Ideas for what's left of a bowie

S

skillgannon

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Apr 27, 2009
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this is what's left of the large bowie that I have been working on. It's 1075 and the third quench I did interrupted in hot salt water followed by canola. The quench seems to be good. No cracks thigh I did loose a lot of blade dealing with bacon edge.

Anyone have a idea about what to do to complete it. I was planning for a copper guard but am no longer sure that is the best thing.
 
The first, assuming the tang is hardened, I suggest you read the post on drilling holes in hardened steel.

Take a large sheet of paper, trace off the profile of the blade several times, and then try sketching in different guard and grip combinations. If this doesn't convince you of which way to go, take the sketch you like best and make a mock-up out of wood. A 3-D image will give you a much better idea of what the final knife will look like. If this still doesn't work, search the internet for Bowie knives, then click on images and pick out photos close to what you have done so far, then pick and choose details from these and try sketching your knife with these details. Prayer never hurts either!
Jim A.
 
Where is it thin? The edge, spine, or both? What is the thickness of each?

As it stands, it looks like you could just finish it as is. I'll bet that Hamon will turn out nicely.
 
I am down from 5/16 to 3/16 and still need to do final sanding. I think that I need to convert it to a stick tang. I'm wondering if the blade is going to be to long for its thickness and if I should just shorten it up.

I have seen 1075 recommended for newer makers with limited equipment. I did some research and didn't find anything about it needing a super fast quench. There was a huge difference between my canola and the water quench.

I'm really disappointed about I because it was a great looking blade the first other than the tip not hardening well. Also I think Aldo is out of the 5/16 and I was hoping to have a matched pair for hunting season.
 
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I think I understand. It's not the thickness of the blade that you're worried about, but the blade height has gotten too short? 3/16 is plenty thick, especially if you use a saber grind.

I'd stop messing with it if I was you and finish it as is. If you cut down the tip then you're going to have to heat treat again, which will cause you to lose more width and thickness.

Take this blade as a learning experience and make the next one even better.
 
So I ground it down as little as possible but it is VERY thin. I'm going to try to see what I can make it into. It's probably going to be a medium-sized hunter with a stick tang.
 
Just relabel it from a Bowie to a “camp knife” and voila it looks perfect! Perception = Reality ;) Honestly it looks good as is to me and will be real nice with that full tang in my opinion. I wouldn’t chop into it. 3/16” shouldn’t be too thin for that knife either I wouldn’t think.
 
Thanks. It was 3/16 before I ground out the last bit of the warp and started with the trizac. Lol. I might leave it with a few of the big dings they don't look so bad after the etch. There was a whole lot of practice on this one.
Instead of a 2 lb bowie I'm going to tell people that it is a fillet knife:cool:
 
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