Confederate 1/2 "D" Guard Bowie

Dale Baxter

Dale Baxter

Joined
Sep 16, 2003
Messages
171
Who likes the 1/2 "D" guard Bowies of the Confederate states?

Many different styles were developed during the Civil War years the 1860s. Knives with clean, simple lines were made by the thousands and by upstart companies that wanted to take advantage of the liquid revenues that both sides were willfully supplying to anyone that could meet their needs.

One such knife was the 1/2 "D" guard Bowie. A slightly smaller version of the famous "D" Guard bowies that were used by both sided. The 1/2 "D" Guard bowies were cheaper to manufacture and could be made faster than it's larger cousins. Trading speed and agility for the brute strength and weight of the traditional 14-16" larger "D" guard Bowies, the smaller 7-10" knife found it's place within the smaller and more tactical units of the Confederate army.

The smaller 1/2 "D" guard will never replace it's larger cousin it the history books as the edged weapon of the Civil War, it does however deserve the respect it earned by few.
Oosic%20Bowie%201.jpg

I am using this Bowie as example because I forged it with an intent. This Bowie was forged to be similar to a Confederate bowie. The false edge has a slight arc from the spine to the tip of the blade and the skull crusher is a blind stud that covers a screw, similar to the original. The main differences are the scalloped guard and the stippling, the example bowie had a simple guard and plain surfaces.

Thank you for looking,

Dale Baxter
Dale Baxter Custom Knives
 
That's a terrific bowie Dale - looks great! What is the handle material?

Roger
 
My post was meant to revive an era in history and in knives.
But, thank you for your kind words.
The handle is Oosic marrow that has been stabilized and dyed to look like 150 year old bone. The furniture on the buttcap is German silver with a brass spacer, but it is not distractive. The skull crusher is a cap screw with a solid nickel ball soldered over the face of the screw, then shaped. The nickel can be removed to expose the screw, and take the knife apart, change the handle, guard, maintance....ect

I have been spending a lot of time with Alex K. Daniels and he is showing me the roots of our trade. The knives that started it all for so many people in the past, and today. I spend hours looking the antique Bowie book. The knives of our American past have a special place in my heart. I have enough respect for the Bladesmiths of our past not to copy their work to the letter, but so much enjoy making "Dale versions" of their work...does that make sense?

I can post more pictures of the Bowie if you would like to see some details?

Be safe,
Dale Baxter
 
Dale,

Alex does wonderful work and I would love to own one of his pieces someday.

I think your philosophy on how you want to create reproductions is noteworthy. Not so much a direct copy of an original, but rather your interpretation of how Dale Baxter would have made the knife. I like the idea of that and it certainly sounds like it would be lots of fun recreating a knife following that route.
 
I agree! History is just that, time spent long ago. Time that should be respected by all of us and we need to learn as much as we can. Reproducing knives of the past is an art and a chore, at the same time. By changing the design from the original I can be allowed room to add my artistic touch and not be critiqued by the owners of the original as a reproduction of his/her knife.

Here is a frame handle knife with pearl scales that was modeled after another knife from the past. What I did was to make the scales out of Damascus and did not etch the Damascus.
It is similar to the original, but not a reproduction.
Pearl%20frame%20hunter.jpg

The picture is very poor...sorry
Thanks for looking,

Dale Baxter
Dale Baxter Custom Knives
 
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