Gil Hibben knife construction - Bowie

[Gilbert G]

For some reason the fixed and traditionals section had much more traditionals and the Tinkering/alteration subform has more sharpening and modifying questions. This one is more about construction and fixing so if there is a better place to post this let me know pls.

Got this sweet Bowie knife a few months ago and love it. Makes a fantastic wall hanger but often like to use my knives and thus took it out in the yard the other day. Unfortunately with a few bangs on a few branches the darn guard became loose. It didn't shock me but kind of given how strong and sturdy this knife (almost sword) feels. Nonetheless performed amazingly and will like to continue to put it through its paces in a light to medium way. Yet the loose guard bothers one quite a bit. I was thinking about making some custom spacers to slide in between the gaps in the handle just below the guard and they are small like .015 - .009.

However, looks like the tang might be full or like a pin tail style where that hollow pin holds everything together. Anyone have experience with this design or took one apart? Perhaps it is possible to knock out that hollow pin in the butt of the handle, slide the parts down some, make a custom spacer to fit and seal the gap and then push everything back together and hammer the pin back in? I have zero experience with fixed blades so I would leave it to the experts but seems reasonable enough, yeah? thanks in advance

photos:

 

[killgar]

A few thoughts-

Without examining the knife I would guess that you are correct about the tube/pin in the pommel. You could probably knock it through with an appropriately sized pin punch. But once it's knocked out, it may not go back in securely. I don't imagine that the knife was intended to be taken apart and reassembled. However, if the pin doesn't go back in securely, you could always try a bolt of the same diameter as the hole and an acorn nut, or try to find another piece of tubing or a split pin of appropriate size.

Another thought, I'd be careful about doing any chopping with that knife. Even if the blade can take it, it's possible for the force and vibration traveling through the handle to cause the wood handle to crack and possibly break apart in your hand. Again, I don't imagine the maker intended the knife to be used for chopping or any stressful activities. I would definitely want to examine the tang and see how the knife is constructed before I put any stress on it. You wouldn't want to have one of those "shopping channel" moments where the thing breaks and the blade flies back and sticks you.

All that being said, it's always possible for a "wall hanger" to surprise people and actually be a decent user. I've seen plenty of instances where people were surprised and even impressed by what use and abuse a cheap knife could handle.

My advice is to always be mindful of the fact that it was intended as nothing more than a display piece, and don't put too high an expectation on it.

 

[Danke42]

Do you have the coin and plaque too? Worth more with those.

 

[Gilbert G]

Do you have the coin and plaque too? Worth more with those.

Yeah do have the coin and plaque as well. The whole package is a well put together presentation and would recommend to anyone interested in Gil Hibben knives. As far as I've seen this one stands up there with the best of them since most wall plaques for swords and such hang the knife/sword downward (vertical) where this is horizontal with an angle.

 

[Gilbert G]

A few thoughts-

Without examining the knife I would guess that you are correct about the tube/pin in the pommel. You could probably knock it through with an appropriately sized pin punch. But once it's knocked out, it may not go back in securely. I don't imagine that the knife was intended to be taken apart and reassembled. However, if the pin doesn't go back in securely, you could always try a bolt of the same diameter as the hole and an acorn nut, or try to find another piece of tubing or a split pin of appropriate size.

Another thought, I'd be careful about doing any chopping with that knife. Even if the blade can take it, it's possible for the force and vibration traveling through the handle to cause the wood handle to crack and possibly break apart in your hand. Again, I don't imagine the maker intended the knife to be used for chopping or any stressful activities. I would definitely want to examine the tang and see how the knife is constructed before I put any stress on it. You wouldn't want to have one of those "shopping channel" moments where the thing breaks and the blade flies back and sticks you.

All that being said, it's always possible for a "wall hanger" to surprise people and actually be a decent user. I've seen plenty of instances where people were surprised and even impressed by what use and abuse a cheap knife could handle.

My advice is to always be mindful of the fact that it was intended as nothing more than a display piece, and don't put too high an expectation on it.

Thanks for the awesome advice! I hadn't considered the probability of the original tube/pin not fitting as snug once it was removed. Interesting you brought up the bolt/nut thing as I was thinking about doing such a thing anyway since both ends are essentially already countersunk. This added pressure from both sides would secure the pin even more so from any possible fall out.

Guess I haven't caught that clip where the guy takes a swing and the handle disintegrates leaving the blade to fire at will - awwhhhh. Haven't yet researched the strength of pakkawood in depth but on the surface it appears an engineered combo of wood and plastic "often used in knife handles and such for those that see rough wear". Said to be pressed together at high heat with resin and used in tactical and military knives. I can say looking at it up close with the naked eye, it looks really strong and the multi-grains run lengthwise on the handle spine from top to bottom (tip to butt). I imagine the strength of a laminated skateboard and this handle has many more layers obviously much thinner per layer. Aside from the guard issue, the knife feels as solid as any despite the perfect blade grinds and attention to detail with mirror polish a wall hanger would have. The grip really locks the hand in as well.

The steel used is 3Cr13 stainless steel which is said to be comparable to 420J2 which isn't the best but isn't terrible either. Spyderco uses it on their grasshopper model and supposedly is resistant to chipping and breaking however the edge on this bowie is quite thin compared to other fixed blades like the convex grind of the NL5 (for example). Definitely won't do any battoning with it (though could probably hold up) but some light clearing of brush and camp work could be fun. Sure wouldn't want that tip to fly back at the user though as it is wicked.