First Bowie

DesRosiers

DesRosiers

Joined
May 5, 2010
Messages
622
I don't usually make big knives, and the ones I have were left forge textured and full tang. I've had a love/hate relationship with this one for the last month due to my own beginner mistakes:o not the least of which was having the guard and handle bedded and almost fully shaped, I just HAD to take one last stroke with the rasp and gnarfed the spine...not a file cut, a rasp cut:foot: so I got to try my first peaked spine:rolleyes:
Anyhow the naughty thing continues to harass me and I can't photograph it to save my life, the hamon won't show... just the oil streaks. You can get the general idea anyhow, I'll include a shop pic that kinda shows the hardening line.

Just after I finished the blade I read Joe's dissertation on what makes a good fighting bowie and realized I know exactly nil about them. I use a hunting knife often enough to have some strong opinions but knife fighting?? Not even a little. So I'd be interested in any and all comments. To my surprise it balances a good inch in front of the guard in spite of the ivory handle...not sure if that's good or bad. I'm wishing I'd made it a bit pokier and sharpened the clip. Next time:)
Thanks for looking.

-Haley

W2 10 1/4 X 2 1/8 blade 15 3/8" OAL
O1 fittings, cold blued
Walrus ivory handle

Grayling.jpg


IMGP2047.jpg


P1070188.jpg
 
Great looking overall profile, handle is nicely contoured, really like your guard and fileworked spacer.
I agree with your sharpening the clip next time. A single pin would add aesthetically by accenting the beautiful white ivory IMO.

I wouldn't worry to much about the "fighter" thing. Even though we put a lot of emphasis on fighters on this forum, there isn't a lot of knife fighting going on these days. ;)
 
Last edited:
Looks great Haley!! I really love the flow of the blade, handle and guard. Also, the contrast between the Ivory and Blued O1 guard look great to me. :thumbup: Great job!!
 
Beautiful piece

You 2 are such a talented couple it makes me smile when I think of the wonderful pieces that will be coming from your shop

Just fantastic work
 
Beautiful work, Haley! I really like the contrasts on that knife. I agree with sharpening the clip - I think it would finish it off nicely.
 
I really like it I think the dark guard and light ivory really bring it to life and the lines on the blade or sweet nice job
 
Looks great Haley. So, go chase down the Grizzly in your backyard and if you win, then it's a good "fighter." Just kidding of course. Anything is a "fighter", really, from box cutters to swords. The fact is, you are going to find more opinions on this than would be useful. Anyway, knife looks great. Take care.
-M
 
Getting hamon to show up via camera is easily one of the most frustrating aspects of this stuff... you seem to know how to roll with messing up far better than I do, btw. I freak out and jump up and down, burn holes in stuff with my eyes and then get supremely introspective and start questioning everything I believe and if I even want to do this stuff any more -- you think outside the box and make something that's likely better than your original design. THAT'S the sign of a true creative thinker!!!

Dig the knife, great choice of guard shape to compliment the knife and handle. One of these days I'll get daring enough to try ivory....
 
any artist, regardless of media, is going to produce something from time to time which does not satisfy his or her initial view of what the piece ought to be. Nevertheless, the important thing is to produce art, which to my eye is what you've done here. Line, flow, proportion and manipulation of the media- coaxing it to forms which encourage The Enigma- is all present in this knife.
It may not look like every other bowie out there, and I say keep it up sister!

ps, I just read Matt's post and he is bang on, imo.
 
Personally, I don't see the importance of capturing the hamon at the expense of getting a good image of the overall knife.
Seems there's a tendency for makers to shoot such knives from a tip/blade perspective giving us only a glimpse of the handle shape and detail.

I appreciate a killer hamon as much as the next guy, but seeing a good shot of the handle and a non-distorted view of the overall knife profile is more important to me.

Haley, my comments are not directed at you, as I feel you captured the overall knife quite well, even if you didn't highlight the hamon to a great degree.
By the way, it was gutsy, choosing such a fine piece of ivory for your first Bowie.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for all the encouragement guys. You make a good point Michael on a 'working' fighter...I don't think I'd be that sporting with a bear I feel safer 'fighting' fish. Matthew, if I could burn holes in things with my eyes this knife would have been toast several times!

