Ed Fowler sheep stuff!

You can count me as one newly in the Fowler camp. I have never seen a Fowler except in images much less having ever held one. I recently viewed the Knife Talk dvd as Mr. Fowler takes one through the idea and method of his knives. I am inspired by the vision towards function and the new found beauty in the softened lines. From my perspective, there is a bias towards the crisp edges and precise planes in many knives these days as showing a maker's ability. A little more knowledge of the subject and I have a tremendous respect and affinity towards these designs.
 
I would suggest anyone who gets a chance to go by Ed's table at Blade Show to definitely do such. He generally has a good variety of his knives (early on) and they are a pleasure to handle. It will give you a first hand opinion of what's discussed in these threads.
 
Louieblades said:
No offense but all of Ed's knives look alike to me and I find that boring.

Lew
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I use to think the same thing Lew but I woke up. Now I'm a Fowler Howler and I want one so bad I cant stand it. The more you look at them the more they get under your skin, there's just something about them. Like Kevin said, if you get a chance to hold one you'll understand.
 
sheathmaker said:
David, most of the responses in this thread have been courteous and positive, but when an honest difference of opinion is voiced as was the case with Louisblades, it should be taken in stride with the understanding that everyone is not going to be as solidly in the Fowler camp as are you.

.....

I take the opinion by Louisblades as valid, personal, and non-confrontational as expressed, and on a second reading I bet you do too.

Just an observation.

Paul
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Thanks Paul, I agree. No offense to Lew.

Paul, while your on the horn, can I request comments/critique about the sheaths? (You are the expert.) Have you made anything similar, or variations in this style? Ed calls it a pouch style sheath, and they are quite rugged! Minus any beauty it might lack.
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Thanks,
David
 
David i am a fan of Ed's work and would really like a Fighter/Bowie from him. Maybe someday

As for his sheaths they look simple and well built besides for the I guess you would call them rivets . I would prefer stitches.

Kevin Jones if ya see this who was the cowboy that I was talking to when we where drinking at Blade that is or was one of Ed's students. He had a fighter that I really liked
 
JParanee said:
David i am a fan of Ed's work and would really like a Fighter/Bowie from him. Maybe someday

As for his sheaths they look simple and well built besides for the I guess you would call them rivets . I would prefer stitches.

Kevin Jones if ya see this who was the cowboy that I was talking to when we where drinking at Blade that is or was one of Ed's students. He had a fighter that I really liked
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He was Butch Deveraux
It was nice visiting with him.
 
Here's a Blade Show photo of Butch and wife Shannon. Great people!
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A spread of the table, sorry not a great photo..
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A classic Fowler short camp knife, photo v
courtesy of Dan Favano (iqknives.com)
Monster horn!
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David, per your request, the Ed Fowler sheaths, that I have seen both in photos and in hand all have several features in common. They are ALL, no nonsense, pouch style sheaths that are hell for stout and should last any one a life time (particularly if they die when they ought to).

They all appear to be made of unlined harness leather either oil tanned or oil finished. It appears to be about 10/12 oz, leather cut from the shoulder, butt or other other strong part of the side, because the flesh side of the leather is not fuzzy and rough. They are all stitched with what I believe Ed calls a chain stitch (and I call Arrowhead stitch). They are stitched with "Artificial Sinew" which is a heavily waxed nylon and darned near as strong as an anchor rope on a battleship. Integral belt loop held by two or more copper rivets. (I don't use rivets period, but if I did and I wanted it to stay together forever, those would be what I would use).

Under extreme hard daily use I suppose one could wear one out, just like you could a pair of really heavy duty boots, but I bet it would still be holding the knife securely on the last day.

Paul
 
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sheathmaker said:
David, per your request, the Ed Fowler sheaths, that I have seen both in photos and in hand all have several features in common. They are ALL, no nonsense, pouch style sheaths that are hell for stout and should last any one a life time (particularly if they die when they ought to).

They all appear to be made of unlined harness leather either oil tanned or oil finished. It appears to be about 10/12 oz, leather cut from the shoulder, butt or other other strong part of the side, because the flesh side of the leather is not fuzzy and rough. They are all stitched with what I believe Ed calls a chain stitch (and I call Arrowhead stitch). They are stitched with "Artificial Sinew" which is a heavily waxed nylon and darned near as strong as an anchor rope on a battleship. Integral belt loop held by two or more copper rivets. (I don't use rivets period, but if I did and I wanted it to stay together forever, those would be what I would use).

Under extreme hard daily use I suppose one could wear one out, just like you
could a pair of really heavy duty boots, but I bet it would still be holding the knife securely on the last day.
Paul
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Thanks Paul, quite a write up! I hope Ed will see what you wrote.. I know it mirrors his intentions, the sheaths and knives.
David
 
Rob, I really like that little "Fawn", and by that i mean I REALLY like it!

Paul
 
Rob, I also like that Fawn alot! Its a good photo and shows how clean that particular knife is. Also the sheephorn has alot of translucent thing going on.
 
I really like that one, Rob, looks like a cutting machine ! :thumbup:

Doug
 
2knife said:
This one is what my friend Jose calls the Fowler "Bolo". It was the first real Fowler knife I bought, back in 1998 (Blade Show) close as I can remember. From dealer Cleston Sinyard. He said that Ed had originally made it for a Frenchman to use in a contest.
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The Fowler aesthetic doesn't usually do anything for me, but that Bolo really speaks to me. Congratulations on being the owner of such a fine knife.
 
Guys I had a real nice double guard bowie boot knife from Ed maybe 15 years ago and it was nice. I ended up selling it which I regreted at the time but I needed the money. My point is as a maker one needs to experiment sometimes with and try different styles as Moran did with a jambiya/Arab style piece to keep things fresh. Ed's knives and style never really evolved it has stayed stagnant since I bought my first Fowler knife back in the mid 1990s. I still collect custom knives but I also collect antique tribal African,arab/Indo Persian knives to keep me out of the collecting rut. Change is good sometimes.
 
At the 2009 Show, Mr. Fowler had a knife stolen from him or off his table. Was it ever found and the bandit dealt with?

Just curious after seeing these fine assorted knives
 
Thunder47 said:
At the 2009 Show, Mr. Fowler had a knife stolen from him or off his table. Was it ever found and the bandit dealt with?

Just curious after seeing these fine assorted knives
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Thanks Thunder,
As far as I know, there was no arrest made in this case. Though it was thought or discovered to be a two-man team, one being a lawyer. They had some idea who did it, I have heard but things came up short in the proof, evidence. Was it the 2008 show, I think it was..

The knife hasn't resurfaced either, to my knowledge..
David
 
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