Eastern Bowie

Walosi

Walosi

Joined
Jan 10, 2001
Messages
2,618
Well, it got here in record time. It is, as advertised, a 10/10 interpretation of what Bura considers a Bowie to be.....and there is the only departure. In Uncle's pic, what my bifocals registered as a reflection in the middle of the clip turns out to be a 2" raised blade. As a guess, it may be intended for chopping, but is certainly eastern and not western. The guard puzzled me, in the pic, but it is something Bura worked out rather well - it is a piece cut to the shape of a buttcap, brazed to the bolster (and blade-end of tang, I believe) and is solid. A hairline crack has developed about 1 1/2" from the bolster, but is too narrow for filling. After a couple of hours under a coat of Fiebing's dressing, it has closed almost completely. It may be a surface crack, or the edge of a "flake" which wold polish out, but as is, I'm not going to mess with it. 14", 15 oz., 8 3/4" blade, and the balance at the front of the ricasso, where the edge begins. In hand, it weighs no more than six ounces and is very quick and agile. The "whatsis" in the clip may not remain - I'm still smoking that one over - and the balace would move just a bit toward the guard with it pared off.
Scabbard - This MUST be the best scabbard ever to have come from BirGorkha. The pic shows the band in the wood, just above the frog, which will keep the frog at that position until long after I'm gone. Good touch, but the other two I have from this sarki are on so solidly they would have to be soaked off. This is still a very good added innovation. Leather, stitching and chape are perfect. One thing I've never mentioned - someone else did (firkin?) recently. Whenever I can reach it, I pull the nail at the top of the stitching and replace it with a stainless woodscrew with epoxy on the threads. Ends the possibility of rust, and stays put. The chape is "heart shaped", and fitted perfectly - even had dressed edges (leaving me damn-all to be picky about :D) A little Lexol, two-three more coats of Kiwi neutral, and a dab of Flitz on the chape, and this puppy will stand anyone's dress parade. Should I leave the "whatsis" on, or Bar Mitzvah the clip????:confused:
 
...but I'm still reluctant to trim on a Bura blade. I haven't seen this on anything else - Oriental Arms or the Ethno forum. I just hate to start stoning it off until I know what he intendd, or where it may have originated, if not as his whim.
 
It's not hurting anything as far as I can tell and it's less work to leave it than to take it away.

Still your knife and your choice.
 
At first I thought that the 'whatis' on the clip was just an artifact on the photo or some optical illusion. Still have no definite idea of it's use, but it does sort of resemble parts of tools used in weaving or net making??? Are any of the contours of that area sharpened? Does it form a purposeful looking 'catch/notch' for something (small for a guthook)? What about applications that a fisherman in a country such as Nepal would find handy? Can you pull hot pots out of a campfire with it? Will it decode cryptic ciphers that the NSA should be aware of :D
 
Don't get in any hurry to Bar Mitzvah the clip, just like I'm doing with my UBE until I know absolutely for sure whether I want the handle any smaller.
There's still no such thing as a putting it back tool.;)

But Bro if you're gonna carry this concealed, and knowing you I can't see why you wouldn't:), that wierd piece could hang up on clothing. Whether it be yours or the bad guys and that could be very detrimental to your health.:(
I am like you and thought it a reflection. It would be interesting to know why Bura did it though and if it has a purpose unknown to us, but logical for an Eastern Mind?

Bro do you think it would do any good to ask Bura what he had in mind with designing it that way?
Any special purpose to it?
Of course the answer may very well be a blank stare or Nepal Ho!!!!:)
 
...a direct answer from Bura would be "You make too much of this - it's just a knife". Too late, anyhoo. It came off very nicely with a sanding drum and cleaned up with rouge and felt tips. Unless I go to a single bevel, and follow the contour already there, the clip will be a false edge. A fully sharpened clip would drop the curve pretty drastically, and the blade geometry is too nice to change as it stands. It will still have an edge for about 2" back from the point, from the blade taper and angle of the bevel at that point. Bro, you are right - I do intend to carry it, and snagging was the main consideration. It was only sharpened at the ends and could have been use as a gut hook on small game, and might have been useful on fish, but if the rivers in Nepal have fish big enough to warrant a blade this size, I'll stick to half-sticks of dynamite and a net :eek:....and NO wading :rolleyes:
 
Walosi,

Please, what size screws to you use to replace the tacks on the tool loops, I'd hate to split the wood. Just match the shaft diam. to that of the tacks, or slightly bigger?