Kevin Jones said:
Personally, I don't see the importance of capturing the hamon at the expense of getting a good image of the overall knife.
Seems there's a tendency for makers to shoot such knives from a tip/blade perspective giving us only a glimpse of the handle shape and detail.

I appreciate a killer hamon as much as the next guy, but seeing a good shot of the handle and a non-distorted view of the overall knife profile is more important to me.

Haley, my comments are not directed at you, as I feel you captured the overall knife quite well, even if you didn't highlight the hamon to a great degree.
By the way, it was gutsy, choosing such a fine piece of ivory for your first Bowie.
Click to expand...

I agree that the overall lines are much more important in a photo...I'm still fussing with the basics on photography, the one above shows too much of the underside making the handle contours look funny. Practic, practice. Thanks to JEVERETTK for the polarizing lense tip, I'll give it a whirl.

Ivory is rare and precious, freaks me out to grind into it with the 36 grit, so far I've been too chicken to drill and pin it, maybe next time I'll work up the nerve.

Thanks again for all the input that's the one thing we miss out here is fellow blade-lovers to show knives too. By the time BLADE rolls around we'll have gone over 4 months without setting foot in town...we're REALLY looking forward to seeing everyone and what you've been making.
-HD
 
Great looking bowie.

I have to vote to leave the clips unsharpened. The tip is perfect for a user. The push for fighter"ish" bowies is fine. If you want it to be a fighter. If you want a bowie style camp blade, unsharpened, and not a needle point on the tip thank you very much.

I do like the look of the cross pin, but it is more than the look. I like the thought of a cross pin through the tang for sheer structural reasons, unless the handle has a cap on the end with either a peened end or threaded nut (IE take down style).

I like the blade height from edge to spine! and over all blade shape, guard shape, and handle shape.



Fantastic first bowie!
 
Haley your workmanship, design aesthetic, and flow are all spot on in my book. The only difference I would make if in fact it were going to be carried in harms way would be a wicked sharp clip. If its going to be used for general purpose stuff in the woods, I would leave it as is (although ive used the sharp clip on my Bowie in the woods more than once).

I always see folks typing or talking about "there isnt much knife fighting going on" well, that may be true enough, but there are quite a few folks that do in fact carry big fixed blades as either back up or primary self defense. Call them Bowies, fighters, or what ever you wish, but if you know they are going to be carried in harms way that you as a maker do all you can to make it the most effective tool for that task.

I build alot of Bowies/Fighters that are carried for defense by Soldiers and citizens, my focus is sharp clip, keen tip, wicked toothy convex edge... everything else is secondary.
 
Bigfattyt said:
Great looking bowie.

I have to vote to leave the clips unsharpened. The tip is perfect for a user. The push for fighter"ish" bowies is fine. If you want it to be a fighter. If you want a bowie style camp blade, unsharpened, and not a needle point on the tip thank you very much.

I do like the look of the cross pin, but it is more than the look. I like the thought of a cross pin through the tang for sheer structural reasons, unless the handle has a cap on the end with either a peened end or threaded nut (IE take down style).

I like the blade height from edge to spine! and over all blade shape, guard shape, and handle shape.



Fantastic first bowie!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the kind words! A cross pin may be even stronger yet but having recently removed a hidden tang, no pin, ironwood handle off a knife I can tell you you'll need a hammer or hydralic press to get the thing off and it will come off in little pieces. There's no way the knife would get abused half that much even under the hardest use. I do think pins are pretty though. Camp knives are much easier to design because you can actually test and use them for their intended purpose.


Thanks Matt. I find knife fighting a fascinating and lost art I'm interested in learning more about. I personally carry a handgun not a knife for defense but like you said, as a maker you want to make your knives the most effective for their specific task. We're long past the common use of swords but we all still love them and if we forge one we want to make something battle ready not a wall hanger...even though hopefully, it will never be used.

-HD
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top