Gaucho knives/guardless bowie

H

HFinn

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Sep 6, 2012
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Now that I have a bit of time in my hands because of this:
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I am thinking of starting a thread about one of my long time interests. I would like to get me a guardless bowie or something resembling a gaucho knife. I have some thoughts about this project. I have some contacts to knifemakers where I live through facebook and I could get a knife from some of them. Other option is that I could take a modern knife and modify it to my liking.

If I place any value to my time and work the custom route might actually be cheaper. Anyway I would make my own sheath.

Old quardless bowies were to my knowledge thinner than we many times think, am I wrong? The gaucho knives were made of imported European chef knives, like Solingen or French blades. The idea is to get a knife that shines in camp/kitchen duties but is not afraid to process also wood and looks traditional.

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If I need something really robust I could take something from ESEE or Ontario knives and modify it, but that would include a lot of my time and work.
 
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I allready have this one, that might not look too pretty but is actually quite close functionally what I am thinking of. I made it of a Ka-Bar bowie. The handle was really bad, did not like it at all so I took it off. I glued with epoxy some wood over the tang, shaped it and then covered it with cord wiped with epoxy. The handle gives a very good grip and is surprisingly comfy.
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That Ka-bar looks good to me.
How long are you thinking?
(I have a 12-inch chef's knife over a quarter inch wide at the integral bolster which just needs a sheath, and the patchy nickel sanded off.)
Rezin Bowie described the original Vidalia Sandbar blade as 9.5' long by 1.5" wide by .25 " thick, if I recall correctly. And "straight not curved". I doubt the early Searles knives were as thin as a modern gaucho knife. Unfortunately, the thicknesses are often not given.
 
scrteened porch said:
That Ka-bar looks good to me.
How long are you thinking?
(I have a 12-inch chef's knife over a quarter inch wide at the integral bolster which just needs a sheath, and the patchy nickel sanded off.)
Rezin Bowie described the original Vidalia Sandbar blade as 9.5' long by 1.5" wide by .25 " thick, if I recall correctly. And "straight not curved". I doubt the early Searles knives were as thin as a modern gaucho knife. Unfortunately, the thicknesses are often not given.
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I had in mind something like 150-180 mm and 4 mm thick. Knives like these are available that I could modify. I almost pulled the trigger on a RAT 7, I could modify the blade, strip the paint and maybe drop the point a little, then make a new handle and sheath. I still doupt if this is worth the work included considering I can have a knife made to me costing about 230 euros minus the sheath.
 
The more and more I look into this the knife in question is a mediterranean bowie. Basically a kitchen knife, a chefs knife with a thick, 4-6 mm spine. Now I just have to find one to use and modify.
 
I have found Kord knives from Uzbekistan from my local knife shop. They look like a good base for the project and don't cost much. Does anyone know anything about these? Judging from pictures at least some of them have full tang construction (handles slabs are pinned through tang).
 
HFinn said:
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I finally started making a sheath for this knife. It is made of black 3 mm leather, soaked and folded over the blade. Most likely I will make it in to a southern comfort sheath, carried under the belt and either with a knob or gaucho style leather piece to keep it from sliding down. A antique style, small door or cabinet knob could be made in to retaining stud maybe?
 
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That's what I'm thinking about the sheath for the pretend punal I'm making out of a beat-up Sabatier. Except I'll use two buttons so it can't fall through my belt and it can't pull out of the belt when I draw the knife either.
 
scrteened porch said:
That's what I'm thinking about the sheath for the pretend punal I'm making out of a beat-up Sabatier. Except I'll use two buttons so it can't fall through my belt and it can't pull out of the belt when I draw the knife either.
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That's a good idea. Or use a gaucho style flap that could go over the belt. Just make a slot in the flap that could be pushed to a small knob.
 
Hickory n steel said:
I never intended it this way, but I think this might actually fit the bill of a gaucho knife and it was actually made from an old chef's knife of sorts ( GI cooks knife )
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I have somewhere in storage an old Sabatier. Your knife gives me ideas. I would like to try a cord wrap made of two different color cords spun around each other.
 
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HFinn said:
I have somewhere in storage an old Sabatier. Your knife gives me ideas. I would like to try a cord wrap made of two different color cords spun around each other.
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Sounds like a good idea.
I wrapped mine in cotton twine then coated it it hot beeswax.
 
Here's the little threaded knob I used for the stud on it's sheath.

No clue where you'd get one though as I found it in my bucket-o-stuff, but if I had one I'd imagine a hardware store might have something.
 
Hickory n steel said:
Here's the little threaded knob I used for the stud on it's sheath.

No clue where you'd get one though as I found it in my bucket-o-stuff, but if I had one I'd imagine a hardware store might have something.
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There are all kinds of small knobs in hardware store and more available in webshops. I had in mind a brass or steel cabinet knob, patinated to dark antique finish.
 
I cut the pinkie hook off my Sabatier and plan to build up a handle out of aluminum, and pretend it's nickel-silver.
 
Damn. It seems clear I'm not a very skilled leatherworker. Oh well, maybe this sheath will work when ready. I chose a the gaucho style flap option to hold the sheath in place, at least it is low profile.
 
HFinn said:
Damn. It seems clear I'm not a very skilled leatherworker. Oh well, maybe this sheath will work when ready. I chose a the gaucho style flap option to hold the sheath in place, at least it is low profile.
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Can't see it.
 
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