just isn't. Dean and Winkler are already there, still relatively affordable with nowhere to go, but up. Believe it or not, bowies are a little soft right now. It's a great time to buy. No doubt, some here will have opinions that differ from mine. Gather all the opinions and do what makes the most sense to you.

On another note, I wanted to contact you and tap into your 1911 experience and opinions. Welcome to the knife world!

Pete
 
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