Collecting Custom Bowies

AV8R said:
TJ:

Don't go with wood on a bowie. Okay for hunters, but not bowies.
Pete
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Overall, very good advice, Pete, but I humbly disagree with this one.

Burt Foster does quite a bit of work with wood on his bowies. Nobody ever passed on one because of this choice. Same with the El Diablo by Harvey Dean. Signature style to be sure, and guess what, commonly handled with, you guessed it, desert ironWOOD. Would rather have a knife handled in a material that the maker felt comfortable doing, than screwing it up with something that doesn't work.

Wood of some fabulous figure would be an upgrade on a Loveless, who normally uses green micarta as a preferred handle material.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
I was kind of envisioning the generic carbon steel / wood handled M.S. bowies that have gotten relatively common place when I said that. But you're right, wood is fine on certain bowies. Most certainly an upgrade from micarta on a collector knife. I'll agree with you to an even greater extent, too, in that I'd take really fine wood over a lot of the boring, colorless stag that we sometimes see. Really premium ironwood can be a thing of ultimate beauty. Truly beautiful and high grade stag, though, will bring a carbon steel bowie to the next level in terms of desireability.

Pete
 
So what's wrong with wood on a "using" knife? I have a few sticks of some pretty tough wood like lignum vitae and African blackwood that looks
good but aren't brittle like ironwood or snakewood. Seems to me that handles made from these woods woud be durable enough for hard use AND much prettier than micarta, G10 et al.
 
On that subject, I've been thinking about what handle material to use for my next big bowie. I keep coming back to wood because the handle will have a lot of 3 dimensional shaping and curves. If I tried to use stag for instance, I doubt I could find anything thick enough, and then would have to grind away almost all the texture anyway. Mammoth ivory? Again, I would have to grind away any "bark" or color the piece had so it would end up looking plain white anyhow. I do have some (legal) elephant ivory... As much as I respect synthetics from a durability & stability standpoint, I don't think they'd work right on this design. So, what other choices besides good wood are still considered "worthy" by most collectors, yet still allow freedom and room for shaping for a user?
 
By all means, if you're putting wood on a bowie, go spend the $40 or so for a premium block of ironwood burl, or at least buy a premium example of some other wood (which would be cheaper). There are too many expensive bowies with oh-hum wood handles.
 
For $2500 you could get one hell of a Damascus bowie but may I suggest a bowie and hunter set? That way you can actually use the hunter/utility knife and keep the bowie pristine. Find the style you prefer whether it is more on the lines of a modern reproduction like a Dean or something racier like a Burt Foster or Jason Knight.

For my money, I don't think anyone in the USA makes a better looking or performing bowie knife than Jason Knight. His typical 10" bowie is around $850 with basic trim. Damascus is about 50-70% more expensive. His hunters start at $375. His sheathwork is simple but good. A slight step up pricewise is Burt Foster who tends to make a fancier knife than Jason and does more laminated blades (way cool) and superb sheathing that is as good as any I have ever seen. Burt's prices are a bit higher (he is a Master rated 'smith, while Jason is testing for his Master rating this year) but still below that of many of the more established Master smiths. Your $2500 would go a long way here.

Like Peter, I really like the work of Sean McIntyre and also like the look of some of Lin Rhea's work. Lin is the least expensive of the bunch, but also the newest maker.

Since you like custom pistols, I am sure you have a favorite grip wood. I would build a Bowie and hunter using your favorite wood. You should be able to accomplish that for $1500. Take the other $1000 and go to the Blade Show and buy another bowie that you really love!
 
Contact Ricardo Vilar and inquire about his Bowie that won best Bowie at the Little Rock show. Damascus, stag handle with engraved butt cap and what I believe....a good price.
 
What, no wood on a bowie? I didn't get that memo: :rolleyes:

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A worthy choice for a working blade or exhibition grade, IMHO.

I love stag and the ivories as well, but as you have pointed out, those materals carry their limitation in terms of the degree to which they can be shaped.

If you're lucky enough to find a piece of stag like this:

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..great, but I promise you willl be looking long and hard.

Oh, and if anyone tells you that you can't do wood with damascus, well, I humbly beg to differ on that score as well:

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Roger
 
Roger, you have very good taste. Need I mention to take a look at Lin Rhea's Boone's Lick Bowie, another really good value in my opinion.
Bob
 
Vilar's bowie sold right before the show closed at Little Rock. Still am kicking myself!
 
The wood handles on your bowies are great and your next pic really shows how top shelf stag takes a carbon steel bowie to the next level.

Pete
 
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