Looking for help in making a bone handle bowie

9

973powerstroke

Joined
May 30, 2014
Messages
3
Hi all, I'm new here and this seemed like a good place to get the help I need. I've been toying with the idea of a handmade bowie knife with a bone handle for a few years. I don't have to tools or equipment to do the blade or metal working so the blade and guard would be ordered. I do have access to plenty of deer antlers and bones however.

Now I want to make something similar to the knife used by Chavez in Windtalkers and lt. Raines bowie in Inglorious Basterds.

The problem is I have no idea where to start. Any help with methods of fixing the blade to the handle, how to prepare the bone, blade materials, etc would be greatly appreciated.

I posted this in the wrong area the first time so hopefully I'll get more help here. Thanks in advance everyone.
 
make sure the natural materials you use are dry.
Next find a blade you like. Since you won't be making it, it will be essential. Notice the steel it is made from and read about it if it is any good for you.
You'll use epoxy to attach the handle. Again read read read.
Good luck
 
You could also find a production bowie blade that you like, remove the handle and add your own. That might be a good way to start, and learn from your mistakes before trying it with an expensive custom-made blade. One method of working with antler is to run a thin tang through the length of it, thread the end of the tang and then screw a buttplate onto it. That keeps the handle firmly in place.
 
973powerstroke said:
Hi all, I'm new here and this seemed like a good place to get the help I need. I've been toying with the idea of a handmade bowie knife with a bone handle for a few years. I don't have to tools or equipment to do the blade or metal working so the blade and guard would be ordered. I do have access to plenty of deer antlers and bones however.

Now I want to make something similar to the knife used by Chavez in Windtalkers and lt. Raines bowie in Inglorious Basterds.

The problem is I have no idea where to start. Any help with methods of fixing the blade to the handle, how to prepare the bone, blade materials, etc would be greatly appreciated.

I posted this in the wrong area the first time so hopefully I'll get more help here. Thanks in advance everyone.
Click to expand...

Normally I suggest people make their first knife with a file and sand paper

but It's better to start small.


If you're stuck on that
Raines bowie in Inglorious Basterds.

the prop makers put a custom handle on a commercially available knife

Id suggest that you could just do the same, but
http://www.budk.com/product/Smith-Wesson-Texas-Holdem-16-Bowie-Knife/157207.uts

the knife they use was the cheapest thing they could get their hands on - movie prop doesn't actually have to work.




Try putting a handle on a kit knife

http://www.knifekits.com/vcom/index.php?cPath=2_394

They still only list that steel as 440, not 440C
so quality ???





Info here if you want to go from scratch, but stay small and simple

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-advice-for-beginners?p=13591791#post13591791
 
I've made one antler handled knife before, I used a stick tang with a threaded end, drilled an undersized hole through the antler and carved it out until it was close. Then I heated the tang and burned the antler on until it fit perfectly. I made brass plates for each end of the handle to hide the pith and used an acorn nut and epoxy to lock it all together.
That was one of my first knives and the only bone handle I've ever done so take all of that with a grain of salt.
 
An old Indian Chief taught me, that the proper way to attache an antler to a hidden tank blade is by boiling the antler until the marrow gets soft, then pound the blade into the antler. Keep heating the antler and keep pounding until you get it on all the way. The other way was to drill out the antler and fill the hole with heated pine sap. Most people just drill them out and fill them with epoxy.
 
A real easy way to do a through bone handle is to drill a hole through the length of the bone big enough to get your tang through. Make sure you have threaded to end of the tang so you can tighten it down with a nut. Once you've done this, there are a variety of ways to finish it. You can use Grizzly glue. It expands into all the cracks and crevices inside the bone and makes a sealed, super hard seal. Or, you can grease your tang, fill the interior of the bone with steel putty (available under different names at almost any hardware store), slide the greased tang through and then take it out. Let the steel putty dry nice and hard, and then slide your tang in, tighten down your finial nut, and you're done. The advantage of using steel putty is you will always be able to remove the handle easily if you need to. These methods are how I do it, anyway, and they've worked well for me. Best of luck, and let us know how it turns out.
 
super new here- plz be gentle.

Does anyone know of a thread into which I could sink my teeth (I should prob just use the search bar I guess?) to gain the insight of others who have spent lots of time taking economically produced blades that sorta make the grade overall (moras, old hicks, really any carbon steel option that will turn dark with use so as to look old and cool) and removing the one major drawback on most of them (the handle) in order to replace it with something nicer (prettier wood scales/leather washers/bone washers/etc). It all seems fairly straight forward I guess- knock the old one off, epoxy the new one on.... but maybe there is a person out there who does a lot of handle refurb/mods who I could follow? I love these knives, and tinkering with them seems to be a great way to tweak and customize them with minimal tool requirements etc. A kindergarten version of "knife making," if you will ;) Maybe I should post in the tinkering section of this forum?
 
pjackst said:
super new here- plz be gentle.

Does anyone know of a thread into which I could sink my teeth (I should prob just use the search bar I guess?) to gain the insight of others who have spent lots of time taking economically produced blades that sorta make the grade overall (moras, old hicks, really any carbon steel option that will turn dark with use so as to look old and cool) and removing the one major drawback on most of them (the handle) in order to replace it with something nicer (prettier wood scales/leather washers/bone washers/etc). It all seems fairly straight forward I guess- knock the old one off, epoxy the new one on.... but maybe there is a person out there who does a lot of handle refurb/mods who I could follow? I love these knives, and tinkering with them seems to be a great way to tweak and customize them with minimal tool requirements etc. A kindergarten version of "knife making," if you will ;) Maybe I should post in the tinkering section of this forum?
Click to expand...

lots of people have done this. look up tuffthumbs on google I think he started this way.
 
You can get a good quality blade form most any knife supplier and add the handle. The blades are normally completely finished. Tape up the blade well while working the handle to avoid getting cut and scratching up the blade. many knifemakers start this way.

Jantz, Texas Knife Supply, USA Knifemakers, Alpha, Sheffield, Knifekits.com and dozens more are all good places to look.

Please fill out your profile so we know enough about you to give better answers.
 
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