My $1 dollar bowie

D

dispatch 510

Joined
May 17, 2005
Messages
587
Picked this up at a pawn shop for a dollar, 8 in blade 5in handle,carbon steel blade, cheap plastic handles and an even cheaper sheath.

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The only markings that I could find on it was Bowie and carbon steel on the blade and Brazil on the blade. Anybody ever seen one of these before? I will be replacing the handle with some elk antler and making a new sheath for it.
 
its a dead ringer for my old carbon steeel tramontina bowie although i believe mine is slightly bigger, the blade etch should read tramontina - Brasil
the scales should be plastic and hollow sounding... i bought mine at a flea mkt around 85-86 recently found it and am in the process of putting a decent handle on it, least i could do since its survived this long
mines a surprisingly decent blade, nice heft to it stays reasonably sharp
good luck
 
Thanks for the info, Im gouing to rehandle this one also, This one took a good edge, I think I will have to make this one of my woods bumming knives. What are ya gouing to use as handle material?
 
im going to try some bloodwood i got from texas knife makers, we'll see if i can do a decent handle if not maybe i'll just wrap cord around the damn thing till i get something that could be mistaken as a handle:D
or give up and play with my other knives that are whole
good luck to ya
ivan
ps if this goes well i may give a simple sheath a try and this will be the nicest damn tramontina bowie ever:D
 
I have this exact same knife I also received in the late 80's!
Does anyone have a manufacture date? 70's? Mine is in pristine condition and would also like to put a new handle on it. Because the blade on it, is actually awesome & holds an excellent edge.
I realize it is an OLD thread. Just thought I'd give it a whirl 👍
 
Definitely a Tramontina, carbon steel, i've seen 8 inch and 9 inch blade versions. I have 4 of these (9 inch blade), bought my first one for $5 in a pawn shop all the others for less than $20 each on Ebay. Later on they came with a smaller stainless steel companion knife. I have the box they came in in storage somewhere. The guard can be rattly but the knife can be serviceable as it. Rehandled they be very nice. Good old carbon steel!
:)
 
tholiver said:
Definitely a Tramontina, carbon steel, i've seen 8 inch and 9 inch blade versions. I have 4 of these (9 inch blade), bought my first one for $5 in a pawn shop all the others for less than $20 each on Ebay. Later on they came with a smaller stainless steel companion knife. I have the box they came in in storage somewhere. The guard can be rattly but the knife can be serviceable as it. Rehandled they be very nice. Good old carbon steel!
:)
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How far back does the tang go? I want to rehandle the set that I picked up last year for $5, and would like to know what I'm getting into prior to taking the old scales off.

Thanks
 
The original post in this thread is almost 10 years old so you might be best off starting a new thread with some pictures:)

By the way- welcome!!
 
Ernie1980 said:
The original post in this thread is almost 10 years old so you might be best off starting a new thread with some pictures:)
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Yeah, due to inflation that Bowie would probably go for several times the original price now! ;) :D :thumbup:

The OP hasn't posted here for a couple of years, but theoliver is still posting on Bladeforums, just not in this sub-forum. You might be better leaving him a Visitor Message Stringplucker, as he may not see your post Or doing what Ernie suggests :thumbup:
 
Thank you. I've been lurking this forum for a few years, and finally joined last year. Today was my first post...sorry for digging up an old thread for it.

I'll follow your suggestions. Thanks again.
 
Seems like a hell of a deal! Best $1 deal I got was an old Bullet jack knife that was corroded and abused. I fixed it up and removed the small blade layer to thin it up. Pic shows finished product but the extra corroded pieces were barely touched to show how it started. I didn't think to get a proper before pic :(

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Stringplucker said:
How far back does the tang go? I want to rehandle the set that I picked up last year for $5, and would like to know what I'm getting into prior to taking the old scales off.

Thanks
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Ooops just noticed this today!
The tang goes almost the full length of the handle, maybe 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch shy of the end of the handle.
 
I have the same knife. Good to know it was likely made by Tramontina. It is one hell of a nice blade. I made a trade for a box full of deer antler and a gentleman put one of them on mine for a re-handle. I was given this knife by an older family friend when I was about 12. I hated the sheath that it came in and found this one at a guy that had a leather making booth in his clearance bin, it "almost" fits but good enough for me to protect the blade and I really like the sheath with the antler, just wish it fit better.




 
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Very nice. That is along the vein that I'm thinking for mine. I'll have to learn a new skill, leathercrafting, to be able to complete the whole look that I'm after.
 
panoz77 said:
I have the same knife. Good to know it was likely made by Tramontina. It is one hell of a nice blade. I made a trade for a box full of deer antler and a gentleman put one of them on mine for a re-handle. I was given this knife by an older family friend when I was about 12. I hated the sheath that it came in and found this one at a guy that had a leather making booth in his clearance bin, it "almost" fits but good enough for me to protect the blade and I really like the sheath with the antler, just wish it fit better.




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That looks Great.
 
More pics. One naked Tramontina, one that was poorly rehandled 10-ish years ago, two with original handles. One generation had regular guards that tended to rattle, they changed the design so there was a cutout inside the guard that the plastic grips slotted into (see pics). Two original sheaths with stainless (but full width tang) accessory knives.




 
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