Making a Bowie the Patton way, start to finish.

Here I'm hammering the guard on to make sure it fits and there's no gaps:

checkingfit.JPG




Not too bad:

fitted.JPG




Next I mark what I have to grind off to get the size and shape I want. I use a washer to draw a half round on each end of the guard:

markingguard.JPG




Then grind it to shape. I make my own contact wheels. This one has ball bearings, and is made from pipe. :D I have a smaller one that I use for the choil and finger groove on my utility knives that's made with needle bearings. The needle bearings are actually lengths of 1/8" music wire. Cheap, eh? :)

profilingguard.JPG



shapingguard.JPG



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Here it is all shaped. I like to remove as much material as possible before assembling it with the knife, because the heat generated by grinding can make the epoxy disintegrate...

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Here it is with the front (top?) surface polished. Obviously, this must be done before permanently installing the guard on the blade, because the blade will get in the way. Likewise, the ricasso area has to be finished at this point because the guard will get in the way.

guardpolished.JPG
 
Here the J-B Weld is spread on the tang. Like most makers, I started out using solder to attach guards, but I had a horrible time keeping everything nice and clean... Then I found Terry Primos' tutorial on using J-B Weld instead, and I haven't looked back.

jbweld.JPG




Here the guard is pressed on:

installed.JPG




And here the extra J-B Weld is cleaned off:

jbfinished.JPG




While the J-B Weld is setting up, I work on the spacers. They're slotted like the guard, but I don't pay as much attention to the fit. After slotting, I bead blast them, then clean with acetone in preparation for the epoxy.

spacers.JPG




After all the spacers are fitted and slid onto the tang, I start working on the handle. First step is to draw out where the tang will be in relation to the shape of the handle. Like so:

woodmarked.JPG




Then when I know where the tang should be, I mark on the end where to drill:

slotmarked.JPG
 
Here the wood is clamped in the drill press vise, and tilted so that the first hole will be at the correct angle to match the tang:

linedup.JPG




Then the other side:

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Then I do the two middle holes.
In this shot, I'm using the drill bit to remove the webbing between holes:

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All done with the drill:

slotfinished.JPG




Cleaning it out a little bit with the hand held drill:

cleaningslot.JPG
 
On this knife, the tang is just over 1/4" thick, and the drill bit I used is 1/4", so I had to do some filing to get the tang to go in:

fittingtang.JPG




Here it is with all the parts dry-fit. No gaps. :thumbup:

fitted1.JPG




Here it is all epoxied together:

epoxied.JPG




For this next step I use a state-of-the-art system to put pressure on the handle, to squeeze out the extra epoxy and make sure there's no gaps. Rubber bands! :D The only downside to this method is that I can't use the vise for anything until the epoxy is set up...

rubberbands.JPG




Tomorrow morning, I'll take the rubber bands off, and put in the handle pin and thong hole tubing.
 
I'm pretty new to all this stuff, and seeing the steps in this process is making things 100% easier for me to understand. I'm a big fan of your knives, and I'm grateful of your generosity in showing these steps to help new guys like me understand what the making of a great knife looks like.:thumbup:
 
Now I drill the holes for the pin and thong tubing. For the pin, I start out with a 1/8" bit, then go to the final size, in this case, 3/16". The reason for using two drills is that I'm drilling through the tang, and using the full size bit right off the bat might generate enough heat to damage the epoxy bond.

drilling2.JPG



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Then I cut the pin and tubing to length, and chamfer the outside of the ends, so they slip into their holes easily. I also bead blasted the outside of the pin and tubing, so that the glue will adhere better.

pinandtube.JPG




I use Gorilla Glue for the pins and tube, because it grips really well. I don't know about the "Toughest Glue on Planet Earth" label, but it is sticky. :) Gorilla glue needs water to react with in order to cure, so I run some water through the holes in the handle, then coat the pin and tubing, and insert them in their respective holes.

gorillaglued.JPG



While that's curing for a couple hours, I'll work on other knives...
 
Thanks guys for the positive input! I hope someone is helped in some way, or at least is entertained, by this thread. :D



Here I am band-sawing as much extra material as I can off of the handle:

sawinghandle.JPG



bandsawed1.JPG




Refining the profile with the belt grinder, making sure I don't grind past the lines I drew on the block. It's no fun to grind into the tang! Don't ask me how I know...

profiling.JPG



profiled1.JPG




Then I start grinding off the extra material on the sides of the blade:

sideview1.JPG




Rounding off the corners:

roundingoff.JPG



I didn't take any photos of the handle polishing process, but it's pretty straightforward. I go over it with a 240 grit belt with the same wheel I used for shaping, then with a 400 grit slack belt to take off the bumps and blend it all together. Then I finish the guard by hand, then buff the wood to bring out the grain.

The knife is now finished, and I'll try to post some pictures of it, but I'm kind of busy today and I might not get around to it. :)
 
To recap, here's the specs:

Steel: W2

Hardness: 59-60 RC

Blade length: 12"

Blade width: 2-1/8"

Blade thickness: just over 1/4"

Handle material: Exhibition Grade Desert Ironwood

Guard: 416 stainless

Spacers: Stainless and black paper micarta




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That's a great knife! That wood is amazing!
Great thread also.
Thanks for sharing.
 
Wow! That's a superb looking Bowie!

The thread here that you created is A+!

Who's the lucky buyer of that beauty? :thumbup:
 
I really enjoyed this thread, Phillip - thanks for taking the time to put it all together. And I love that bowie.
 
Awesome thread! Very fun to read and see your knfie crafting process. :)

And that knife... er, sword is lovely. :D
 
A+!

Great thread Phillip!

I've done a few of these so I can really appreciate how much time they can add to a knife. Funny how differently it makes you look at things huh? :)

I hope you do some more Phillip! :D :thumbup:
 
I never get tired of these "step by steps". Great photos documenting the making of a great Bowie.

Thanks Phillip for taking the time. :thumbup:
 
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