BTW, the top tacks on my "new village sarki" scabbard go through the leather in the throat and are peened over.

Maybe I have the scabbard equivalent of woodchuck syndrome.
 
Firkin, I have this probably unfortunate compulsion to squirrel away stuff that I KNOW I will need later for something unknown at the moment. The only marked supply of screws are 6x3/8, from a set of "useful screws, nuts, etc." that a hardware store was about to throw out. The screw shank is twice the size of the nail usually used (actually a tapered tack, and intended to be bradded over when the tip is through the wood, I think) but all the wood (so far) has been soft but resilient, and has accepted the screws without cracking. The nail hole acts as a pilot, and the epoxy on the threads lubes it enough that I haven't had damage so far. I have a jar full of similar screws, and just matching the length (or staying a bit short, if the nail went through) and not going beyond twice the thickness of the nail at its' widest, should see you through. The Woodchuck syndrome, applied to scabbards and such, is "Leather Lizardry", according to Rusty, who is also afflicted with it :D
 
Holding a scabbard, screwdriver, small topheavy screw, while trying to to start said screw into a leather-covered pilot hole and hold the frog loop out of the way requires the services of an octopus with ten year's experience as a maintainence mechanic. Or, a screwdriver with a spring loaded screw holder. Mine are old, old Stanleys, no. 1451 for Phillips and no. 415 for slotted screws. They can keep you from trying to remember all that language you learned in the service, and then tried to forget before your mom washed your mouth out with soap. :D
 
Walosi,

Thanks for the tips and diagnosis.

Since I'm currently without a friendly, many-armed mollusc, I guess I'll have to lash things up with twine and try not to stangle myself or glue my fingers in the scabbard. There's two tacks in my loops, vertically arranged, so I can go one at a time so the loop isn't moving around too.

As far as mouth-washing goes, I really got it when I read the adult version of "Mutiny on the Bounty" when I was in 5th or 6th grade and called my sister all the epithets while unaware of their meaning! My mom was driving the car at the time, so I got to consider my fate all the way home. I've not been in the service, but I think working a few summers for a logging company provided a nearly equivalent vocabulary enlargement. Enough to get me in plenty of trouble for sure.
 
Did I start the phrase "leather lizzard" ?

Probably I did. Had forgot. Started the referrals to this forum as like the Star Wars bar scene ( Cantina ), diagnosed the syndrome known now as HIKV, and I'm sure some others.

They say the memory is first to go, but I think the ability to salute the fair sex comes before that ( medication side effects... stay away from female doctors who see it as a benefit to your wife ).
 
Wal,

I went back to look at the pic of the bowie. I, like everyone else, thought it was a relfection, but now I know better.

I would bet that it was a couple of gutting hooks built into the "western" design. It probably would have been useful for small game/fowl/fish. Maybe Bura thought the Bowie was more of a survival type knife instead of a fighting knife???

I'm glad to hear your surgury on it went well. You know, your supposed to get a Rabbi to do that... a briss is a pretty tricky operation :D

Alan
 
I'd bet that any change Wal made came out well. He is not only a woodchuck but a metalchuck, too. Which makes me wonder, who can chuck more metal? A woodchuck or a metalchuck? And also, who can chuck more wood?
 
A briss is a very simple procedure when performed with a Dremel tool. Messy, but simple.....Uncle, add "Upchuck". I'm trying to get the topline to conform with Bura's hammered bevel under the clip, as he forged it to conform with the line of the raised blade. It is coming along (hand files and stones only, too close for the motorized stuff) and then I'll uncross my eyes. The end result, it appears, will be a serpentine blade with a raised point (higher than traditional Bowie centerline point) but still a very capable fighting and wilderness knife. As soon as I learn photography (or fly Al to KY), I'll get some pics...or something on film. If not knife close-ups, how about shots of a spoiled terrier? I can do snapshots.:rolleyes:
 
The spoiled terrier sounds interesting, atleast to me; but, I have a fat old beagle. :D
You just got a scanner from Yvsa, right? If it's a flatbed, like I'll assume, you know what happens when you assume, right :) you could probably just lay the whole knife directly on the scanner and let it do its magic, that of course is assuming this thing's small enough to fit on the scanner.
Naturally I don't recommend this technique for the terrier, although it might work on your deirrier. :D :barf: :barf: :barf: But that's just sick!
 
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